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Is 2nd Time The Charm?

STAFF photo by Robert Burke

Tours go past large pumps at Tampa Bay Water's Desal Plant as salt water is made into fresh water during it's formal dedication and open house. Susan Green story.

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By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2008

Updated: 01/31/2008 05:46 pm

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APOLLO BEACH - Admitting they underestimated what it would take to transform millions of gallons of estuary water into something people can drink, Tampa Bay Water officials last week cut the ribbon for a second time on North America's largest desalination plant.

The $158 million plant, perched on the edge of Hillsborough Bay at Tampa Electric Co.'s Big Bend Station, had been shuttered for much of the time since it first started operating in early 2003. Sediment and debris clogged the delicate reverse osmosis membranes, officials said.

Regional supplier Tampa Bay Water hired a new company, American Water-Pridesa, to revamp and run the plant, which is expected to add 25 million gallons of potable water a day to the supply available to customers in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

Officials said water suppliers around the country have kept their eyes on the project as more communities seek to slake human thirst and keep lawns green when demand outpaces supply. Speakers at the opening ceremony hailed desalination as the only drought-proof supply in a regional stockpile that includes groundwater and rivers.

"I like to refer to the desal plant as our secret weapon," said Susan Latvala, a Pinellas County commissioner and chairwoman of the Tampa Bay Water board.

"It's there when nothing else is. ... We should all sleep better at night because of it. I know I do."

About 130 people, mostly government officials and consultants, attended the ceremony and a public meeting held to finalize a three-year contract for new Tampa Bay Water General Manager Gerald Seeber. The board approved a $168,000 annual salary.

Current and past Tampa Bay Water board members cut the ribbon with members of the Southwest Florida Water Management District governing board looking on. The taxpayer-funded district has promised to contribute up to $85 million toward the project, and board Chairwoman Judy Whitehead presented Latvala with a representative check for $21.2 million signifying the district's first installment on the amount.

The balance of the cost will be shared by Tampa Bay Water's 2.4 million rate-paying customers. Water from the desalination plant costs $3.38 per 1,000 gallons, about twice the estimates of $1.10 to $1.70 when the project was approved in 1999. Spokeswoman Michelle Biddle Rapp said that cost will be reduced to $3.04 once the water management district makes its full contribution.

New Fix Unveiled

Tampa Bay Water offered tours after the ceremony. Ken Herd, Tampa Bay Water's head of operations, said water warmed by TECO's boilers comes from the plant next door. When the facility operates at capacity, it generates 25 million gallons of drinking water and 19 million gallons of salty concentrate that is discharged into the Bay.

Foamy water sloshed through large screens and swirled along in a series of concrete basins, designed to help particles settle out. The equipment, all added by American Water-Pridesa, operates essentially like a standard facility that treats water from lakes and rivers to make it potable, officials said.

Herd said water takes about an hour to circulate through the plant. Added chemicals bind particles and make them easier to filter.

"We have to clean the water so we don't foul the reverse osmosis membranes," he said.

Visitors huddled over an open culvert where water leaving the basins appeared clear.

"You can see this water looks very clean," Herd told the tour group, adding that it meets drinking water standards at that point. "It's not clean enough for the reverse osmosis system."

The water moves on to an indoor labyrinth of industrial-sized pipes and tanks, where it undergoes additional filtering through specialized sand and a coating process to remove the tiniest particles. The water is then forced through reverse osmosis membranes under high pressure.

Efrain Rodriguez, American Water's project director, said modifications dramatically reduced the amount of cleaning the filtering membranes need, from once a week to about once every three months. He said cleaning fluids are diluted and neutralized before being discharged into the Bay.

Asked why the original developer of the plant didn't consider installing a pretreatment system, Herd said, "The other company we had did not have the experience that our new partners have. ... It's one of the lessons learned when you go through this type of process."

Neighbors Not Invited

Jeanette Doyle of Apollo Beach, a member of several local civic organizations, said she would have liked to have attended the event, but she was not invited or notified.

"I think it would be nice if they would give an opportunity for the locals to check it out," she said. "It probably would be a good, neighborly thing to do."

Rapp said the public meeting and ceremony were advertised on the supplier's Web site and in a periodical called Florida Administrative Weekly. People who attended had to sign up in advance and show identification before being admitted to the parking lot. Sheriff's officials checked identification against a list of approved visitors.

Rapp said Tampa Bay Water plans to schedule tours for the public. Information can be requested at (727) 796-2355.

Doyle is a former member of the now-defunct Save Our Bays, Air and Canals, which launched an unsuccessful legal challenge to the plant before it was built in 2002. The group cited the potential for environmental harm, primarily from the briny discharge. Doyle said the water supplier has advertised its meetings in obscure publications before.

"They're just plain sneaky," she said. "They don't want to be scrutinized."

Rapp said via e-mail: "Tampa Bay Water has a good history of publicizing our public meetings and responding to public inquiries on our projects." She said past notices have included advertising in local newspapers, direct mail and signs.

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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