The noise is hard to miss along Thompson Road.
Construction trucks rumble past barricades. Excavators dig into the roadway. Backup alarms beep over the sound of heavy machinery.
For people who live nearby, though, the loudest part of Orange County’s massive Wekiwa Springs septic-to-sewer project may ultimately be the price tag.
Sheri Brown has lived in the neighborhood for nine years. She told News 6 she supports the goal of protecting Wekiwa Springs, a place she regularly visits, but she did not initially want the sewer conversion.
“I didn’t want it, obviously, but if they’re saying that we are polluting the Wekiva, I understand,” Brown said. “I don’t want the Wekiva polluted at all. I love it down there.”
Her frustration centers on what she says the conversion will cost her.
“In the long run, it’s gonna be around $10,000,” Brown said.
Brown showed News 6 paperwork listing a $7,500 principal balance, a 6.7% interest rate and a 10-year term. She said the additional expense matters at a time when household budgets are already stretched.
For Brown, that raises a larger question: If homeowners are being asked to spend thousands of dollars, how much of the pollution problem is actually coming from septic tanks like hers?
“I would like proof that we really were polluting,” Brown said. “I mean, we’re kind of far away, so, you know, I just don’t see how we are polluting this far away.”
How can a septic tank miles away affect Wekiwa Springs?
That question gets to the science behind the entire project.
According to information provided to News 6 by the St. Johns River Water Management District, Florida Department of Environmental Protection data show onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems — commonly called septic systems — represent 29% of the nitrogen loading to groundwater within the Wekiwa-Rock Springs Basin Management Action Plan area.
That distinction is important: it does not mean 29% of everything found in Wekiwa Springs comes directly from septic tanks. It means septic systems are estimated to account for 29% of the nitrogen being loaded into groundwater across the springshed.
The groundwater connection is why a septic system does not have to sit next to the spring to potentially affect it. Water and dissolved nutrients can move underground through the springshed and aquifer system before eventually contributing to water emerging at the springs.
DEP identifies septic upgrades and conversions as one of several strategies needed to reduce nitrogen entering the system and improve water quality.
Orange County launched its Wekiwa Springs Septic-to-Sewer Program in summer 2021 in partnership with the St. Johns River Water Management District and DEP. It is a multiyear, multiphase effort to move nearly 2,000 homes from septic tanks to Orange County’s central sewer system.
How much pollution could the project actually remove?
The Water Management District provided News 6 with one of the clearest measurements yet of the project’s expected environmental impact.
The district said Orange County participated in its cost-share program for the first four phases of the septic-to-sewer effort. Those phases resulted in 932 sewer connections and have an estimated nutrient-load reduction of approximately:
8,646 pounds per year.
That reduction applies to the Wekiwa-Rock Springs springshed.
In other words, while people along Thompson Road see pipes, trenches and barricades, environmental officials are measuring the project in pounds of nutrients they expect to keep out of the groundwater system every year.
Orange County Utilities separately told News 6 the overall program is expected to include 1,967 homes. The county reported 577 completed conversions and another 452 in process in its response Monday.
The Water Management District’s figure of 932 sewer connections for the first four phases and Orange County’s figures for completed and in-process homes are described differently in the agencies’ responses; the information provided to News 6 does not explain how those categories correspond.
Cleaner water won’t necessarily show up overnight
There is another question without a simple answer: When will people actually be able to see the benefit at Wekiwa Springs?
The Water Management District said projected nitrogen reductions and the timeline for measurable water-quality improvements can vary depending on where homes are located, how densely they are developed and the geology beneath them.
That means disconnecting a septic tank today does not necessarily translate into an immediate change at the spring tomorrow.
The district and DEP conduct ongoing water-quality monitoring throughout the area, including monitoring nitrogen concentrations and other indicators. Officials use those measurements to track long-term trends, evaluate whether nutrient-reduction efforts are working and determine whether the broader Wekiwa-Rock Springs restoration plan needs to be adjusted.
The district described long-term monitoring as particularly important because groundwater movement — and the water-quality response to changes made at the surface — can differ across the springshed.
Why Thompson Road is closed
The environmental project is also creating a much more immediate problem for drivers.
Orange County says Thompson Road is fully closed between Reagans Reserve Boulevard and Yvonne Street, including the intersection with Sandpiper Street, while crews construct new underground sewer infrastructure.
The closure began Monday and is expected to last approximately 30 days, although the county says weather or unforeseen conditions could change the schedule.
Drivers are being directed around the work using Votaw Road, Park Avenue/Rock Springs Road, East Welch Road and North Wekiwa Springs Road.
The closure had initially been scheduled for Aug. 10. Orange County said construction start dates are often tentative and that recent rainfall and the start of the school year may have contributed to the change.
The county said residents inside the Phase 4 project area were notified beginning July 27 and were told about the move to Aug. 24 when the project was rescheduled on Aug. 10. Orange County said residents received standalone emails, weekly construction updates and, in some areas, notices placed on doors. Message boards were also placed along Thompson Road, and schools, public safety agencies, solid waste services, elected officials and the City of Apopka were notified.
Neighbors don’t all see the disruption the same way
Brown is not alone in hearing the construction, but not every neighbor views the inconvenience the same way.
Angel Cosme lives nearby and said he has known about the project for months. He called it noisy but said he considers the work worthwhile.
“As long we got a way to go in and out, this is no problem,” Cosme said, although he said unfamiliar drivers could have more difficulty navigating the closure.
Brown’s position is more complicated.
She believes Wekiwa Springs should be protected. She and her family swim and fish there, she said. But she also questions how much individual homeowners should have to shoulder for a project designed to create a broader public environmental benefit.
She told News 6 that a longer payment period or additional government assistance could make the transition easier for some homeowners, particularly when even another $100 or $200 a month can make a difference in a family budget.
That tension runs through the project.
For environmental agencies, the objective is long-term: reduce nitrogen entering groundwater, move nearly 2,000 homes away from septic systems and measure whether those changes eventually improve the Wekiwa-Rock Springs system.
For homeowners, the effects can be much more immediate: construction outside the door, a closed road down the street and, in Brown’s case, a bill she says will ultimately reach roughly $10,000.
The digging is happening miles from the clear water at Wekiwa Springs.
The reason for it is underneath both.