Residents Warn Reclaimed Water Polluting Canals

Moments after Marco Island received an environmental award Monday night for its exemplary reclaimed water, concerned citizens warned that the reuse water is contaminating canals. City Council is scheduling a workshop and considering purchase of advanced wastewater treatment to reduce pollutants, while also considering whether such an idea will go to a referendum or be decided by Council. 

In a relatively late add to the agenda, the City of Marco Island’s Reclaimed Water Production Facility was recognized as the 2025 recipient of the Florida Water Environment Association’s David W. York Reuse Award for the Most Outstanding Reuse Program in Florida.

“I find it a little more than ironic,” said Rick Woodworth, of Clean Marco Waters, LLC, an organization created to address what they said is fertilizer and excess reclaimed water contaminating canals.

The city’s program is under investigation by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for violations regarding reuse water, Woodworth said. 

General Manager of Water and Sewer Jeffrey Poteet said he is in the process of addressing these DEP concerns, which stemmed from citizens’ reporting that broken sprinkler heads were causing leaks from medians. Medians are irrigated using reuse water. City personnel and their contractor, Affordable Landscaping, made repairs to the sprinklers and discovered vandalism to control boxes, which were also repaired, Poteet said. 

Marco Island is also recovering from placement on DEP’s water impairment list in 2019 for higher than acceptable nitrogen levels in canals, which causes algae blooms and depletes oxygen, killing marine life. Marco Island has lowered those nitrogen levels, Poteet has said. 

Meanwhile, the City is considering a proposal by Earthwerks, a company owned by Marco Island resident Dan Davies, to dredge canals and use that sediment to construct new small islands in the canals. Reefs and plants would be added to improve water quality while creating as much as 100 acres of new land, Davies has said. These plans, with a cost estimate of $60 million, are under review by an engineer selected by the City and paid for by Earthwerks, according to a Council decision earlier in May. 

Councilor Tamara Goehler has requested consideration of an advanced wastewater treatment upgrade be put on the Council agenda with a request for proposals. Meanwhile, Council is scheduling a workshop on the issues.

Clean Marco Waters has tested the canals and revealed chemical markers for sewage are present, Woodworth said. These include caffeine and the artificial sweetener Sucralose, which pass through humans from consuming things like coffee and Diet Coke, into the wastewater plant and then back out into the reclaimed water making its way into the canals, he said. 

Clean Marco Waters sent the samples to Florida International University in Miami, and these chemical markers were found in all six test locations, Woodworth said. 

He urged Council to improve the wastewater treatment in a City that can afford to do so. 

City Attorney Alan Gabriel advised Council that the City received a notice of a petition to improve the quality of the Marco Island reuse water with an ordinance request. The matter can either become a question on a ballot if they receive 10 percent of voters’ signatures, or Council can adopt an ordinance, Gabriel advised.

According to Section 6 of Marco Island’s code of ordinances pertaining to such referendums: "Ten percent (10%) of the qualified electors of the City shall have the power to petition the Council to propose an ordinance or to require reconsideration of an adopted ordinance, provided that such power shall not extend to the budget or capital program or to any ordinances relating to appropriations of money, levy of taxes, or salaries of City officers or employees, but shall extend to an ordinance providing any single capital expenditure in excess of $250,000.”

Goehler suggested Council adopt an ordinance and Councilor Stephen Gray seconded her motion. Councilor Renee Champagne suggested waiting until after the workshop, and other council members agreed.

“It’s a little premature. There’s a lot of science going around both ways. It’s extremely controversial,” said Councilor Darrin Palumbo. 

The motion for the City to create and later adopt an ordinance pertaining to advanced wastewater failed 5-2, with Goehler and Gray being the only two voting in favor. 

Other Council members preferred to schedule the workshop first. The date and time of that discussion is yet to be announced as of press time and will be updated on cityofmarcoisland.com and coastalbreeze.com.