Ribbon Cutting Scheduled For Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant

Tampa Bay Water and American Water-Pridesa will commemorate completion of the nation’s first large-scale seawater desalination plant with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 25, 2008.  The ribbon-cutting will follow the agency’s special board meeting to approve a contract for a new general manager, scheduled for 10:00 a.m. that day at the desalination plant.

What:	Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant Ribbon-cutting ceremony
When:	Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 10:00 a.m. – Special board meeting to approve contract for new general manager 11:00 a.m. – Ribbon cutting ceremony - welcome and remarks 11:30 a.m. – Ribbon cutting and facility tours
Where:	Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant 13041 Wyandotte Road Gibsonton, FL

The plant recently passed a rigorous acceptance test, marking the end of facility remediation and the beginning of full operations. At 25 million gallons per day (mgd), the Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant provides about 10 percent of the Tampa Bay region’s drinking water supply.  The facility is operated by American Water and Acciona Agua, through their joint venture subsidiary American Water-Pridesa.

Representatives from Tampa Bay Water, American Water, Acciona Agua, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and TECO will make brief comments prior to the ribbon-cutting and will be available for interviews after the event.

*** RSVPs and photo IDs are required for security purposes. Any citizens or media representatives planning to attend should call Rachel Rivero at 813.228.0652 ext. 200. ***

Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant Facts

• The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant is designed to produce up to 25 million gallons per day (mgd), and can accommodate an expansion to produce up to 35 mgd in the future.
• Plant modifications included overhauling the pretreatment process to correct inadequate screening and filtration as well as deficiencies in the reverse osmosis and post-treatment processes.
• When operating at full capacity, the Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant provides the Tampa Bay region with nearly 10 percent of its drinking water supply, making it the largest reverse osmosis (RO) seawater desalination facility in North America.
• The cost of water produced at the plant is competitive with other similar-sized plants operating around the world.
• The desalinated water is blended with water from other, less expensive water supply sources such as groundwater and surface water, making this alternative supply more affordable for member governments and consumers.
• The 30,000 square-foot seawater desalination plant is located on 8.5 acres of Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach on Tampa Bay.
• The concentrated seawater left over from the desalination process will not significantly alter Tampa Bay’s salinity because it is diluted with up to 1.4 billion gallons per day of power plant cooling water.  Monitoring during the plant’s first year of operations showed no measurable changes in salinity, even when the plant was operating at maximum capacity.
• The initial cost to build the reverse osmosis plant and a nearly 15-mile pipeline was approximately $110 million.  Significant remediation throughout the plant brought the total capital cost of the project to approximately $158 million, including membrane replacement.
• Under the Partnership Agreement, the Southwest Florida Water Management District will reimburse Tampa Bay Water $85 million of the plant’s eligible capital costs in installments over the next 18 months.  The Partnership Agreement earmarks locally collected ad valorem taxes to offset the cost of alternative water supply development.

For more information contact Dave Bracciano or Alison Adams at 727.796.2355.