- December 15, 2025
Through local partnerships, the county will build a $61,000 self-serve wellhouse for the 2,200 residents in Daytona North.
At the request of County Commissioner Nate McLaughlin, who represents the area, the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners agreed April 3 to build a potable water wellhouse at the Hidden Trails Community Center, in Daytona North.
The initiative, called Project GRACE (Groundwater Resource Aquifer Community Effort), will offer the 2,200 residents in the area a communal distribution point for fresh drinking water.
“It’s not that the quality of the water coming out of the ground out there is different from anywhere else,” Andy Johnson, special projects coordinator, said. “It’s more about the economic status of many of the residents out there.”
Because the water currently available in Daytona North comes from a well, it requires costly reverse-osmosis filtration to remove the iron and sulfur, Johnson said.
“A lot of people can’t afford filtration systems,” Communications Manager Carl Laundrie added. “They’re also expensive to maintain.”
A system alone can cost about $6,000. Maintenance for the year can run an extra $200.
And so to help out, the Rev. Charles Silano, of Grace Tabernacle Ministries, and Second Harvest North Florida, have been delivering donated bottled water to the area, a resource that may become scarce once hurricane season starts.
Working with the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates, the Flagler County Homebuilders Association, local Rotary clubs, the Florida Rural Water Association, the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, though, upfront costs of about $61,000 will be provided for a 20-by-20-foot self-serve wellhouse to be erected. Existing pipelines to the Community Center will be utilized, and walkways and lighting will be added, as well.
Annual operating costs of about $6,000 will be paid for with ad valorem taxes, the same as at other county parks.
According to Commissioner Milissa Holland, the United Way’s Women’s Initiative has also made this project the primary beneficiary of its High Tea Summer Social in October, with goals of raising $25,000, doubling last year’s earnings.
“I was looking at this as a humanitarian thing,” McLaughlin said. “These folks need water … and folks that are going to go and get their water this year are folks who might not have $10 per month, let alone for the year.”
The 90-foot well will offer up to 2,500 gallons of drinking water per day and could be used as a backup well in the future, when a municipal water system is installed in the area, McLaughlin added.
“It’s very important that this is a partnership effort,” Johnson added. “It’s a pretty unique problem, and we’re proposing a pretty unique solution.”
Maintenance costs for Project GRACE will be included in next year’s budget report.
