St. Augustine Beach — Neil Shankara, director of utilities for St. John's County, said the county plans to reclaim all wastewater processed on the island within five years, expanding reclaimed-water use for irrigation and reducing discharges to state waters.

"We provide water, sewer and reclaimed water services to the city," Shankara said during an interview on the city’s "Monday with the Mayor" program with Mayor Dylan Rumrill. He described the system serving the beach as one of nine county wastewater facilities and called the effort part of the utility’s environmental stewardship mission.

Why it matters: Reclaiming treated wastewater for uses such as golf-course irrigation and residential irrigation can reduce demand on potable supplies and limit nutrient or effluent discharges to what Shankara called the "waters of the state," a regulatory concern cited in the interview. Shankara said reclaimed water is less costly than potable water and sewer service and emphasized conservation as a local priority.

Shankara described the facility visible in the segment as "one of our nine facilities. It's a wastewater facility," and said the county treats wastewater "to make sure that when we provide reclaimed water, it meets all the regulatory requirements." He added: "Every drop of water we process would be reclaimed in some place or the other in St. John's County in the next 5 years." The reclaimed water uses he named were golf courses and residential irrigation.

On hurricane preparedness, Shankara said the county considers temporary water-service reductions as one of several operational strategies to limit wastewater handling during major storms. "I don't wanna say yes or no. It depends upon the level of hurricane," he said, adding that in the event of a Category 3 or 4 storm on the island the county may use that strategy to reduce post-storm wastewater problems. He framed that approach as a way to "help us to help them," referring to residents.

Shankara concluded with a direct appeal to residents: "Conserve, conserve, conserve." He also said, "We have plenty of water, but we want to do it right by conserving as much as possible."

No formal action or vote was taken during the interview; the remarks were presented as descriptions of current operations and stated agency goals rather than enacted policy. The comments were made on the city’s weekly program "Monday with the Mayor."