Sarasota approves $51 million rehabilitation of wastewater facility

Following a series of sewage spills in recent years, Sarasota’s primary wastewater treatment facility will soon receive a much-needed facelift after the City Commission approved a $51 million rehabilitation project on Monday.

The city will focus on modernizing the mechanical and electrical equipment at its 12th street facility. Three electrical buildings will be torn down and consolidated into one, with a new backup generator. The city will also rebuild three clarifiers – the cylinder tanks that remove solid particles from water – and add a fourth; as well as replace deteriorating piping and pumps that have contributed to sewage pollution.

The major project comes nearly two years after the city’s treatment plant was overwhelmed by Hurricane Debby in August 2024, spilling at least 17 million gallons of wastewater into Sarasota Bay.

READ MORE: The historic hurricane season flexed its muscles. A Suncoast sewage crisis followed

Ryan Gandy, the executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, said recent wastewater projects by the city and Sarasota County have contributed to the bay becoming much cleaner than it was a decade ago, when it endured repeated spills of 100,000 to 500,000 gallons each, contributing to a dire ecological decline.

“You have aging infrastructure, you have infrastructure that needs updating significantly,” Gandy said. “That’s what has been great to see, our municipalities are really looking at putting their money into it, so that it provides resiliency that ultimately protects the bay.”

Sarasota’s wastewater facility has been around long enough that a city spokesperson told Suncoast Searchlight an exact age could not be pinpointed, but improvement plans go back to at least 1968.

The project will be financed through a 20-year, low-interest loan from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Rehabilitation of the facility is expected to begin in the summer of 2027 and finish by the end of 2030. 

A view of Sarasota Bay from underneath the John Ringling Bridge. | Courtesy: Sarasota County

The city has hired Palmetto-based TLC Diversified Inc. as the project contractor.

City Utilities Director Verne Hall told commissioners on Monday the wastewater treatment facility upgrades are part of a range of infrastructure projects designed to keep the city sustainable through 2055.

“We don’t just willy-nilly decide, ‘Hey, let’s go spend $51 million of the ratepayers’ money,’” Hall said. “Everything that we do is done for a reason that is resiliency and environmental protection.”

Sarasota County also has expanded or plans to expand its three regional water reclamation facilities: Bee Ridge, Central County and Venice Gardens.

Christian Casale covers government and politics for the Suncoast Searchlight. Email him at christian@suncoastsearchlight.org.