Sewer and Reclaimed Water in Cocoa

City of Cocoa wastewater goes to the Jerry Sellers Water Reclamation Facility at 375 North Cocoa Blvd., reached at (321) 433-8739 and open Monday to Friday from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm (Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page).

The Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page describes treatment as biological removal of nutrients, aeration, clarification, filtration, disinfection and de-chlorination, run under the rules of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page). A contractor hauls away the residual solids for use as a soil amendment, and the liquid discharge stream from the plant is provided to reclaimed water customers within and adjacent to the City of Cocoa (Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page).

Questions about the reclamation side go to the plant itself, while the same Cocoa page lists Water Customer Service at 65 Stone St. and the Utilities Department, (321) 433-8700, on Shearer Blvd. (Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page). Drinking water and the monthly bill have their own Digital Towns guides for Cocoa; this page stays with what happens after the drain.

Cocoa's wastewater division is responsible for 53 lift stations, nearly 100 miles of gravity sewers and force mains, and nearly 50 miles of reclaimed water mains and service lines serving almost 2,000 customers (Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page).

Source for the table: Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page.

Bracco Reservoir and the 22 wells are the backup supply: the Cocoa page says the reservoir provides a supplemental source of reclaimed water during heavy use periods and the wells can make additional water available during peak demand periods (Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page). A water, sewer or reclaimed main break anywhere in the Cocoa system is reported to (321) 433-8400, which the reclaimed rates page also gives as the emergency and after hours number (Cocoa reclaimed rates and phone numbers).

The City of Cocoa began providing reclaimed water in 1991 as an option to discharging wastewater effluent into the Indian River Lagoon, and the city says the distribution system has expanded annually since (Cocoa Supplemental Sources page).

Growth created its own problem. The Cocoa Supplemental Sources page says continued expansion produced demand for reclaimed water in excess of available wastewater effluent, gives 2002 figures of an annual average of 2.84 mgd of wastewater treated and 2.49 mgd of reclaimed water demand, and says demand above the effluent supply is met with storm water or ground water (Cocoa Supplemental Sources page). It names the supplemental sources as the Bracco Reservoir storage and storm water ponds, the Cocoa Riverfront Park Storm Water Facility and superficial aquifer wells (Cocoa Supplemental Sources page).

The City of Cocoa's own documents describe the reclaimed system with different figures from different years, so a count quoted from one of them may not match another. The table sets the three side by side as each document prints them, with the Work Plan the only one that dates its pipe inventory.

Sources for the table: Cocoa Supplemental Sources page, Cocoa Water Supply Facilities Work Plan and Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page. The Work Plan lists the larger ground tank by flow rate (5 mgd), while the current Cocoa page lists it by volume (5 million gallon), and the Supplemental Sources count of about 1,900 customers sits beside the current page's almost 2,000.

A Cocoa reclaimed water connection costs $301 for a 5/8 x 3/4 inch meter, $425 for 1 inch, $700 for 1.5 inch and $1,000 for 2 inch (Cocoa reclaimed rates and phone numbers).

The same City of Cocoa page lists separate backflow prevention assembly installation charges by meter size.

Source for the table: Cocoa reclaimed rates and phone numbers.

Rates are subject to change by the Cocoa City Council, and every reclaimed service located outside Cocoa is charged 125% of the rates (Cocoa reclaimed rates and phone numbers). A property outside Cocoa that needs a reclaimed main extension, a service larger than 2 inches, changes to its potable water service or other unusual work pays actual costs based on the Utilities Director's estimate. One saving is written into the same Cocoa page: a customer with an existing potable water irrigation meter pays no connection charge when it stops using an irrigation meter of the same size (Cocoa reclaimed rates and phone numbers).

After connection, the monthly bill has two parts, according to the Cocoa Utilities Handbook: a base fee by meter size, which the handbook calls the readiness to serve charge, and commodity charges based on metered reclaimed water consumption (Cocoa Utilities Handbook). The handbook describes reclaimed water as treated wastewater that is clean, clear and odorless, not suitable for drinking, and meant for irrigation as a major part of the city's water conservation program where available. The Cocoa water bill guide carries the reclaimed base and consumption rates.

Connecting to the Cocoa sewer is not required, but all properties can connect at the owner's discretion, with an impact fee and a sewer connection charge, according to the city's annexation FAQ (Cocoa annexation FAQ).

The same Cocoa FAQ sends questions about those charges to the Cocoa Utilities Department at 321-433-8700 (Cocoa annexation FAQ). The Utilities Handbook says the sewer impact fee is charged per equivalent residential connection (ERC), and that the monthly sewer base fee is assessed by meter size, billed to all active accounts, and does not include the commodity charges, which are based on metered water consumption (Cocoa Utilities Handbook). The handbook defines an inside rate for accounts inside Cocoa city limits and an outside rate for those beyond them, and the rules sit in Chapter 22, Water and Sewers, of the City of Cocoa Code of Ordinances (Cocoa Utilities Handbook).

Septic is still part of the picture. The Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation section lists pages on septic tank maintenance, what not to flush, fats, oil and grease, and an Areas J and K Septic to Sewer Conversion Project, alongside the reclaimed water service application and reclaimed water usage pages (Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation page).

Cocoa is not the only reclaimed water provider in its own water service area: the September 2009 Work Plan counts ten other reclaimed water treatment systems there (Cocoa Water Supply Facilities Work Plan).

Each receives wastewater flows within the Cocoa water service area: three municipal, four county and three on federal property.

The three municipal systems, run by the Cities of Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach and Rockledge, provide reclaimed water only within their own limits, and the four county systems serve the general areas of Merritt Island, Port St. John, Sharpes and South Central Brevard County, according to the Cocoa Work Plan (Cocoa Water Supply Facilities Work Plan). The last three sit on U.S. Government property: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center and the KSC Industrial Complex. The Brevard County water and sewer guide covers the county side.

Source for the table: Cocoa reclaimed rates and phone numbers.

Last verified: October 21, 2026, in a fresh read of the Cocoa Waste Water Reclamation, reclaimed rates and Supplemental Sources pages, the Utilities Handbook, the annexation FAQ and the Water Supply Facilities Work Plan.