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Water supplier to replace aging pipe

Tampa Bay Water has agreed to spend more than $20-million to replace a portion one of the region's main arteries for carrying water.

By STEPHEN HEGARTY
Published August 16, 2005

The region's water supplier is poised to spend more than $20-million on projects in central Pasco to help keep millions of gallons of water flowing throughout the Tampa Bay area.

Monday, the Tampa Bay Water board approved an $18.4-million construction project to replace a section of a large concrete pipeline that was installed in the 1970s. It's one of the region's main arteries for carrying water, and it ruptured two years ago, temporarily interrupting the flow of water to more than a million customers.

The pipeline job is part of a $21.5-million overall project, which includes the design and some land purchases.

The project involves a 5.5-mile segment of the Cypress Creek Transmission Main, a concrete pipe measuring 84-inches in diameter.

After the water main ruptured in March 2003, causing a temporary shutdown, it was repaired. But Tampa Bay Water officials have had to limit the pressure on the pipe and the volume of water flowing through it.

Tampa Bay Water officials think the time is ripe for the replacement project. The construction will take place in fairly remote areas.

"That area is still rural, but it is developing very quickly around there," said Tampa Bay Water project manager Mandi Rice.

The transmission main runs roughly 20 miles from the Cypress Creek Well Field in Land O'Lakes to Pinellas County, near the Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough county lines. The section being replaced runs beneath the Suncoast Parkway, north of State Road 54.

The transmission main carries between 50- to 100-million gallons of water each day. It brings water to more than a million customers in the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Soon, it will also serve the city of New Port Richey.

The water main doesn't only pump water from Pasco to Pinellas. Water is piped in from various sources, treated for consumption and then piped out again via the Cypress Creek Transmission Main.

The Tampa Bay Water board also approved $2.5-million for design and construction of booster stations in Land O'Lakes and Odessa. The booster stations enable the water supplier to keep water flowing at a high rate. The stations have to be upgraded to keep up with increasing demand for water.

Tampa Bay Water is a not-for-profit agency that is funded by the sale of water to the five governments it serves - Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, Tampa, St. Petersburg and New Port Richey.

[Last modified August 16, 2005, 01:29:18]