FORT LAUDERDALE — A new option in the fight for clean waterways will launch in spring 2026: a pump-out boat to provide free in-water sewage removal for craft in Fort Lauderdale.

The goal is for boat owners to responsibly empty their holding tanks instead of discharging sewage into the city’s 165 miles of waterways.

Fort Lauderdale’s mayor and city commissioners recently approved the plan to buy a sewage pump-out vessel through a federal Clean Vessel Act grant. They are working in collaboration with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The sewage pump-out service will be available on-demand or by appointment through the FixIt FTL Mobile App, or via the city’s official website: [www.fortlauderdale.gov](http://www.fortlauderdale.gov).

Marco Aguilera, in Fort Lauderdale’s newly created position of chief waterways officer, has seen the problems firsthand. He previously worked on the city’s code enforcement boat to uphold waterway ordinances.

One of his priorities is to make the new service accessible to boaters.

“This will succeed with the FixIt app,” Aguilera said. “It will be easy to schedule on the phone and the service will come to you.

“Not only in the ICW [Intracoastal Waterway], but if a boat is behind a house that we can get to, we will service it.”

To spread the word, he expects participating boaters will help educate others.

When the pump-out boat is not on an appointment, his goal is to be proactive by publicizing the service.

“To visit vessels in anchorage areas, knock on the side of the boat and say, ‘You’re not from here, so we want you to know this is a service we offer,’” Aguilera said. “We want everyone to know.”

The pending service is a welcome effort to Kenia Fulton, owner of Marine Waste Management.

“Good for the city,” said Fulton, whose company offers marine pump-outs by truck to shoreside boats. They used to do it by boat but have since retired that vessel.

“‘Pump, don’t dump’ is our motto,” she said. “It is super important. There are houseboats that don’t have a motor, they don’t move. Where are they flushing their toilets? Right in my backyard.”

“Now, at the sandbar, if you jump in with a normal white shirt, it [turns] gray,” she said, referring to the area populated by boaters at the mouth of the New River where it meets the ICW. “It’s disgusting.”

She recognizes challenges for a pump-out boat, including traveling long distances between appointments, difficult weather, varying pump-out fittings for different boats, and the need to empty the pump-out boat itself. But she hopes the city is successful—especially for boats on moorings.

Fulton says better enforcement of marine no-dumping laws should also be a priority, but she recognizes the lack of manpower and the scope of the problem. Still, she applauds the new option.

“This can help our waterways. Nobody should be dumping. I think the environment should be the highest priority,” Fulton said.

The new craft will dock at Cooley’s Landing and will empty the collection tank at that facility.

As of late October, Fort Lauderdale was in the bid process for the new boat, with a target set for a 1,000-gallon holding tank on a vessel under 35 feet.