Marco's Drinking Water: The Numbers Deserve a Harder Look

Clean, reliable drinking water is essential to every Marco Island resident. It affects our health, property values, quality of life, utility costs and ability to withstand emergencies. Marco Island has a sophisticated water system and experienced utility staff, but maintaining that strength requires careful planning and timely investment.

The City’s own presentation raises important questions about how much reliable capacity we actually have, whether future demand will exceed it, and how quickly we will address PFAS, aging infrastructure and declining well productivity. The central issue is simple: Marco Island must be able to provide enough safe drinking water every day, including during peak demand, equipment failures and emergencies. Residents deserve clear answers about how the City will ensure that it can.

Are We Closer to Capacity Than It Appears?

Marco Island’s two water-treatment plants have a combined permitted capacity of 12.67 million gallons per day. That sounds reassuring until we examine the other numbers presented by the City.

The presentation states that treatment is limited to an annual average demand of 9.38 million gallons per day, while current annual average demand is listed as 9.92 million gallons. Another slide reports average daily demand of 10.35 million gallons in 2025, yet projects only 10.41 million gallons at full buildout in 2040.

Perhaps these figures measure demand differently, but residents should not have to guess. The City should explain, in plain language, what each number represents and how much water we can reliably produce today.

The future peak-demand projection is also important. Maximum-day demand is expected to reach 13.67 million gallons per day by 2040, exceeding today’s combined permitted treatment capacity. The presentation acknowledges that demand will exceed current treatment capabilities more frequently.

Permitted capacity is also not the same as reliable operating capacity. Treatment plants require maintenance. Pumps fail, membranes must be replaced, wells lose productivity and droughts occur. We were recently informed that two wells had lost productivity. Marco Island needs enough reserve capacity to continue supplying water when part of the system is unavailable or demand suddenly increases.

The South Water Treatment Plant is already dealing with aging infrastructure and declining wellfield performance, while an increase in the City’s water-use permit remains under negotiation. The City has applied to increase the North Plant’s permitted capacity to 8.5 million gallons per day, but that request remains under FDEP review.

We should not count that additional capacity as water we already possess. Until the permit is approved and the system can reliably produce that amount, it remains a plan.

Water Quality May Be the Bigger Concern

Capacity is only half the issue. We must also protect the quality of the water delivered to residents.

PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals,” has been detected in the surface water supplying our system. Although levels were below regulatory limits in early 2025, the City reported increasing levels in 2026 that are projected to exceed the applicable limit. The current recommendation is to plan for compliance by the extended 2031 deadline.

Our goal should not be merely to avoid a violation by 2031. It should be to address a known threat and provide residents with the highest practical quality of drinking water.

The City may already have a promising solution. Low-pressure reverse osmosis was pilot tested at the North Water Treatment Plant in 2018. According to the City’s consultant, it improved water quality while reducing operating costs by more than 30 percent. It may also help address PFAS and other regulatory requirements.

A technology successfully tested eight years ago should not remain indefinitely on a list of possibilities. The City should compare modernizing the existing treatment process with converting the North Plant to low-pressure reverse osmosis. That analysis should address construction and long-term operating costs, PFAS removal, reliability, energy use, waste disposal, expected water quality and the useful life of each alternative. The results should be made public.

What I Would Pursue as a Councilor

City Council members do not operate water plants. Their responsibility is to establish priorities, demand reliable information, authorize necessary investments and hold the system accountable.

My first priority would be a clear, reconciled water-capacity report. Residents should be able to see, on one page, how much water Marco Island can reliably produce, how much source water the City is authorized to withdraw, how much we currently use, what our peak demand is and how much true reserve capacity remains.

I would also advocate for a public water dashboard showing monthly demand, peak-day demand, plant production, source-water availability, outages, PFAS test results and other important water-quality measurements. We should be following these trends continuously, not discovering problems years after they begin.

I would require our engineers to recommend a meaningful reliability reserve for maintenance, equipment failures, seasonal demand and emergencies. The City should then use that standard to guide future capital investments.

I would also accelerate planning for PFAS treatment and modernization of the North Plant. At the South Plant, I would support needed well rehabilitation, additional production wells and treatment improvements when those projects provide measurable gains in reliability, efficiency or water quality.

Finally, decisions about growth and redevelopment must consider the amount of water we can sustainably and reliably provide, not simply the maximum amount our plants are permitted to treat. Development projections, water-use permits, wellfield performance, peak demand and treatment capacity must all tell a consistent story.

Marco Island should never reach the point where we are forced to choose between water quantity and water quality.

We have enough warning to prevent that. The City’s own presentation identifies increasing demand, future peak demand above existing capacity, declining wellfield performance, PFAS concerns and major treatment improvements that will be needed.

Marco Island’s water system is not in crisis, and responsible planning can help ensure it never reaches one. The City must look beyond permitted capacity, reconcile conflicting projections and address known infrastructure and water-quality concerns before deadlines or circumstances force action. Residents deserve clear information and a long-term plan that protects both the quantity and quality of our drinking water.

If elected, I will insist on transparency, timely investment and measurable progress. My goal will be straightforward: protect our water sources, improve treatment, maintain a meaningful capacity reserve and ensure Marco Island continues to have clean, dependable drinking water for generations to come.

Thank you for caring for Marco,

- Teri Sommerfeld

Candidate for Marco Island City Council

Learn more about Teri, her background, and her vision for a brighter future for all who call Marco Island home.

(C) 2026 Teri Sommerfeld
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Teri Sommerfeld, 2026 candidate for Marco Island City Council

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