Hillsborough County breaks ground on $1.6B wastewater infrastructure project in Lithia

LITHIA, Fla. - Hillsborough County leaders broke ground on a new advanced wastewater treatment plant in Lithia Friday. 

That area falls in District 4, which is represented by County Commissioner Christine Miller.

"I want them to know that this is the county using their tax dollars, investing it where we should be investing it — and that's in the infrastructure and the resources that make their quality of life better," Miller said in a message to residents.  

By the numbers:

The new facility is part of the county’s One Water Program, a $1.6 billion initiative aimed at addressing immediate and long-term water and wastewater needs in Hillsborough County’s South-Central Service Area, which includes Apollo Beach, Brandon, Gibsonton, Riverview, Ruskin, Wimauma, Sun City Center and Valrico.

"What's going to be built is a 30 million gallon per day advanced wastewater treatment plant — some of the most advanced technology that's out there — for purposes of providing adequate treatment capacity for our growing community," George Cassady, assistant county administrator for public utilities for Hillsborough County, said.

County officials said these upgrades are needed in an area that continues to grow at a rapid pace.

"We are developing homes here, but we didn't have the infrastructure before. And so, as the people continue to push outside of the city, we have to provide the resources for them," Miller said.

What's next:

Water customers shouldn’t notice any changes, officials told FOX 13.

"The beauty of this program is that customers will not see a change in their service, right? So, it'll be invisible to them. They'll still be able to use water, still be able to take showers. It will be unnoticed to them," Cassady said. "This will just provide additional resilient capacity for now and in the future."

Traffic ramifications 

 But drivers in the area might see impacts: Crews are already lining up sections of new wastewater pipes along County Road 672 – pipes that will eventually carry wastewater to the Lithia plant.

"We worked really hard to find a pipeline route that would not interfere with a lot of traffic on CR-672. So, we're off of the road, we're not in the road. We think that's going to be a real benefit. They'll see construction, but it shouldn't really impede their travels on a day-to-day basis," Cassady told FOX 13. "There will be some construction once we get east of US-301 that will be through a neighborhood. That will be somewhat inconvenient, but again, we'll do our best to make it quick and make it painless."

The first phase is expected to be completed in 2028.