“The city of Fort Lauderdale is planning a large investment in advanced, modern technology. “Flint Michigan was, at its core, a case of neglect and deferred investment,” Becker said in an email to the Sun Sentinel. William Becker, a nationally respected water supply and treatment expert and vice president at the city-hired consultant Hazen and Sawyer, dismissed those concerns. “Fort Lauderdale is a Flint, Michigan waiting to happen.”ĭr. “Changing the water quality now will have a significant, dangerous impact on your water system’s infrastructure and water quality,” Bowcock said. When Flint changed its water system, the highly corrosive water also released the Legionalla bacteria into the water supply. Legionalla bacteria live in the biofilm, a collection of organic and inorganic material inside the water pipes. Lead from aging pipes leached into the water supply, exposing tens of thousands of residents to dangerous levels of lead. Months before, Flint changed its water source and failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water. The Flint water crisis made headlines in 2015 after an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease killed at least 12 people and sickened dozens more. “It’s like doing a heart transplant on somebody with bad veins,” Bowcock told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. But he warned that the new treatment system it will use could further weaken Fort Lauderdale’s fragile pipes similar to what happened in Flint, Michigan. Others aren’t so sure.īowcock, chief environmental investigator for the non-profit run by high-profile environmental activist Erin Brockovich, said Fort Lauderdale’s water plant will be like a shiny new Cadillac. Fort Lauderdale’s experts say the plant is ready for retirement. The Fiveash Water Treatment Plant as seen from Interstate 95 on Thursday. The new plant, however, will use technology that makes all that yellow water a thing of the past, they say. Retrofitting Fiveash will not do the trick, city-hired consultants say. Experts say that’s because the plant’s lime-softening treatment system can’t remove tannins - organic material that gives the water its yellow color - from the underground water supply. The new plant would be built 4 miles to the west, next to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, and will use nanofiltration and ion exchange technology as recommended by one of the city’s consultants in 2019.įiveash has not been able to meet the city’s goal of delivering crystal-clear water to homes, hotels and businesses. Financing would be provided by Ridgewood.įiveash, located west of Interstate 95 between Commercial and Oakland boulevards, provides water to Fort Lauderdale and Port Everglades along with all or parts of Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Tamarac, Davie, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and tiny Sea Ranch Lakes. IDE would also manage and maintain the plant for 30 years. If commissioners say yes to the deal on Tuesday, IDE Technologies has agreed to design and build the new plant by October 2026, within 42 months. They are not going to be happy.”īut city officials and their expert consultants say Fiveash isn’t worth saving. “What you’re going to get is pure water running through old pipes and they’re going to get nasty, stinky, brown water after spending $666 million. “Your consumers are going to expect pure water coming out of their tap,” he said. Bowcock put it in simple terms: “If you go out and replace this heart with a brand new heart and you have a body that’s equally run down, you’re going to blow out all the veins.”īowcock also predicts the water won’t be so crystal clear once it goes through the city’s old, rusty pipes.

Ft lauderdale sun sentinel