Collier commissioners approve $29 million for water-treatment-related infrastructure projects

Collier County commissioners approved $29 million for water-treatment-related infrastructure projects at their northeast facility.

“That project will include those two deep injection wells, which are drilled down to 3250 feet plus or minus, as well as a dual zone monitoring well, to be able to monitor the results for our utilization of those wells,” said Matt McLean, Public Utilities Director for the county.

The wells have the capacity for 16 million gallons of water each according to the county’s public utilities department.

“This is really the continued start of our program out in the northeast. We’ve got a lot of work working out there, where we’re going to be continuing to expand our utility plants, both on the water and wastewater side,” added McLean.

McLean gave a presentation on the projects, considerations and results at Tuesday’s meeting of the Collier County Board of County Commissioners.

“The deep injection wells themselves are a piece of the processing within our water reclamation facilities, as well as our water treatment plants. So that we can make sure that we continue to provide the services that our customers expect,” he said.

He told WINK News the funding will come from impact fees for new homeowners as growth in the area near Immokalee Road continues.

“We continue to monitor those growth patterns within the community so that we’re ahead of the game, ahead of the curve, if you will, so we can make sure that people are expecting to have those water, wastewater and irrigation quality services won the right to hook up their new homes and businesses,” McLean said.

The county said construction on the facilities will begin as soon as possible, and the project is expected to take three years to complete.