ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County commissioners voted to approve the first phase of a multi-phase plan to extend water pipes into rural Bithlo, giving the community access to clean drinking water after years of complaints.
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The county’s initial project will affect 337 parcels south of State Road 50 and cost more than $12 million. The county will use American Rescue Plan funding for the project.
Most residents of the target community, which sits immediately to the east of East River High School, say their drinking water was contaminated by recycling centers leaking chemicals into the ground water.
Rather than drink from the tap, they buy bottled water to drink and cook with, reserving their well water for bathing.
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“It’s very nasty,” Tiffany Young-Joseph complained. “I just moved here several months ago from Atlanta. I knew nothing about I was going to be in some type of weird water.”
Orange County commissioner Emily Bonilla said the project would take years to complete. By the end of the final phase, approximately 2,000 homes will be serviced by the county’s water pipes, a document she provided showed.
While initial plans called for sewer services, Bonilla said costs prevented that for now, and she hoped it would be included in a future project.
“It’s like, shovel ready to go,” she said. “We just needed the money, and finally, when the pandemic funds had come in, we were able to use those to be able to change out some of the wells.”
However, not all residents wanted the service.
“I don’t need a water bill,” Wayne Vulbert said. “I’ve been doing that for over 30 years. So I don’t need to change.”
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