Storm revives push to improve water ‘lifeline’ for Keys

An aging reverse-osmosis plant proved its worth in the wake of Hurricane Irma, says the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority’s chief executive.

“This last storm really showed the value of it,” Kirk Zuelch said Friday. “Without the reverse-osmosis plant, Key West couldn’t have opened as a soon as it did. It is a real lifeline for the Lower Keys.”

When the Category 4 hurricane disrupted the potable-water flow down the FKAA pipeline from Florida City, the reverse-osmosis plants at Stock Island and Marathon were activated.

The Lower Keys RO plant, now 50 years old with decades-old technology in danger of becoming obsolete, was able to turn about 2 million gallons of seawater into drinkable water per day in Irma’s aftermath. Typically Key West needs 8 million gallons of water daily. Marathon’s plant can pump 1 million gallons of treated water a day.

Patchwork repairs can only go so far, Zuelch said. Unique filters used by the FKAA system to strain salt from seawater now are produced by just one company, based in Japan.

“We’ve been talking about upgrades for years. It’s time,” Zuelch said. “Money’s the issue, obviously.”

Building a new Lower Keys plant, the utility’s preferred option, would cost an estimated $38 million.

A proposal to raise FKAA rates to fund the project was tabled by the agency board last July over concerns about the financial impact on residents and businesses.

Florida Keys state Rep. Holly Raschein has filed a bill, HB 3909, for the Florida Legislature’s 2018 session that begins Jan. 9 seeking $10 million in state money to fund an “alternate/emergency water supply” for the FKAA.

If the appropriation comes through, Zuelch said, the FKAA could reconsider a budgeting plan to build a new reverse-osmosis facility capable of providing 4 million gallons of drinking water daily. More limited but less expensive improvements remain possible.

“All options are on the board,” Zuelch said. “We’ll see what happens” in Tallahassee.