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This editorial was published in Design-Build Magazine's May/June 2005 issue.

You can click the image below to download the PDF.

To view additional photos of the vacuum sewer installation in Ponte Vedra, Florida go to our Municipal Project Gallery.

Ponte Vedra, Florida

Coastal communities turning to vacuum sewers.

Many communities face the task of replacing septic tanks with a modern wastewater collection system. Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, did it cost effectively and with minimal disruption.

Like many coastal areas, Ponte Vedra Beach has a high water table and sandy soil, conditions that make gravity sewer installation very difficult. In 2003 the Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA), which serves Ponte Vedra Beach, needed a new sewer system to serve a 672-home subdivision. To install a gravity system would have required trenches 20 feet deep, extensive dewatering and years to complete.

To avoid these problems, the JEA elected to use vacuum sewer technology by AIRVAC and to do the project using the Design-Build method. The team of Eckler Engineering, Inc., and Callaway Construction, Inc., were awarded the contract to design and install the $10 million system. The project was completed in less than two years. The system has 45,000 feet of 6, 8 and 10-inch collection lines with an average trench depth of 4-6 feet.

“With gravity systems, you are at depths of 20 or more feet. That makes installation disruptive and time consuming,” explained Stan Bates, project manager for Callaway Contracting. “Vacuum technology made this job very easy, relatively speaking.”

As a result of this successful vacuum project, JEA is planning on using AIRVAC technology in other areas within their jurisdiction, with several other projects currently in the design phase.

This article appeared in the May/June issue of Design-Build Magazine. 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. Additional information and photos of the AIRVAC vacuum sewer installation in Ponte Vedra, Florida can be found in our Municipal Project Gallery.

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