CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — The Marine Science Station in Citrus County just completed a conversion from a septic system to a sewer system.

It's a project they've been working on since 2016.

The Science Station and the Citrus County school district recently received the 2019 Environmental Stewardship Award from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for the project.

It was a collaborative effort between the school district, county commissioners, and the Citrus County Department of Water Resources.

Representatives with the Wekiva Youth Camp also played a big role in getting the project started. One of the engineers on the project is a former camper, and spent a week at the Marine Science Station several years ago as part of the program.

Now, Marine Science Station Supervisor Earnie Olsen said the area waterways will be cleaner, especially since they do flood at the science station location.

"That water that got into this system is taking potentially waste water back out into this river, so having us connected to this sewer, i'’s taking all this waste water generated in this facility and then taking it to a treatment plant in the city of Crystal River," Olsen explained.

This was the first year DEP's Southwest District gave out the environmental stewardship award.