Woodside Heights Wastewater Retrofit

This project provided a central sewer system to the Woodside Heights neighborhood in southern Leon County with approximately 13,000 lf of 8-inch gravity sanitary sewer and approximately 4,500 lf of 6-inch force main.

This was the initial phase of a grant-funded effort through the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) to reduce the number of septic systems within the Wakulla Springs Basin and to improve and protect the springs’ water quality.

Leon County was awarded the grant allocation for the project. Halff worked with the County to educate and gain advocacy for as many residents as possible to connect to the new sewer system. To manage potential conflicts with individual property owners, Halff proactively met with each one to describe the benefits of the project. To date, nearly 90 percent of 200 properties have agreed to connect to the new sewer service.

In addition to the central sewer system, Halff designed service plans for individual property owners. The project achieved abandonment of septic systems, and City water services were provided to those properties currently on wells.

Permitting consisted of an Environmental Management Permit through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), and sewer system permits were achieved under the City of Tallahassee General Permit.