Orange County hires expert to study buying Pluris Wedgefield

Pamela DiMarzio and many of her Wedgefield neighbors, concerned about the high cost and low quality of their drinking water, are hopeful Orange County may buy the private utility that provides water to the community. Their optimism was buoyed last month when county commissioners voted to hire consultants to study the cost of buying Dallas-based Pluris Wedgefield Water and Wastewater Systems, though company officials have previously said the utility isn’t for sale. “We’re just asking to have water quality that we can trust and water we can afford,” said Dimarzio, vice president of the Wedgefield Homeowners Association, an engineer and a mother of three boys. Wedgefield residents have begged for years for help but have gotten little local, state or federal support, despite testing in 2016 that showed high levels of potentially harmful compounds in the tap water. “I feel bad for them,” said Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla, whose commission district includes Wedgefield, an east Orange community once known as “Rocket City” because it was envisioned as homes for workers at the Kennedy Space Center. Bonilla said water is an essential resource, Pluris holds a monopoly as the community’s sole water provider and hiring Hartman Consultants was a required step for a potential buyout.