Daytona Beach Residents Will Vote On Toilet-To-Tap

Daytona Beach citizens will vote this fall on a charter amendment that, if passed by a simple majority, would “prohibit the City’s water utility from approving the use of reclaimed blackwater as a direct source water for either (1) injection into the aquifer or (2) introduction into the City’s potable public water system,” as stated in an agenda summary dated March 4. The City Commission greenlighted the vote during its March 18 meeting.

Blackwater describes a process that treats wastewater for reuse as drinking water or to be injected into the aquifer. It has become a prominent talking point throughout Volusia County, often referred to as toilet-to-tap.

The idea of allowing the residents to vote on the issues has been backed by the political committee Let Volusia Vote. The committee is comprised of concerned citizens who seek for Volusia County to take the lead in banning the potable use of blackwater and ban it from injection underneath the aquifer.

Not all agree that toilet-to-tap is the most important water- quality concern of the moment.

Catherine Pante speaking to the Daytona Beach City Commission on March 18 regarding blackwater and PFAS.

Catherine Pante urged the commission to pause the charter amendment proposal. Though she isn’t against a ban at some point. For her, the level of  PFAS in the water supply is the more pressing concern.

Ms. Pante also believes this isn’t the best time to bring the blackwater banning idea up for a vote by the people. It would be better, she said to the commission during their March 18 meeting, to wait for the engineering consultant’s completion of a study that will present “options for complying with Senate Bill 64.”

Senate Bill 64 became law in 2021. It  notes that potable reuse is an alternative water supply which might be funded by the state. SB 64 focuses on a host of issues surrounding reclaimed water, beneficial and nonbeneficial surface water discharge, grey water, and forbids the discharge of wastewater into the Halifax River by 2032.

Ms. Pante notes that the group Let Volusia Vote, specifically Greg Gimbert, is asking the City Commission to “to make a permanent policy decision before you have all the facts and before residents have them, residents must have full information, including complete cost analysis, before we decide. The commission is being asked to ban one option before the consultant's full report is complete with timelines, cost and risk comparisons, is even finished. That's premature and unfair to taxpayers.”

During his turn speaking to the commission, Mr. Gimbert tied toilet-to-tap to development by

asking the City Commission, “Are we going to grow to the natural limit? Are we going to have no limit? Because once they start putting it (blackwater) in the aquifer and conjuring the notion of unlimited water, there is no limit (to development).

Greg Gimbert addresses the Daytona Beach City Commission on March 18 regarding blackwater.

He commented that the state government repeatedly overrides municipalities' attempts to limit growth, and “The only thing you have left to have any reasonable limit on growth is to turn off the sewage water.”

It is important to note that during the Commission’s March 4 meeting, City Attorney Benjamin Gross informed the commission that the state can preempt a city charter amendment.

The City Commission unanimously voted for the amendment to be on the November 3, 2026, ballot. If passed by the residents the city charter would have a new section titled “Limitation on Reclaimed Blackwater Use.”

Daytona Beach City Commissioners (L-R) Paula Reed, Dannette Henry and Stacy Cantu contemplate blackwater being injected into the aquifer and allowed into drinking water during the Commission March 18 meeting.

After the vote, Mr. Gimbert posted a video of the unanimous decision and is heard saying, “God bless Daytona Beach.”

In an accompanying photo depicting him and friends toasting the City Commission's decision at a local wine bar, he wrote, “Daytona has done their part, but we really don’t have clean water for the whole county until we stop Deltona from poisoning our aquifer with their direct aquifer injection sewage water.”

Charles I. Guarria is an author, reporter and host based in the state of Florida, USA, covering any topic, anywhere in the world. His career began in 2009. Mr. Guarria is a three-time winner of Emerald Group Publishing’s Highly Commended Award and host of The Opinion Guy Fun Friendly Informative. He is available for hire to write, research, or beta-read.

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` Photo Credit: City of Daytona Beach

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