EATONVILLE, Fla. — The town of Eatonville has suffered from constant water problems for years. The town has deteriorating pipes and infrastructure, which leads to frequent water main breaks where the water has to be shut off or residents have to boil the water before use.
Town leaders say after decades of water problems, a major infrastructure overhaul is on the way thanks to a $34 million grant being issued through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The money will go toward replacing water mains and pipes within the historic town.
In 2019, the town was put on notice for failing to monitor contaminants in the water and failing to alert the public about certain water tests that were not completed.
However, the DEP says Eatonville’s water is safe to drink, despite concerns in the past.
Longtime community member Vera King says she switched to using bottled water once problems with the town’s water became frequent.
“It was a break here and break there, and I started getting bottled water,” King said.
According to town officials, there have been two service interruptions and boil water notices in 2024 — one on Jan. 24 and one on May 11.
King remembers last year when there were nearly half a dozen service interruptions.
“It’s kind of tragic and I’m hoping that they will make use. If they have federal money, use it for that because there are a lot of people, especially seniors, who aren’t able to afford paying for a lot of those different extra things,” King said.
State records reveal issues with Eatonville’s water facility dating back to November 2019, when the town was issued a warning letter for failing to monitor contaminants and failure to let the public know that certain water tests were not being done.
Six months later, in May 2020, DEP sent another letter highlighting the same concerns, also adding failure to submit reports in a timely matter and failure to conduct a tank inspection.
Spectrum News contacted the Florida DEP about those violations. The DEP sent an email saying, “This facility does have violations the majority of which are reporting related…those violations are related to not timely submitting a small portion of the water system’s sampling results and not a failure of said results meeting federal drinking water standards”
Town leaders say some problems were prompted by contractors putting in broadband lines hitting old water pipes. Spectrum News asked Eatonville Chief Administrative Officer Demetrius Pressley why it’s taken so long to address the issues.
“That’s a great question and I don’t really have a full answer on it,” Pressley said.
“I just know the current administration has the right people in place to get those things done…I think we have a great quality of water right now. We just have a bad overarching aging piping which makes it seem something is wrong. We have our regular operation from testing through the Department of Environmental Protection that takes place monthly,” Pressley said.
Town leaders are now looking forward to a resolution through the $34 million DEP grant. Town leaders say the massive overhaul will start with updating water mains along East Kennedy Boulevard and an upgrade to the town water facility. Mayor Angie Gardner calls this a game changer.
“That’s a big deal, that’s a big deal. That’s our CIP plan now. Capital improvement plans usually take 10 years. We can do it now. We can start it as soon as the funds roll in and we get all the steps and procedures taking care of administratively. We can get started now. That’s a blessing,” Gardner said.
As for King, the Hungerford High School graduate says she is looking forward to the infrastructure upgrades, waiting patiently for project work to start and finish.
“We should be able to finally enjoy and drink our water and know that it is safe,” she said.
Eatonville town administrators expect the infrastructure upgrades will take about two years to complete. Design and plans are expected to be drafted sometime in the fall, with construction expected to start in 2025.
Administrators say this work will be done in phases so there will not be water service disruption to residents.