Dirty diaper on an open campfire’: What’s that smell in Sumter County?
 

Wildwood still hooking up new builds and businesses with no sewage treatment capacity.

Maybe that explains what we are smelling some mornings when the wind is out of the SW?

Like everything else in Florida, this problem is undoubtedly exacerbated by the continued influx of people coming here. During the past four + years Florida has ranked #1 in population growth out of all the states (clickorlando dot com, 6/26/25), and my guess is that this area is, if not the fastest, then one of the fastest-growing areas, population-wise, in the state.

Infrastructure struggles to keep up, and waste management is as much a part of infrastructure as roads, water or anything else. I have no doubt that efforts ARE being made to correct this situation. But any solution will be like road construction and expansion: great in theory, but years in process.

One answer that comes immediately to mind is The Villages "Waste to Energy" program, which is "a program that diverts waste from landfills to generate energy from the combustion of municipal solid waste. Waste-to-Energy is the only form of energy generation that actually reduces greenhouse gases and plays an important role in addressing climate change due to avoiding methane from landfills, offsetting emissions from fossil fuel electrical production and recovering metals for recycling...Waste-to-Energy facilities convert waste to power steam turbines which generate electricity for homes and businesses, reducing greenhouse gases and landfill waste. The resulting ash is processed to recover metal for recycling while all gases are collected, filtered and cleaned to minimize environmental impact." (districtgov dot org)

To me that seems to be the logical answer. Look at the issue as an opportunity, not a problem, and act accordingly. Trash-to-electricity seems like a win-win.

The article refers to Lake Panasoffkee near Bushnell. This is not near within smell distance of The Villages.

Just like they keep cranking out new homes without adequate health care capacity.

Good to know...

I would guess many before moving here had a hike to Medical Facilities. 12 years ago for us up north it was 67 minutes to a facility that one didn’t have to worry about the care killing you instead of injuries. Or survival of a gunshot wound just walking from the parking lot.

All of our physicians that we trusted office was 50-70 minute drive. Of course we did have preferred care since most of our family lived on site facility 14-30 days at a time.

TV has a State of the Art Stroke Bus, 24/7 chopper to transport to any Level facility needed. Plus a bunch of cowboys with AEDs available in every neighborhood.

I have moved homes to better school systems, but buy a house because of health care, not in my top ten.

However you want more waste add a hospital…Just one day of all disposable hospital use, equals a month of residential trash. Except add human waste, blood and all things you really don’t want to know

You must have lived in the boondocks, up north we had multiple choices between The Cleveland Clinic and it's numerous hospitals, University Hospitals, and Summa Health System. Lots of pcps, specialists on all of the hospital campuses, etc. It was a shock when we moved to TV and tried to find doctors outside of TV Health System using regular medicare with a supplement. We finally found good doctors at Rivers Family Medicine and good dental care in Leesburg with Dr. Lundsford before he stopped accepting new patients. Specialists remained a problem as TV health had long waits for appointments and were generally running 30 to 60 minutes late. Had only one experience at TV hospital and will never go back there, quicker to drive to Ocala and much better care.

I'm from New Haven County, Connecticut. I was within a 5 minute ambulance ride to Yale and St. Raphael's Hospitals, and within 7 minutes to the hospital in Meriden. My own primary care physician was 10 minutes from home, and I could ride my bicycle to the dentist's office. There were three Urgent Care facilities all within 10 minutes by car of my house, and the surgical center where I had my knee operation was 10 minutes by car in the other direction. And yet I lived in the suburbs, off the main road, in an area that felt more like the Historic Section of the Villages except with mostly ranch and Cape Cod homes, with a few late 1800's farmhouses and a couple of Victorian colonials tossed in for historic interest.

I was in walking distance to the closest CVS. We moved from some of the best medical care in the country, to some of the most mediocre. It's not bad enough to be the worst, but it doesn't even hit the bottom edge of what we considered "acceptable" where I come from.

That’s exactly why my wife and I aren’t full timers in the Villages. And the already substandard health care is about to hit a very slippery downhill slope with the unfortunate events happening with The Villages Health. Buckle up for a bumpy ride.

Depends
 

Depends

The stench of The Villages new mosquito repellent. :)

Had a burrito at Chipotle…..sorry about that.

Hey people!! Quit waxing political about smells and stick to the subject of this thread: Health care in The Villages!!

Oh… wait… I forgot?

Waste to energy
 

Isn't that what Covanta is doing at their plant in Okahumpka?

Cowboys... That's funny!

" Coleman Prison " , a friend of mine was a Prison Guard and the Prison Smell is very uniqe a combination of Septic Tank Overflo & an Overused Outhouse...
My friend by the way lasted 5 weeks & lost 25 pounds.