The utility that sends drinking water to more than 2.6 million people in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco is getting $10 million from the state to help build more capacity at its big plant in Tampa.
Tampa Bay Water got an Alternative Water Supply Grant for the expansion of its Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant, WUSF and the St. Pete Catalyst reported. The grant comes from the $100 million for springs restoration and alternative water supply projects that Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Oct. 28.
What the expansion does
The project costs about $181 million. It will add up to 12.5 million gallons a day of treatment capacity. Tampa Bay Water spokesperson Brandon Molina-Oyola told the Catalyst that's close to a 14% increase.
The plant has been running since 2002. It treats water from the Alafia River, the Hillsborough River and the Tampa Bypass Canal. It also treats surplus water stored at the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir.
Molina-Oyola said the expansion adds a fifth "treatment train." That's the plant's version of an assembly line: raw water comes in, goes through filters, and is treated with chemicals until it's safe to drink. According to Tampa Bay Water, the upgrade also:
- expands the clarification process that pulls color and particles out of raw water,
- adds another ozone contactor (ozone is the plant's main disinfectant),
- adds more biologically active filters to remove leftover organic material, and
- expands secondary disinfection systems.
When it's done
Construction started in September 2025. Crews have finished laying large-diameter pipe and are working on foundations, filters, pumps and chemical facilities, the utility said. Molina-Oyola said the project should be done in 2028. It's meant to cover the region's drinking water demand through 2033.
Before this grant, the project had already gotten $1,016,667 in congressional funding and $1 million from the state.
Why it matters
River water is the region's main way to take pressure off groundwater wells, which have strained wetlands and lakes in past decades. More treatment capacity lets the utility use more river water when flows are high. That matters as the three counties keep adding residents.