Punta Gorda officials outline water, wastewater shortfalls and plan to expand reverse-osmosis plant

Tom Spencer, City of Punta Gorda utilities director, told a city utilities workshop on April 29 that the city’s drinking water meets regulatory standards but that limits set by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and rising peak demand have created a shortfall in firm supply.

Spencer said the city’s reverse-osmosis (RO) plant has 4,000,000 gallons per day (gpd) of treatment capacity and that the surface-water (service) plant can produce the remainder; together the plants currently can make about 8,000,000 gpd under the management rules the district enforces. He said recent peak-day use has exceeded 9,500,000 gpd and projected peak-day demand could reach about 12,000,000 gpd under some scenarios.

"Our drinking water continues to meet all required standards," Spencer said. "But lately, we've seen usage exceeding 9,500,000 gallons." He added that the city should expand the RO plant to add capacity quickly because the plants and well field were already laid out for a larger buildout and only equipment and additional wells are needed.

The workshop presentation described how the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s minimum flows and levels (MFLs) divide the year into three blocks; the most restrictive block — which Spencer said often overlaps the city’s highest usage months — sharply limits how much water may be withdrawn from the Shell Creek reservoir. Spencer said the city spent roughly a third of 2024 (119 days) in the most restrictive block and that the MFLs have been in effect long enough that the city is in restrictive conditions a substantial share of the year.

The utilities presentation summarized system assets and recent volumes: two treatment plants at Washington Loop Road, six production…