Tampa Bay Water is now sending much-needed additional drinking water to Hillsborough County through temporary pumps at the utility’s Brandon Booster Station site on South Mount Carmel Road in Brandon. These pumps connect to and send more drinking water through the Brandon Transmission Main — up to 5 million gallons per day (mgd) of existing regional water supply — to Hillsborough County’s Lithia Water Treatment Plant before the permanent booster station facility is complete by the end of 2023.
South Mount Carmel and Durant roads, which were closed during construction, have reopened to traffic.
“We’re proud to have successfully implemented another of our short-term solutions to bring more water to fast-growing southern Hillsborough County,” said Chuck Carden, Tampa Bay Water’s general manager. “Thank you to the residents in the area for your patience and understanding while we construct this important component of our supply system.”
Temporary pumping, combined with other solutions Tampa Bay Water implemented in recent months, delivers more water to southern Hillsborough County and reduces the utility’s reliance on the South-central Hillsborough Regional Wellfield to meet increasing drinking water demands. Other solutions included:
Installing a new control valve on the Brandon Transmission Main at the Lithia Point of Connection, which added 1 mgd of water to the south county area.
Increasing the rated capacity of the Lithia Hydrogen Sulfide Treatment Facility, which increased the maximum flow rate by 5 mgd.
Expanding the Regional Facility High Service Pump Station that increases the pumping capacity by 10-12 mgd.
Other long-term projects are in the works to meet Hillsborough County’s and the Tampa Bay region’s water needs for 2028 and beyond. Tampa Bay Water’s board of directors recently approved expanding the utility’s Tampa Bay Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant by 10-12.5 mgd by 2028. The board is also scheduled to select a pipeline route at its Monday, September 19 meeting to bring 65 mgd to the county by 2028.
Tampa Bay Water is the largest wholesale water supplier in Florida, providing high-quality drinking water to its members that, in turn, supply water to more than 2.5 million residents of the Tampa Bay area. Tampa Bay Water member governments include Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties and the cities of New Port Richey, St. Petersburg and Tampa.
To learn more, visit www.tampabaywater.org.
