Improved taste and less odor result from new water treatment plant
Residents of south-central Hillsborough County can finally say goodbye to the hassle of buying bottled water, thanks to a new state-of-the-art water treatment facility designed to improve tap water quality. The recently opened hydrogen sulfide removal facility in Lithia, located beside Newsome High School, has significantly improved the taste and odor of tap water for over half a million homes in the region.
This new $34.7 million facility went online earlier this month and now treats the area’s groundwater with ozone, a safe, affordable, and effective method to eliminate impurities and enhance flavor. Communities like Apollo Beach, Brandon, Riverview, Ruskin, and Sun City Center are already benefiting from the treatment, which removes hydrogen sulfide—a compound notorious for its “rotten egg” smell.
Beyond the odor improvement, residents may also notice a temporary cloudiness in their tap water. The white cloudiness is due to tiny oxygen bubbles introduced during the ozone treatment, which dissipate after a few minutes. Rest assured, these bubbles are entirely harmless, and the water is safe to drink.
According to Brandon Moore, public communications manager for Tampa Bay Water, “The rotten egg smell is all removed now,” a welcome change not only for residents but also for Newsome High School students, who had previously voiced concerns about the smell during a public hearing. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and Tampa Bay Water is thrilled to deliver a “higher quality of water” to the community.
In addition to improved taste and odor, Tampa Bay Water maintains rigorous standards, exceeding over 100 federal, state, and local quality requirements. “We actually go above and beyond the standard,” says Moore. “You pay about ¼ of a penny per gallon for our water,” which offers a cost-effective alternative to bottled water.
To bring the ozone treatment process online, Hillsborough County Public Utilities made a series of updates to the plant, including modifications to chemical feed systems, upgrades to analyzers and controls, and the construction of a new pipeline segment connecting the Tampa Bay Water regional system. With the new technology in place, Hillsborough County is retiring its 20-year-old hydrogen sulfide removal process, ensuring the best quality water for its residents.
Construction of the facility took two years and was funded through construction bonds and Tampa Bay Water’s wholesale water rate. As Florida’s largest wholesale water provider, Tampa Bay Water supplies drinking water to member governments across the region, including Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties, and the cities of New Port Richey, St. Petersburg, and Tampa.
For more information about the project, go to www.tampabaywater.org.