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More problems for Tampa Bay Water desalination plant

Posted by: Maven on March 17, 2009 at 6:14 am

From TampaBay.com:

As if the news about the cracked and empty reservoir wasn’t discouraging enough, now comes word that Tampa Bay Water’s long-troubled desalination plant is having more problems. The $158 million plant, which opened five years late and cost $40 million more than expected, remains unable to supply the full 25 million gallons a day that was originally promised.

This weekend, a leaking intake pipe required shutting down operations completely for about 24 hours. As of Monday, mechanical problems limited the plant to producing only 14 million gallons a day. Utility officials say they hope to boost that to at least 16 million, and perhaps as high as 19 million, sometime this week. The plant has seldom been run at full capacity, partly because it is the most expensive source of water.

But in January, the utility promised that by now it would be producing at full capacity, when it is needed most because of a critical drought. Despite that, 19 million is as high as it will go for the next couple of months.

“This operating scenario is expected to continue for the next eight weeks until critical electrical component parts become available from the manufacturer and the maintenance work can be completed,” the utility’s general manager, Gerald Seeber, wrote in a memo to state officials 10 days ago. “Full capacity of 25 mgd will not be available until May.”

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March 17, 2009 · Filed Under Desalination

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