Drivers near Apopka should brace for a full month of detours: North Thompson Road is closed around the clock, seven days a week, between Reagans Reserve Boulevard and Yvonne Street, including the Sandpiper Street intersection, for roughly 30 days starting in late August. The closure is the most visible sign yet of a sprawling, multiyear effort to rip septic tanks out of neighborhoods near the Wekiva River and replace them with central sewer lines.
The work is part of Phase 4 of the Wekiwa Springs Septic Tank Retrofit Project, which serves 396 properties across the Rolling Oaks, Carlton Woods, and Carlton Oaks subdivisions, according to The Apopka Chief. Crews are installing two pump stations, 98 manholes, and more than 31,000 feet of sewer mains to serve those homes, a scope of construction that helps explain why the road closure runs a full 30 days rather than a shorter overnight detour. As WKMG reported, nearby residents may end up feeling the project’s price tag as its loudest lasting impact, even after the construction noise fades.
That price tag is considerable. Orange County’s Wekiwa Springs Septic-to-Sewer Program, launched in the summer of 2021, aims to convert nearly 2,000 homes across 20 neighborhoods near the Wekiva River onto central sewer service, per Orange County’s own program description. Homeowners in the designated conversion neighborhoods are assessed a fixed $6,000 fee for the sewer connection, payable upfront or financed over 10 years at roughly $700 a year through their property tax bill.
Why Septic Tanks Are the Target
The push to eliminate septic tanks isn’t just about aging infrastructure. Septic systems account for 29% of the total nitrogen loading in the groundwater feeding Wekiwa Springs and Rock Springs, according to Orange County, and that excess nitrogen drives the harmful algae growth that threatens the springs’ aquatic ecosystems. Under the 2016 Florida Springs and Aquifer Protection Act, properties under one acre inside designated Basin Management Action Plan Priority Focus Areas must switch to central sewer or install enhanced nitrogen-reducing septic systems by July 1, 2030, per guidance from Jones Edmunds.
For homeowners whose streets aren’t yet slated for sewer lines, the county offers an alternative. Its Septic Upgrade Incentive Program provides up to $10,000 in rebates for property owners in the Wekiwa Priority Focus Area to replace standard tanks with advanced nitrogen-reducing systems ahead of the state deadline.
Who's Footing the Bill
The broader construction cost isn't falling solely on residents or the county. The St. Johns River Water Management District contributed $13.1 million toward the $47.7 million cost of early construction phases, part of a cost-sharing partnership that also includes the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Orange County Utilities reached a symbolic milestone in May 2025, converting its 500th home under the program during work in Apopka's Palms neighborhood, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Not every neighborhood pays the same way, though. In June, Orange County celebrated the completion of a separate project converting 95 properties in Pine Hills entirely with federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars and state grants, with no out-of-pocket fee charged to homeowners, as WMFE reported. That contrast has fueled distinct perceptions of fairness between neighborhoods, since Wekiwa-area homeowners still owe the fixed $6,000 assessment that Pine Hills residents avoided. Hoodline covered a related Pine Hills utility milestone in its Pine Hills redevelopment renderings report earlier this year.
A Deadline Still Four Years Away
With roughly 1,500 of the targeted 2,000 homes still awaiting conversion, and a 2030 state deadline looming, it remains an open question whether Orange County can keep pace across all 20 neighborhoods in time. It's also unclear how effectively the county's property-tax financing option will ease resistance among fixed-income homeowners facing the $6,000 assessment. For now, the visible cost to Apopka residents is measured in detours: North Thompson Road traffic will be rerouted around the closure for the duration of the roughly monthlong project.
