Oakland accepts consultant—s water capacity review; study recommends added storage and pump redundancy

Town of Oakland commissioners voted to accept an independent water system capacity evaluation presented by consultants from Kimley-Horn at the April 8 meeting.

The report, presented by Kimley-Horn engineers Tucker Hunter and Steve Romano, said the town—s water treatment plant is rated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for a maximum-day permitted capacity of 2.392 million gallons per day. The consultants reported average daily use of about 900,000 gallons per day during September 2023—August 2024 and a June 2024 peak of about 2.169 million gallons per day, putting the town close to its permitted maximum.

Kimley-Horn recommended several near- and mid-term steps to preserve capacity and add operational redundancy. The firm advised replacing two roughly 20-year-old sodium hypochlorite storage tanks, conducting periodic inspections of the ground storage tank (industry standard: roughly every five years), automating the ABC booster station for irrigation, and studying the feasibility of adding a fourth high-service pump plus a roughly 500,000-gallon storage tank to increase redundancy and capacity. The consultants also identified three distribution projects (upsizing on East Gulley Avenue, completing the loop of Lake Shore Drive and Clarny Plaza, and upsizing Johns Cove Lane) tied to fire-flow and system looping needs.

"We did a water system capacity evaluation, analysis for the town," Kimley-Horn—s Tucker Hunter said during the presentation, summarizing the inspection and modeling work. The firm noted a discrepancy among data sources for the number of connections (the Monthly Operating Report data showed one figure while the lead-and-copper inventory listed another), and used the operating flows and connections to model future capacity.

The consultants told commissioners that an alternative water supply project that would pump reclaimed water from Lake Apopka could, if fully built and operating, free capacity equivalent to roughly 3,200 connections for irrigation and related uses, but that such a project would take years to implement and would not address near-term development pressures. On that point, Hunter and Romano cautioned that reliance on a remote alternative supply would require separate planning and long lead times.

Commissioners pressed the consultants on timing and costs. Kimley-Horn said design would likely take about 9——12 months and construction roughly 12——18 months for large storage/pump projects, with distribution improvements able to move in parallel. When asked about cost, the consultants gave a broad per-gallon cost range for large storage tanks and estimated an order-of-magnitude range (for example, a 1,000,000-gallon tank and related contingencies at roughly $1.2——.5 million per million gallons) and described those figures as conservative estimates.

Town staff clarified during the meeting that accepting the report does not authorize construction spending: particulars about funding and procurement would be brought back to the commission for separate decisions. "The particulars about funding and all of that would have to be brought back before you and voted on," a staff member said during the discussion.

The commission moved, seconded and approved a motion to accept the evaluation by voice vote.

Next steps identified by staff and consultants included performing the recommended feasibility study for an interconnect with Winter Garden for emergency supply, revisiting the master plan (last updated four years ago), and bringing specific project designs, cost estimates and funding options back to the commission for separate votes.