Interoffice Memorandum
DATE: October 21, 2026
TO: Mayor Jerry L. Demings and County Commissioners
THROUGH: N/A
FROM: Marc Cannata, P.E., Director, Utilities
CONTACT: Mark Ikeler, P.E., Manager, Water Reclamation Division
PHONE: 407-254-9705
DIVISION: Water Reclamation Division
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Ratification of Consent Order OGC File No. 26-0465 between State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Orange County Utilities. (Water Reclamation Division)
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PROJECT: N/A
PURPOSE: Under Chapter 403, Florida Statutes, and Title 62, Florida Administrative Code, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has jurisdiction over operation of the County’s water reclamation system. Pursuant to that authority, FDEP initiated a Consent Order with Orange County Utilities (OCU) related to their inspection at the South Water Reclamation Facility (SWRF) which occurred on December 12, 2025. This Consent Order was due to permit exceedances related to Fecal Coliforms, Total Chlorine Residual, and Total Suspended Solids at SWRF.
FDEP is requiring six months of compliance with permit requirements or OCU must initiate an engineering evaluation to discover the cause or causes of the exceedances. As a proactive measure, OCU has decided not to wait for the six-month period to expire and has retained both an engineering and operations consultant to assist in identifying the source(s) of the exceedances. In addition, OCU operations personnel employed corrective measures related to training, sampling points, process flushing/diversion, and sampling protocols, as well, to help prevent future violations.
Consent orders are a standard and common regulatory compliance tool utilized by the State of Florida which are issued to utilities to correct violations or occasional permit exceedances detected during site inspections at regulated facilities. Generally, these exceedances are attributable to mechanical malfunction or operator error. Although...
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