New Water Facility to Serve Orange County Residents

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson recently joined together to mark the commencement of operations for a Malcolm Road Water Supply Facility.

The Winter Garden facility occupies 62 acres and is composed of wells, water storage tanks and natural vegetation.

4 million gallons of water will be process each day, flowing to roughly 90,000 people, according to officials.

“This is connected to a network of water supply facilities that ensure that we balance the need of our residents and meet the different demands during different times. So, this is a great facility our latest addition to the program,” Ed Torres, Orange County Utilities Director said.

The project began in 2011 and services Horizon West and Winter Garden.

“We are growing in a net of nearly 1,000 new residents each week here in Orange County and the region has been growing at a net of 1,500 people each week, so this tremendous growth creates certain challenges for us,” Demings said.

The opening of a water facility may seem rather ordinary to the casual observer, but officials stated that the event is instead a rare occurence, with the last plant opening nearly 10 years ago. The high growth rate in west Orange County means the project is vital to future residents and their needs.

“To see this type of investment in water infrastructure — knowing that water infrastructure is health, it is life — it’s the critical component,” Wilson said.

Several other infrastructure and transportation projects across Central Florida remain apace, with the intermodal facility and Brightline rail service projected to start their inaugural operations in the next year.