TAMPA, Fla. — Members of Tampa's water department are in the process of finding out what is the best method of diverting the city's wastewater into the Hillsborough River.
Right now, about 55 million gallons of treated wastewater are sent into Tampa Bay every day, according to the city. However, a series of environmental and political pressures have forced the city to rethink its wastewater usage.
That's why water officials are proposing the PURE (Purify Usable Resources for the Environment) program as a way of addressing three main challenges the city is facing.
The first is reintroducing more freshwater into the lower Hillsborough River.
According to Sonia Quinones, a spokesperson for Tampa Water Department, the river has become more saline over the years. That's impacted the habitats of several fish and wildlife that live below the Hillsborough Dam on the river.
The city is required by law to provide a steady flow of freshwater to the river, which typically comes from Sulphur Springs. However, recently, the springs have also become more saline and Tampa wants to stop pumping from it to protect it.
"It's something that we've been aware of in the last couple of years — that we need to deal with this," Quinones said.
The second issue is making sure the city has enough water in its reservoir to use during drought season. According to Quinones, droughts don't just impact individual cities, they affect the entire region. If one area is struggling to provide its residents with water, they may be forced to buy water from other municipalities.
Tampa was in that exact situation more than a decade ago.
"It got really, really bad," Quinones said. "Even though we were buying a lot of water on a daily basis from Tampa Bay Water — the regional supplier — we were still running out of water."
The final and most recent challenge the city is facing is a new state law requiring that it no longer send treated reclaimed water into Hillsborough Bay. Tampa has until 2032 to comply with the law or else it will face fines up to $15,000 per day, the city said.
"The state law is the newest impetus," Quinones said. "That one is the one that has a hard deadline that we have to meet or there will be penalties."
Last week, Tampa council members approved a roughly $1.4 million study into how exactly PURE will work.
The city says the following options are on the table:
- Pumping water down into the aquifer and withdrawing it during the dry season.
- Adding the water created during the PURE process to the Hillsborough River Reservoir.
- Selling reclaimed water to another water utility.
- Sending reclaimed water deep underground using deep well injection.
- Treating reclaimed water to drinking water standards and adding it directly into the drinking water supply.
No matter which option is chosen, the city says current wastewater would have to be treated even further to ensure no excess nitrogen gets into the river.
Quinones said Tampa Water Department plans on reintroducing the PURE program this fall.
