Tampa Bay Water Blog

Tampa Bay Water’s Capital Improvements Program is a comprehensive 10-year plan and portfolio of previously approved and newly proposed projects. Updated annually, it serves as a roadmap for maintaining and improving our infrastructure to meet the region’s near- and far-term water demands while improving our financial stability.

Currently, seven projects are in various stages of construction with a budgeted cost of $44 million.

• Desalination Facility Intake Connection Improvements, Phase 2 – the second of two projects that provide a new seawater intake for the desalination plant. Completion: May 2025
• Eldridge-Wilde Wellfield Improvements – replaces wellhouses, pumps and motors at 24 well sites. The first seven wells are scheduled to be completed by March 2025. Final completion: June 2026
• Cypress Creek Water Treatment Plant Chemical Piping Replacement – replaces the chemical piping, pumps, tanks and chemical treatment components at the plant. Completion: January 2026
• Desalination Variable Frequency Drives Replacement – retrofits or replaces 13 variable frequency drives at the facility. The drives are used to change pump motor speeds, flows and efficiency. Six drives are complete. Final completion: February 2026
• IT Technology Renewal & Replacement Program – replaces end-of-life information technology infrastructure, including servers, uninterrupted power supplies and firewalls, at the utility’s Cypress Creek and Clearwater data centers. Completion: September 2026
• Cypress Creek Lab Building Transformer Replacement – provides automatic backup power to the laboratory. Completion: January 2026
• Cypress Creek Pump Station Variable Frequency Drives – replaces one variable frequency drive and retrofits two variable frequency drives at the Cypress Creek Pump Station. Completion: October 2026

Four construction projects have been completed and are being closed out.

Nine projects with an estimated construction cost of $536 million are scheduled to start construction this calendar year. The South Hillsborough Pipeline and the Surface Water Treatment Plant Expansion account for $500 million of this cost.

• High Service Pump Station Ball Valve Replacement
• Cosme Water Treatment Plant Yard Piping Improvements
• Morris Bridge Wellfield Improvements
• Lake Bridge Water Treatment Plant - Pump No. 4
• Cypress Creek Wellfield Surface Water Improvements - Phase 3
• Crossbar Ranch Wellfield Water Transmission Main – Utility Conflict
• Surface Water Treatment Plant Expansion
• South Hillsborough Pipeline (Segments A & B)
• Cypress Creek Water Treatment Plant 72-inch Valve