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Would Tampa residents drink treated toilet water?

News Channel 8 photo by PETER MASA

City Councilman John Dingfelder says he thinks many Tampa residents won't put reclaimed water on their lawns, much less drink it.

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: June 24, 2009

TAMPA - What gets flushed down the toilet doesn't usually come back through the tap.

But that's exactly what Tampa City Councilman Charlie Miranda wants to see happen to hundreds of millions of gallons of treated wastewater the city dumps into Tampa Bay.

Miranda, who never shies from taking a controversial stand on water and energy issues, has resurrected the decades-old debate over turning sewer water into drinkable water.

He says the impact of the drought - which resulted in Tampa adopting the toughest watering restrictions in the state - has proven that the city needs to save every drop.

"We need to become self-sufficient," he said. "We need to do a better job of conserving."

City officials are taking Miranda's proposal seriously to the point that they've been talking with local hydrological experts and state regulators to gauge their preliminary support.

His proposal, still in its infancy, is to build a wastewater treatment plant to purify wastewater to drinkable quality, then inject it into the ground for natural filtration before it flows into the Hillsborough River, the city's primary source of drinking water.

Such a move would require state and federal permits and be expected to cost tens of millions of dollars at a time when the city is struggling to meet operating expenses.

Councilman John Dingfelder said that even aside from costs, he doesn't think the plan will fly.

"I don't think the community is ready for something like this," he said. "We have people that are too frightened to put reclaimed water on their lawns, let alone in their bodies."

Beyond the stigma attached to drinking something that flowed through a sewer system, scientists have recently begun raising concerns about the potential for health risks.

Tampa's reclaimed water is treated enough for agriculture purposes, but not for drinking.

In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a study of the treated wastewater from the city's Howard F. Curren Wastewater Treatment Plant and found 27 different kinds of micropollutants in the recycled water even after it passed through a filtration process.

These included estrogens, steroids, and anti-seizure and antibiotic medications.

That worries Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena in regard to making wastewater safe for drinking. "We have to figure out how to get rid of these hormones," she said Tuesday.

Miranda said utilities in Virginia, Texas and California return treated wastewater to their drinking water supplies that well exceed state and federal water-quality standards.

In some cases, wastewater is filtered by reverse osmosis, which pressurizes the water and pushes it through a sheet of plastic, or is exposed to ultraviolet radiation and mixed with hydrogen peroxide to destroy any micropollutants and organic matter.

NASA converts urine into drinking water for space station missions.

"If the astronauts can drink it, why can't we?" Miranda said. "The technology exists."

The idea has been floated by the city in the past, but never got under way.

In the mid-1980s, Tampa spent more than $6 million on research for a similar proposal but backed away from it because of cost concerns and a lack of support from the public.

Reclaimed water from the city's wastewater treatment plant was fed to rodents in the 1990s to test for bacteria levels, toxicity, virus counts and chemicals. A panel of experts hired by the city to study health risks determined it was safe for consumption.

Ralph Metcalf, director of the city's wastewater department, said building a treatment plant to produce drinkable recycled wastewater could cost upward of $150 million.

That's still less than the estimated $341 million the city is considering spending on a plan to expand the reclaimed water system to more property owners for landscaping uses.

"But there's a stigma attached to it," Metcalf said of drinking wastewater. "Many people will never get used to the idea."

Both Tampa and Hillsborough County are under pressure from the state Department of Environmental Protection to stop dumping unused treated wastewater into waterways.

More than 55 million gallons of reclaimed water is dumped into Tampa Bay every day.

Even though the water is highly treated, it still contains high levels of nitrogen that can rob natural water bodies of oxygen needed by fish, shellfish and other marine life.

Tampa has for years struggled to expand its distribution system to put more reclaimed water on lawns to offset potable water use. Although plans are under way to expand it, the reclaimed system serves only about 3,500 residents in South Tampa neighborhoods.

The city council is expected to receive a report on Miranda's proposal in a few months. If the council endorses the plan, he wants to put the question on the 2011 election ballot.

"I want to let the citizens decide," Miranda said. "After all, they'll be the ones drinking it."

Saul-Sena agreed with Miranda on that. Citizens need to be given a chance to vote because it's their health that could be at risk, she said.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679.

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