Cocoa, FL Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Article IV of Chapter 22 of the Cocoa Code of Ordinances governs the city's reclaimed water supply system. Section 22-36 authorizes the Cocoa Utilities Department to design, construct, operate and manage a non-potable reclaimed water system drawn from ground water and reclaimed sources like surface water and wastewater reuse. Section 22-37 requires all developments built in the city, unless they had final plat approval before June 27, 1989, to design and install a reclaimed water distribution system for irrigating green areas, expressly including landscape irrigation, medians, parks, playgrounds, school yards, golf courses, cemeteries, retail nurseries, residential properties and decorative ponds and fountains; the city manager may exempt a parcel only on a showing that skipping the reclaimed system will not harm reasonable-beneficial use of the potable supply, a term tied to Fla.

019. Section 22-38 lets the city require existing properties adjacent to an installed reclaimed main to connect and stop irrigating with potable water, on mailed notice to the address on the tax roll. Section 22-39 caps connections at one meter per separate irrigation system, though a property with over 300 feet of frontage along a distribution main may get more than one meter if each is charged its own connection fee, and the city is not obligated to extend service if new transmission lines are needed unless the customer pays for the improvement in advance.

Section 22-41 requires all connections to be metered, sets connection charges and use rates by city council resolution advertised at least ten days before adoption, and charges properties outside city limits 125 percent of the standard rate. Section 22-42 bars cross-connecting a private well with any irrigation system tied to the reclaimed water supply. These provisions originate in Ordinance No. 9-89 (1989) and were amended through Ordinance No. 21-04 (2004).