{"id":550368,"date":"2026-01-29T00:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/550368\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T00:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:47:10","slug":"jea-city-of-jacksonville-reaches-milestone-in-septic-tank-phaseout-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/550368\/","title":{"rendered":"JEA, City of Jacksonville reaches milestone in septic tank phaseout program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Jacksonville officials are marking a major milestone in a long-running effort to eliminate failing septic tanks in neighborhoods near waterways.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><b>RELATED: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/i-team\/2025\/03\/03\/jea-city-of-jacksonville-making-progress-on-septic-tank-phaseout-program-beginning-to-target-new-areas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/i-team\/2025\/03\/03\/jea-city-of-jacksonville-making-progress-on-septic-tank-phaseout-program-beginning-to-target-new-areas\/\"><b>JEA, City of Jacksonville making progress on \u2018Septic Tank Phaseout\u2019 program, beginning to target new areas<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The city has now completed two major sewer conversion projects in the Biltmore and Beverly Hills neighborhoods, connecting more than 1,000 parcels to city sewer service. The projects are part of a multimillion-dollar initiative the News4JAX I-TEAM has been tracking for more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">City leaders and utility officials say additional projects are already moving forward. Two neighborhoods are currently in the planning phase, including Riverview, which officials say will be larger than all three previous projects combined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Riverview resident Marshiray Wellington who is also a member of the Riverview Collective Community Organization says she live on the Trout River and adds the community is eager for the changes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI actually grew up here in the Riverview neighborhood,\u201d Wellington said. \u201cUnfortunately, the integrity of the waterway has declined.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Wellington said pollution in the Trout River has been a long-standing issue, with contaminants entering the water after heavy rains when aging septic systems fail. City officials and JEA estimate more than 2,400 parcel in Riverview will eventually be connected to sewer service, with design work expected to begin as early as this spring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Residents and business owners are hopeful the project will bring lasting improvements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThey\u2019re really excited because of the relief they\u2019ll get from those failing septic tanks,\u201d Wellington said. \u201cBusinesses are also excited because it will allow them to do more with the parcels they have and hopefully attract more development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">According to JEA, the septic tank phaseout program is aimed at improving water quality across Jacksonville by reducing bacteria and pollution in impaired waterways.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of impaired waterways, there\u2019s a lot of bacteria and fecal coliform, so these projects are designed to help our tributaries,\u201d said Greg Corcoran, JEA\u2019s director of community engagement and project outreach in a city video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Corcoran also told JEA board members this week that the Christobel neighborhood is moving into the construction phase this spring. The project will connect more than 500 additional homes to city sewer service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWe are rebuilding these neighborhoods from the ground up while people are living there,\u201d Corcoran said. \u201cWe\u2019re digging up to 18 feet deep to install large manholes and extend water and sewer lines. There\u2019s a design phase, a construction phase, and then we connect homes to the system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The City of Jacksonville is funding the long-term initiative through a combination of local, state and utility-based funds. Mayor Donna Deegan\u2019s office has proposed increasing the city\u2019s annual contribution to the Septic Tank Phaseout Program to $25 million starting next year.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville officials are marking a major milestone in a long-running effort to eliminate failing septic&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":550369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,8314,3188,723,7310,14626,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-550368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-duval-county","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-jea","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}