Hey Tampeño, you won’t have to think about drinking purified reclaimed water anytime soon.
At a recent meeting of the area’s regional water supply overlords, Tampa Bay Water, Tampa City Councilman Charlie Miranda said that the city needs an extra year to look into TAP, the Tampa Augmentation Project.
At its meeting, the Tampa Bay Water board was supposed to greenlight giving Tampa $1.6 million to study the TAP plan. The Tampa Bay Times said that the deadline for getting that done was supposed to be next year, but Tampa officials wanted an extension to 2021.
According to WUSF, Miranda told the board that the city will do the study itself, and come back for the board's input when it is 60% completed.
The objective of Tampa’s TAP project is to “determine the feasibility of additionally purifying reclaimed water using natural treatment systems to provide a new, safe, and sustainable regional drinking water source.”
The process is commonly referred to as “toilet-to-tap,” but city materials use different language.
“This project is best described as ‘potable reuse,’” it says in a FAQ about the process that purifies the city’s reclaimed water.
Reclaimed water, however, typically comes from wastewater sent from a home or business through a sewer system to a treatment plant. According to the city, the reclaimed water produced at Tampa's Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant goes through three major treatment processes before being delivered to customers who use it to do things like water their lawns.
Proponents say that the TAP project is safe and that it provides a better path to a sustainable, cost-effective drought-proof water supply.
Skeptics can’t wrap their brains around the idea of drinking what was once toilet water.
According to the Times, opponents like local chapters of the Sierra Club object to the plan because of a lack of transparency and a lack of scientific study of the potential effects.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said that the city will continue to explore the TAP option. Watch former Mayor Bob Buckhorn in a vintage video at the Curren plant below.
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This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 4, 2019.