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Reclaimed Water Pipeline Deal Likely

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By MIKE SALINERO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 21, 2008

Updated: 06/21/2008 12:12 am

TAMPA - Prospects suddenly look much brighter for a previously stalled plan to prevent the dumping millions of gallons of wastewater into Tampa Bay by pumping it to a TECO power plant.

The county and city agreed Friday to begin discussing how to create a utility authority to oversee construction of a pipeline from city and county sewer plants to Tampa Electric Co.'s Polk Power Station.

The pipeline would eventually supply TECO with 15 million gallons a day of treated wastewater for the plant's next two expansions, which should be completed by 2015. Supporters of the project hope additional residential and commercial customers will sign up for the reclaimed water in eastern Hillsborough and western Polk County.

Tampa had resisted making a commitment to the project as long as it was run by a private, nonprofit company called Water Partners Inc. Hillsborough County, TECO and Mosaic Fertilizer had agreed to partner with the company, which was formed by lawyers John Wilcox and Tom Lash.
Tampa officials wanted the project guided by a governmental utility authority that would allow the city to own any pipes or pumping stations it built, as well as guarantee city control over pricing of its reclaimed water. The city also had concerns that the nonprofit would not be subject to open meeting and open records laws.

Friday's agreement removed WPI, leaving the city and county alone to work out financing and timelines. TECO will not be involved in the authority, but has offered help with engineering and design work. The company also will pay for part of the pipeline construction.

"There's a big picture out there," said Bart Weiss, who is negotiating the deal for the county. "Some details are known, a lot are unknown. We need to take the big picture down and see what would be a win for the city, the county and the citizens."

Water Partners' Wilcox could not be reached for comment.
TECO is eager for the project to begin. The first phase of the expanded Polk Power Station is scheduled to start producing electricity commercially by January 2013, but the plant will start running six months earlier.

The company needs the reclaimed water to cool the power plant because groundwater pumping is severely restricted in Polk County. The water to be piped to TECO would be stored in a reservoir at Mosaic's Hopewell Mine in eastern Hillsborough County.

To meet the plant's scheduled start-up date, the reservoir must be filled by mid-2011, said Bob Howell, TECO's director of technology integration.

"This thing has been in the mud too long," Howell said Friday in a meeting of representatives from TECO, the city, the county and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

The project would solve several problems for the city and county.

Tampa is under pressure from state environmental authorities to reduce the 55 million gallons of wastewater it dumps daily into Tampa Bay. Although the water is treated to a high, almost drinkable quality, it still contains high levels of nitrogen, which can rob bay water of oxygen needed by fish, shellfish and other marine creatures.

Hillsborough also has a lot of unused wastewater which ends up in streams, rivers and the Bay. Both the city and the county would like to make money off the water instead of dumping it, while also relieving their environmental obligations to reduce the amount of nutrients going into surface waters.

Weiss said the project could also help solve future water supply problems. If the water management district approves, the Mosaic reservoir will be used to recharge groundwater by allowing the reclaimed water to settle through the ground into the aquifer. The recharge could offset additional groundwater pumping by Tampa Bay Water, the regional water supplier.

"We'd be creating a loop like Mother Nature's loop," Weiss said. "If we can loop our system, we take water that's being used and make more water."

The first phase of the project will be to build a pipeline from a county sewer plant in Valrico to the reservoir, then to the power plant. The county will supply 6 million gallons a day of reclaimed water for the first phase of the power plant expansion.

This leg of the project is estimated to cost about $90 million, with TECO and the water management district each paying half.

The second phase will be a pipeline from Tampa's Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Hopewell Reservoir. This phase will supply 9 million gallons a day for the final expansion of the power plant, which is scheduled to go online in 2015. The cost of this phase has not been estimated.

Although details are still to be worked out, Tampa will probably finance the pipe with a bond issue that would be paid back through water sales to TECO. The "take or pay" contract between Tampa and TECO would guarantee repayment to the bond holders and would not affect the city's bond rating.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com.

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