Florida is under severe drought. As water becomes increasingly scarce, treated sewage has suddenly become a subject of interest. The Slog covered how Orange County, CA is considering this solution last week and Florida is also considering reuse as a solution.

In Southeast Florida, where wastewater authorities dump 300 million gallons of untreated sewage, there is only 10% reuse and half of the potable water goes for landscape irrigation. This is just shameful considering the dire water shortage Florida, and the entire southeast for that matter, is facing.

Southwest Florida leads the state with 70-80% reuse of wastewater and the treated sewage is a commodity. However, we have a long way to go to educate our leaders about the importance of treating ALL water as the precious resource it is.

Currently, the Caloosahatchee River has eight outfalls. However, the state ordered, as part of permit conditions, that some of them be phased out and mandated 100% reuse. This is great, however, there's no compliance or enforcement.