All recreational activities on Lake Rose are now prohibited until further notice as a result of a breakage of a privately-held lift station nearby. A lift station is a holding area for raw and untreated sewage. The privately-held lift station failed on March 20th and was located at 109 Good Homes Road.
Orange County’s Environmental Protection Division recently sampled Lake Rose and the adjacent canal and found very high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. Samples exceeded state criteria for recreational waters.
“We do not know the exact time when this issue will be resolved, most likely in the next two weeks,” said Julie Bortles, Orange County Water Sciences Program Supervisor. “Mother Nature will ultimately remediate the bacteria levels and our department will continue testing the site every couple of days until water quality is determined to be safe. Residents should take precautionary measures to avoid exposure.”
According to Orange County officials, residents should refrain from all recreational activities in the 94-acre lake – including fishing and swimming – and pets should not drink from the lake. In addition, if residents have any irrigation wells that draw from nearby underground water resources they should not be used until further notice from the County.
The cause of the incident was a break of the main sprinkler line that eroded the ground housing of the valve box and broke the lift station. This caused untreated wastewater to leak into the nearby canal, which flowed into the lake. The amount of sewage overflow is unknown, but most likely exceeds 1,000 gallons.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection was notified of the incident and Orange County Utilities is involved in the oversight of repairs to the lift station. Citizens can call (407) 836-1400 with questions or for more information. Nearby, 177-acre Lake Sherwood is currently being monitored by the Environmental Protection Division for signs of sewage water intrusion.
