As of Saturday, Oct. 1, Toho Water Authority (Toho), the largest provider of water, wastewater and reclaimed water services in Osceola County, and the City of St. Cloud Environmental Utilities Department united and began operations as one utility serving customers throughout the region, including Osceola County, the Cities of St. Cloud and Kissimmee and portions of Polk and Orange counties.

Since the St. Cloud City Council approval in February for Toho to manage the St. Cloud utility, the teams have been working hand-in-hand to ensure a smooth transition.

“Toho is committed to providing all of our customers dependable, quality water services,” said Toho Executive Director Todd Swingle. “The teams have been working hard toward integrating the operations of the two utilities to deliver on those goals.”

One of the benefits of working together as one utility included the adoption of Toho’s rates, which meant a rate decrease for an estimated 73% of the St. Cloud customers when the rates were adopted ahead of the transition.

Other benefits include: the addition of redundancy in each utility’s system and consolidated efforts to plan for future water resource needs throughout the region.

Postcards were sent to all St. Cloud service area customers saying hello and describing how to find more information about the ongoing transition. A Frequently Asked Questions page (Toho FAQs) is available online in English and Spanish at: www.stcloudfl.gov/utilities or by scanning the QR code below.

Toho Water ScanFormed in 2003 by a special act by the Florida Legislature, Toho Water currently serves over 150,000 customers in St. Cloud, Kissimmee, Poinciana and unincorporated areas of Osceola Polk and Orange counties.

Toho currently operates 17 water treatment facilities and nine wastewater treatment facilities with the purpose of providing efficient and reliable water services. Toho has positioned itself as a respected leader in water, a valued community partner and an employer of choice