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New Water Plant To Improve Supply

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 19, 2008

RANDON - A $31 million water plant under construction off U.S. 301 will bring a larger water supply and stronger pressure to thousands of homes and businesses in the Brandon area and southern Hillsborough County.

"Facilities like this aren't sexy," County Commissioner Mark Sharpe said during the groundbreaking Jan. 11. "But, for a growing community, it is critical we invest in our infrastructure."

With the Lithia water plant running many days at capacity, a new one is not a luxury, said Mark Lehigh, operations manager for the south-central part of the county's water system.

"We run that thing off the scale," he said of the Lithia plant, the only water plant serving the fastest-growing part of the county.

The plant is expected to be operational by year's end, adding an average of 10 million gallons of water per day to the area's water supply.

The Hillsborough County Water Resources Department has been working for months to install 4 miles of transmission lines in the Brandon area to transport the water.

A mix of groundwater, surface water and desalinated water will be pumped from the nearby Tampa Bay Water treatment facility to the new plant for distribution. Tampa Bay Water is permitted by the Southwest Florida Water Management District to provide water in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties.

The plant will be the county's fourth major water plant. The others are off Lithia-Pinecrest Road in Lithia, south of Bloomingdale Avenue and off Dale Mabry Highway in Lake Park.

Lehigh said the Lithia plant, built in 1988, was constructed with growth in mind, but not the astronomic influx of new development seen in eastern and southern Hillsborough County during the past decade.

The new plant is designed to serve the area with plenty of capacity through 2030.

Water is a resource everyone takes for granted, county water services Director Paul Vanderploog said during the groundbreaking.

The Lithia plant can only handle so much, he said.

"We tested that theory through previous dry periods, pumping 90 million gallons per day," he said. The new plant, he said, will give the county the reserves it needs.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 657-4532 or yhammett@tampatrib.com.

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