About Us

The Okeechobee Utility Authority (OUA) is a government entity that began full operation of the water and wastewater systems of Okeechobee on September 29, 1995.    

The independent OUA board was appointed through an interlocal agreement approved by the City of Okeechobee and the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners.    

Two regular board members and one alternate are appointed by the City of Okeechobee. Two regular board members and one alternate are appointed by the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners. The four regular members select the fifth regular board member and one alternate from Buckhead Ridge, Glades County.    

The OUA Board meets once a month at the Okeechobee Utility Authority, Main Office at 100 SW 5th Avenue, at 9:00 a.m. on the third Thursday of the month.    

In addition to the central water and wastewater systems, the OUA operates and maintains the King's Bay wastewater system and wastewater treatment plants at Okee-Tantie Park, Everglades Elementary School, and Lakeview Estates.    

The OUA system, as of April 2022, had a total of 9,645 metered water accounts and 4,507 sewer accounts.    

The surface water plant, with a capacity of 5 million gallons, is located on S.R. 78 West and pumps water from Lake Okeechobee. Current average day production for potable drinking water is 2.5 million gallons per day with a maximum day production of 5 million gallons per day.    

The Wastewater Treatment Plant has a permitted capacity of 3,900,000 a day based upon the Three Month Average daily Flow (TMADF). As of February 2019, the plant is treating approximately 874,000 TMADF.    

For customer convenience, the main office has a drive-up window open during normal office hours and a drop box for payments after hours.    Bills for water and/or wastewater service are mailed to each customer, monthly. 

Bills are due by the date printed on the bill. Each customer who has not paid their bill by the shut off date will receive a hand delivered warning at a minimum of 24 hours prior to the shut off date. Payments can be made by cash, check, credit card or debit. Direct Debit can also be set up for individuals who wish to have the payments debited out of their checking or savings accounts.