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Iorio Recycles Reclaimed Water Hopes
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Published: May 13, 2008
TAMPA - The city is renewing its efforts to dump less of its reclaimed water into the Bay and instead get more of the water onto the yards of Tampa residents.
Mayor Pam Iorio said Monday she wants to consider building a small wastewater plant in New Tampa to get reclaimed water to the northern reaches of the city.
She also proposes lowering the cost of reclaimed water for all customers as a way to encourage residents to connect to the system. Reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater that can't be used for drinking but can be used to irrigate lawns.
Getting as many users as possible on the reclaimed system helps the city as it struggles to meet the drinking water needs of its customers. Most residents use potable water to irrigate their lawns, a demand that last year forced the city to spend about $10 million to buy water from regional utility Tampa Bay Water to supplement its own supply.
Tampa for years has struggled with its reclaimed water system.
It built a network called STAR, or South Tampa Area Reclaimed, that distributes highly treated wastewater from the Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant to residents and businesses in parts of South Tampa.
Residents were slow to sign up, however, because the cost of potable water was about the same as the cost of reclaimed water. Also, pipes have clogged, construction was behind schedule and contractors damaged sewer lines.
The city last year increased the price of drinking water and lowered the cost of reclaimed water in an effort to get more residents to sign up. To some extent, it worked.
Several weeks ago, Tampa entered into an agreement that allows the city to negotiate with the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Water Partners Inc. on a deal that could let the city sell reclaimed water to Tampa Electric Co. and Polk County water users.
Monday, Iorio said she wants to keep talking, but the proposal "has helped crystallize the fact that the city needs to use its reclaimed water to reduce its potable water consumption. If there is some temporary usage of our reclaimed water to get their project started, we would look at that."
A permanent arrangement, however, she said, is "doubtful, because we need to use it for our own city of Tampa residents."
One of the main areas where the city wants to focus its efforts is New Tampa.
Years ago, the city toyed with a plan to build a pipeline from the wastewater plant to New Tampa. For several reasons, including cost, the plan never materialized. At one point, projected costs reached about $120 million, said Steve Daignault, administrator for public works and utility services.
Iorio said she has abandoned the New Tampa pipe plan.
"It will be too disruptive, too costly," Iorio said.
Building a small plant in New Tampa could cost less than $20 million, Daignault said.
Demand for reclaimed water is expected to be high in New Tampa, said Councilman Joseph Caetano, who represents the area. The area is dotted with lush, expansive lawns.
The mayor wants to follow the model of many communities that have a one-time connection fee to the reclaimed water system and charge extremely low rates for the water. Tampa instead charged reclaimed water rates that were about the same as drinking water rates, offering people little incentive to sign up. Tampa hasn't charged a connection fee.
Now Iorio wants to consider charging a connection fee then offering significantly lower reclaimed water rates. She couldn't offer specifics, but said she doesn't plan to increase drinking water rates.
"We can't continue with the model that doesn't work," Iorio said.
To date, the STAR system has only about 3,000 users, though the system has potential for 8,700, said Sandra Anderson, deputy director of the city water department.
Daignault said he wants to expand the STAR system to more parts of the city. He said he would focus on areas where water usage is high and are close to reclaimed water lines.
Daignault said the Southwest Florida Water Management District might be willing to shoulder part of the cost of expanding the infrastructure.
"We are aware they're looking at a residential hookup incentive program," said Robyn Felix, the district's spokeswoman. "We've encouraged it, we're supportive of it, but we haven't seen any concrete details so we haven't agreed to anything at this point."
Iorio said she plans to bring a proposed ordinance to the council in several months that would outline the city's 20-year water plan and set guidelines for large users and residential customers.
Reporter Mike Salinero contributed to this story. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at egedalius@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7679.
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