Wastewater

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Master Plan

In 1999, with nearshore water quality deteriorating around the Florida Keys, the State of Florida mandated through legislation that the entire island chain install advanced wastewater treatment systems to eliminate the use of tens of thousands of septic tanks, illegal cesspits, and ineffective small treatment units.

In 2000, Monroe County completed the Sanitary Wastewater Master Plan to meet the mandate. In 2007, the wastewater plan was updated.

It has been a daunting task for a small, linear county that stretches more than 100 miles over a series of 42 islands.

The price tag reached about $1 billion for the cost of 12 major service area systems and the individual hookups by homeowners and business owners. 

The final piece of the County’s wastewater master plan, as well as the largest and most complex, is the $196.5 million Cudjoe Regional Wastewater System that includes a deep injection well and covers Mile Marker 17 to Mile Marker 33.

The Cudjoe system’s treatment plant began operations in October 2015. The deep injection well, which disposes of treated effluent 3,200 feet below the surface, was completed in May 2017. And, in the spring of 2017, the collection and transmission system was completed, with the exception of a few small neighborhoods that include No Name Key.

Monroe County partnered with the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) to service all unincorporated areas south of Mile Marker 87. The wastewater master plan is implemented through an interlocal agreement between Monroe County and FKAA.

Service Area Systems

Very Low- and Low-Income Households

To ease the financial burden on very low- and low-income households to hook up their residential homes to the central sewer system, funding assistance is available through a Community Development Block Grant.

Resources