$17M upgrades completed to one of Tampa's oldest wastewater pumping stations

Wastewater pumping station gets new renovations

Tampa just completed $17 million in upgrades to one of its oldest wastewater pumping stations. FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia reports.

TAMPA, Fla - The city of Tampa just completed $17 million in upgrades to one of its oldest wastewater pumping stations.

The Bayshore Wastewater Pumping Station, located along the grassy median on Bayshore Blvd just south of Bay to Bay Blvd, was first put into service in 1955. It collects wastewater from nearby businesses, homes and schools east of Dale Mabry Hwy between Interbay Blvd and Bay to Bay Blvd. 

By the numbers:

Upgrades included adding two new pumps, bringing the station’s total to four.

 "There is some nominal increase in the volume that we can treat, but it's mostly for sustainability," Tampa Wastewater Dept. Director Eric Weiss said. "If one or two of those pumps fails, we're still pumping [wastewater] to the plant."

The Bayshore Wastewater Pumping Station is one of 229 pumping stations across the city of Tampa. All of them work to move wastewater to the city’s advanced wastewater treatment plant at Port Tampa. 

Dig deeper:

The Bayshore Wastewater Pumping Station’s electrical equipment, which used to be underground, was moved above ground and is now housed inside a small green building along Bayshore Blvd. That building is surrounded by a 10-foot concrete wall that’s designed to withstand storm surge and hurricane force winds.  

Crews also replaced the pumping station’s standby generator, which was destroyed by Hurricane Helene. The new one is located in a second green building near the electrical equipment. The standby generator can go three days before it needs more fuel.

"In case TECO loses power, we can still run and provide service to our customers," Weiss added. 

What's next:

This project, which took roughly a year to complete, is funded by the city’s $2.9 billion Progressive Infrastructure Plan to Ensure Sustainability (PIPES) program, which was approved by city council in 2019.

"We're currently working on 30 aging wastewater pumping stations right now that's either in design or construction," Weiss said. "And we just want to continue the momentum that we had here and this success to those projects also."