$80M approved for another Tampa wastewater infrastructure project
TAMPA, Fla. - The City of Tampa announced that $80 million was approved for another wastewater infrastructure project. This project is part of the city's long-term overhaul of its infrastructure system.
The backstory:
The city started the PIPES program in 2019, which allocated nearly $3 billion for stormwater and wastewater infrastructure improvement projects and repairs.
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On Wednesday, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said the city has already spent about $700 million on 1,500 miles of pipes across the city. City officials said some of the pipes are 80 to 100 years old.
The city said its wastewater system serves more than 630,000 people.
"Some of the pipes and so forth are literally older than I am," Castor said.
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Since the PIPES program began, the city has been upgrading and repairing its infrastructure system.
"All of those waste waterpipes have not been replaced," Castor said. "They are all on a schedule for those in the worst condition, up to those that are a bit newer and in better condition."
About $200 million in upgrades are underway at Tampa's advanced wastewater plant.
Big picture view:
Last week, it said City Council approved $80 million for more upgrades and improvements for advanced wastewater treatment.
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"'Advanced' means you pull out the nitrogen from the wastewater before the finished water gets discharged into the bay," Tampa Watewater Director Eric Weiss said. "Why is that important? Because, it can cause algae blooms, fish kills and degrade the sea grasses. We take out, now, about seven million tons of nitrogen per year."
Dig deeper:
The $80 million project will also improve resiliency and ensure the city's main pump station can keep running in the event of a flood. The city has been working to raise electrical equipment above flood plain level.
Last year, city leaders said Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused some infrastructure breakdown.
"Through Helene and Milton, the water, the rain water, that soaked into our wastewater pipes in some of these cracks and crevices that caused some of the sinkholes in our roadways that we have had to address since last late September, early October," Castor said.
Last year, Weiss said there were 10 wastewater spills around Tampa as a result of the heavy rain from Hurricane Debby. He said the spills totaled 343,000 gallons of wastewater.
"Our aging infrastructure, our pipes, has cracks in it, you know, which allow groundwater, rain water during these events to get into the pipe, fill up the capacity and then cause an overflow through the mantle," Weiss said. "The more we fix those pipes, the less water could get in, and we could be more resilient to tropical storm events."
What's next:
Weiss said that since the beginning of the PIPES program, the wastewater plant has been awarded $280 million.
He said there are a number of other infrastructure improvement and resiliency projects underway at the plant that are expected to be finished in the next few years.
The PIPES program is a long-term project that's expected to take about 25 to 30 years to fully complete.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kylie Jones.