Winter Springs to add cameras, more no trespassing signs after reclaimed pipe break

The City of Winter Springs is adding cameras and more no-trespassing signs after a reclaimed water pipe broke over a recent weekend, which officials say was possibly an act of vandalism. 

Reclaimed water is wastewater from residential homes that’s been treated and suitable for watering lawns, but not drinking. The city has a storage tank of reclaimed water, but in the wetter months when fewer people need to water their lawns, there’s a surplus of reclaimed water. 

So the reclaimed water is emptied onto what’s called a drain field, where it is absorbed down and goes back to the aquifer. The pipe broke “in or near” the drain field, officials said.

It did not require a report to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection since the reclaimed water for irrigation systems was safe to be sprayed on people’s lawns. 

“We were fortunate that, even though there was a failure, it didn’t affect someone’s home or the environment. Kudos to the resident for calling.” said Winter Springs Spokesman Matt Reeser. 

The first call to the weekend after-hours utilities answering service was at 8:17 a.m. The second call came in at 9:27 a.m. The crew was dispatched at 9:57 a.m., and were working on the scene within 45 minutes of the second call.  

“There is talk of improving after-hours to be more responsive. But when you have staffing issues like we do, we run a lean staff, that’s kind of the tradeoff,” Reeser said. 

Reclaimed water break becomes a political issue

Two Sundays ago, Rick Roy noticed water coming through a culvert on his property. 

So he went out to the city-owned reclaimed water drain field he lives next to, and found a pipe that was normally capped off gushing water. The drain field – usually dry enough to get mowed – was flooded. 

“It’s still flooded out there now,” Roy said. “That’s normally dry. And it was basically three feet deep in the video.”

When Roy didn’t hear back or see crews out there, he sent the video to Winter Springs Mayoral Candidate Jesse Phillips. It’s not the first time there’s been an issue at the drain field, and the city usually comes “they (the city) come right out and fix it.” 

“This was probably the worst one,” Roy said. “I called the city first and got no response, and figured he’d get some response from somebody. …I just wanted to get it fixed.” 

Phillips is the cofounder of the Winter Springs Community Association. An email from the Winter Springs Community Association went out to subscribers at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 27 with the subject line: “BREAKING: Massive million-gallon reclaimed water spill on Winter Springs west side.”

The email shared footage from a resident of water leaking from a pipe. When the email was sent out, city crews were already on site working to make the repairs. 

Phillips calls the Winter Springs Community Association a “community advocacy group,” but critics call it a political action committee. Since Phillips launched his campaign, some emails have the legal disclaimer at the bottom that they are a “Political advertisement paid for and approved by Jesse Phillips for Winter Springs Mayor.” The reclaimed water email did not have that disclaimer.

“It’s an operational question,” Phillips said in an interview with Oviedo Community News. “How are we not monitoring this? How is it incumbent on a neighbor to find this and that’s our answer for how we monitor and locate leaks? No one at the city noticed this?”

Officials with the city said there’s no easy way to estimate the amount of reclaimed water that leaked. They said that estimates included in the WSCA email that it was in the “millions” of gallons are too high. 

Reeser said the first repair the crew did didn’t hold, and they had to make repairs twice. 

“The fix didn’t hold,” Reeser said. “That’s why it took longer.”

The City of Winter Springs put out a notice at 6 p.m. Sunday, July 26 that they were working on a reclaimed water pipe break, and that residents might notice low reclaimed water pressure if they were watering their yards. By 7 p.m., they had updated the post that the repairs were complete and pressures were back to normal. 

Some commenters on Facebook said the Winter Springs Community Association email made it look like the “sky was falling,” and said they blocked the group because it had become too political. 

“Are we supposed to look the other way when major issues are exposed with our water system?” Phillips said in response to a question about the comments. “The city’s past laissez-faire approach toward critical infrastructure is how we got in the mess we are in.”

Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann said the issue was being politicized, and that painting the irrigation water spill as a “catastrophe” wasn’t accurate. 

“Of course we always want to be careful and be aware of water usage and watching out for our responsibility to take care of the environment,” McCann said. “But in this case, it is being pumped and pushed out by my opponent. But the water … it was lawn-safe water and it ended up, ultimately, exactly where it was supposed to be. Just not in the method it was supposed to be.”

McCann said city officials think the pipe was broken in an act of vandalism. 

“They pretty strongly believe it was vandalism,” McCann said. 

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member