New Smyrna Beach breaks ground on Florida’s largest pellet softening expansion

New Smyrna Beach Utilities (NSBU), alongside city officials and project partners PC Construction and Stantec, has broken ground on the Glencoe Water Treatment Plant Pellet Softening Expansion — set to become the largest application of pellet softening technology in Florida.

The project will replace aging 1970s-era lime softening reactor clarifiers with a modern pellet softening system designed to improve reliability, increase capacity and lower long-term operating costs. NSBU expects the upgrades to extend the plant’s service life by at least 30 years and significantly delay the need to construct a reverse osmosis facility.

Once complete, the expansion will increase plant capacity to 8.7 mgd, with provisions to expand to 11.6 mgd in the future. According to NSBU, the new system will use 45% fewer chemicals and 50% less energy than the existing lime softening process. It will also eliminate lime sludge disposal and reduce byproduct waste by 80%.

“New Smyrna Beach Utilities is excited to bring this industry-leading water softening project to our water treatment plant,” said Efren Chavez, NSBU General Manager/CEO, in a press release. “We spent the better part of the past five years evaluating the technology and its benefits for our community. Not only will it be instrumental in providing a sustainable, high-quality water source for our customers for the foreseeable future, but it will also save significant money in our water rates for the long term through cost avoidance of building alternative water processing facilities now, such as a reverse osmosis treatment plant.”

The progressive design-build team conducted extensive pilot testing to validate performance before moving into full-scale implementation. The expansion includes an 8,500-square-foot pellet softening facility, administrative space, upgraded electrical systems and site improvements. Construction is expected to be completed by late 2027.