The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant will resume operations in October as construction on the first three reverse osmosis (RO) racks and accompanying pressure vessels is now complete. The plant has been offline to replace the galvanized steel racks holding the pressure vessels for RO filters. Tampa Bay Water and desalination plant partner U.S. Water – Acciona quickly devised a plan to replace the racks and get the plant online and running as soon as possible.
New stainless steel racks are replacing galvanized steel racks, improving the plant’s reliability and longevity. The new equipment is currently being tested in preparation for startup at the beginning of October to deliver up to 12 million gallons of water per day (mgd) to the region.
Two remaining RO racks are scheduled to be installed by January 2025. When complete, the plant will deliver up to 20 mgd to the region.
Even without production from the desalination plant, Tampa Bay Water successfully navigated the recent Stage 1 Drought Alert, thanks in part to cooler weather, watering restrictions, a return-to-normal rainfall and a multi-source blended regional system.