A local partnership that brings cleaner air and cleaner water to Northwest Florida has won a major award from the state of Florida as an environmental best practice.

Gulf Power Company and the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) are co-winners in the partnership category for the Sustainable Florida-Collins Center 2010 Best Practice Awards program.

The award was announced Friday at the Sustainable Florida Awards banquet in St. Petersburg.

This marks the 12th year the non-profit Sustainable Florida, a program run by the Collins Center for Public Policy, handed out Best Practice Awards. The award honors businesses, organizations and individuals whose work demonstrates that a healthy environment and a healthy economy are mutually supportive.

A record 109 entries were received this year. A panel of leaders in government, business, academic institutions, and civic and environmental organizations evaluated the nominees based on outcomes achieved, the ability to duplicate the effort, and overall success of the initiative. The winners were culled from among 21 finalists in seven categories.

Beginning in September, Gulf Power’s scrubber system and operations at Plant Crist will use millions of gallons of reclaimed water from the ECUA’s new Central Water Reclamation Facility being constructed just north of the power plant.

The partnership helps establish the new ECUA advanced wastewater treatment plant as a zero-discharge facility, while reducing the water Gulf Power uses from the Escambia River. Gulf Power’s scrubber system, which began operating in December, is reducing   regulated air emissions at the power plant by more than 95 percent.

The new ECUA facility eventually will replace the Main Street Wastewater Plant, which discharges up to 20 millions of gallons of effluent daily into Pensacola Bay, and stands in a coastal flood zone, vulnerable to storm surge.

“Both utilities worked together to create a sustainable partnership to benefit our community,” said Sandy Sims, Gulf Power Public Affairs manager. “By partnering with ECUA to make beneficial use of their reclaimed water, ECUA will eliminate millions of gallons of effluent discharged into the bay while Gulf Power uses the water to run our scrubber which reduces air emissions from our power plant. It’s a double good benefit for the environment.”

After Hurricane Ivan in 2004, ECUA was awarded a $154 million federal grant to replace the Main Street plant. But it would not be permitted to discharge into Escambia Bay, which is deemed to be an impaired waterway — even though the effluent would be cleaner than that from the Main Street plant.

“Partnering with Gulf Power provided ECUA a viable, environmentally progressive option for disposal, which is beneficial to all concerned,” said Steve Sorrell, executive director of ECUA “Our costs were reduced, directly benefiting our ratepayers, and the environmental advantages to both partners, and our community, are immense.” 

With Gulf Power using the reclaimed water, it reduced the amount of land ECUA needed to purchase for spray-fields.

Gulf Power is permitted to use up to 20 million gallons a day of reclaimed water, of which more than 80 percent will be evaporated as part of the scrubber, cooling tower and plant operations. The reclaimed water from ECUA’s new plant will be cleaner than existing river quality water and its low-chloride content helps Gulf Power produce marketable gypsum.

The scrubber system uses a simple reaction to neutralize gases produced while generating electricity. Water cools the gases from the four generating units, which are then bubbled through a swirling bath of crushed limestone in the scrubber’s Jet Bubbling Reactor vessel.

The byproduct of the process is market-quality gypsum, which can be sold to cement or wallboard manufacturing companies. Steam released through the scrubber stack is the most visible sign of the system at work.

“Our projects and our partnership will help improve both the air and water quality in Northwest Florida,” Sims said. “Partnerships like this are the best way to move forward as a business and a community — to provide a sustainable future.”