Tampa Bay Water's 66-mgd surface water treatment facility provides high-quality water for nearly 2 million Tampa Bay area residents utilizing an innovative combination of Actiflo® high-rate ballasted flocculation, ozone disinfection, and biologically active granular activated carbon filtration. This advanced treatment process efficiently handles a wide range of flow rates and effectively treats a highly variable and difficult source water to successfully meet stringent water quality standards—standards three times superior to Safe Drinking Water Act and state regulations.
The compact, state-of-the-art facility employs a high-rate water clarification system 20 times smaller than conventional clarification systems of similar capacity and common-wall layout for a facility footprint 1/5 the acreage of a conventional plant. Implemented through one of the nation's largest water treatment design-build-operate (DBO) contracts, it was completed in only 28 months and provides high-quality water at an unprecedented cost of only 53.9 cents/1,000 gallons.
Project innovations and benefits include:
- A compact, high-rate water clarification system (utilizing microsand flocculation) is 20 times smaller than conventional clarification systems of similar capacity.
Common-wall facility layout reduced construction costs and time, and created a facility footprint 1/5 the acreage of a conventional plant.
- A large-scale, 6-week testing program prior to project start proved the superiority of design over other conventional treatment systems and helped facilitate timely regulatory permits.
- A highly automated, user-friendly graphic interface control system requires significantly fewer staff than plants using more traditional technology.
An onsite residuals management system dewaters solids for future beneficial reuse as fertilizer for the citrus industry.
- Advanced ozone disinfection technology efficiently destroys microorganisms and pathogens, avoids formation of chlorinated byproducts, and improves taste and odor.
- A DBO delivery method saved approximately 21 percent on lifecycle costs, compared with a traditional approach, amounting to approximately $85 million in savings.
- Reduced reliance on groundwater supplies has started to re-establish falling water tables and picturesque lakes where residents have built new homes.