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Rockridge, Florida

The citizens of Central Florida will never forget 2004. Within a six-week period three major hurricanes hit the peninsula. The storms left a trail of wrecked homes, flooded neighborhoods, and tens of thousands of displaced people.

The Indian River County community of Rockridge was particularly hard hit. Located just 20 miles north of Fort Pierce, the city lost electrical service for two extended periods of time, ten days after Hurricane Francis and 14 days after Jeanne. Without electricity, the community’s low-pressure grinder pump sewer system was shut down. Sewage backed up into homes and contaminated the area’s groundwater.

When it came time to rebuild Rockridge, the community turned to the federal and state governments for funding. Various agencies looked at Rockridge’s low-pressure grinder pump sewers and declared the system condemned. They saw no need to repair a system so susceptible to power loss and prone to environmental nightmares such as the one that occurred in 2004. After much study and deliberation, community leaders and utility department engineers decided to install a new AIRVAC vacuum sewer system. The new system, which went online in mid-2008, solved a host of problems. Furthermore, the project was completed under budget and several months ahead of schedule.

It is a virtual certainty that more hurricanes will come Florida’s way, but the residents of Rockridge won’t have to worry about losing their sewer service again. They also will enjoy higher property values and fewer sewer maintenance issues.

This article appeared in the May-June, 2009 issue of Government Engineering. If you would like to read the entire story as it appeared in the magazine, you can download a pdf, or you may request hard copies.

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