Bradenton nears completion of $100M wastewater infrastructure project

Bradenton working to improve wastewater plant

It's a problem that can't be fixed overnight, but the City of Bradenton has been working on improving and upgrading its wastewater infrastructure. Kimberly Kuizon reports.

BRADENTON, Fla. - It's a problem that can't be fixed overnight, but the City of Bradenton has been working on improving and upgrading its wastewater infrastructure. 

It's a process that has taken years and will cost more than $100 million dollars.

While it has been a long process, Mayor Gene Brown said the results will be seen for generations to come. 

The work being done at Bradenton's Water Reclamation Facility will not only harden infrastructure, but work to help protect the Mantee River.

"It's very exciting to see that things are in the ground and months away from being operational," said Brown. 

The improvements will help expand the facility's capacity to hold wastewater. 

The facility processes around five-to-six million gallons of wastewater a day.

The plant can handle up to nine million gallons, but heavy rainfall and storm surge can cause problems.

"It's been a process that has been happening for 40 plus years to get to this. Nobody is to blame for the past. We have to face and fix where we are now," said Brown. 

About two weeks ago after heavy rain, the plant had to bypass 1.7 million gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Manatee River. 

Brown said the improvements should help prevent those releases in the future. 

The improvements include a $1.7 million dollar equalization tank, which can hold 3 million gallons of water. 

As well as a $573,000 disc filter and a $5.2 million dollar injection well. 

Mayor Brown said all will add extra layers of protection to prevent future releases.

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Some projects, like the equalization tank, will come online as early as October.

"Instead of releasing that 1.7 million gallons by bypass, we will be able to park it up to 3 million gallons and then, as the plant slows down, we can process that through," said Brown. 

What's next:

A year ago, a fourth clarifier was under construction. Now it is filled with water and is being tested.

The additional clarifier will help expand capacity by being able to hold an additional two million gallons of treated water.

"We added a fourth clarifier that is three times the size and depth. You can put all three of those inside if you wanted. We will open up the availability while still doing many projects in close to 100 plus million dollars which we have been working on," said Mayor Brown.

They are projects that will continue into the future to protect the area they serve.

"We will be better today than yesterday and every day going forward," said Mayor Brown. 

The City of Bradenton is meeting the state deadline for all municipalities to stop surface water discharges by 2032.

Brown said they will be ahead of schedule. 

To find out more about the projects, click here.

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