Challenge accepted: Florida city revitalizing century-old water system

In September 2019, after nearly 10 years without a utility rate increase, the Tampa City Council passed a $2.9 billion funding plan for large-scale sewer and water infrastructure improvements in a 211 square-mile service area. The average bill recently increased from $41.29 to $46.50 a month – still about half the regional average – and will continue to ratchet up to about $80 by 2028. (Pictured right, a Tampa Water crew repairs a leak)

Dubbed PIPES – Progressive Infrastructure Planning to Ensure Sustainability – the project will upgrade, renew and replace water and wastewater treatment plants and pump stations, as well as the distribution and collection systems. It will be implemented in coordination with stormwater and transportation improvement programs so that neighborhoods will be disturbed only once to address all the services.

“The utility rate increase is a 20-year effort to gradually align water and wastewater rates with the funding needed to catch up and continuously renew and replace infrastructure as it reaches the end of its useful life,” said Chuck Weber (pictured left), Tampa Water Department Director and a member of the American Water Works Association for more than 25 years.

“Like many cities, Tampa faced significant financial challenges during the Great Recession that began in 2008. It wasn’t the time to start taxing and raising rates for folks who were barely surviving as it was,” he added. “Renewal and replacement funding levels remained the same and there were no rate increases after October 2011 until now.”

Tampa’s water department worked mightily to extend the life of its system, including maintaining the original pumps in a 95-year-old operational treatment plant. However, the number of disruptive water main breaks and sewer line cave-ins began snowballing in the growing city during the last four years, and associated costs were estimated at roughly $20 million a year.

“There wasn’t a day where we didn’t have a main break that caused a traffic snafu. Everybody could see that we had a problem,” Weber said. “It actually made it easy to start the conversation with city officials about the need for infrastructure investment. After we described the age of the system in comparison to how long pipes last, it wasn’t a hard sell.”

The PIPES initiative began several years ago with master plan assessments for the wastewater, distribution and collections systems. Priorities and funding scenarios were evaluated based on estimated costs.

To gain public support for the project, city staff met individually with public officials, held meetings at community centers, posted information on the city’s website and social media platforms, and distributed press releases.

Although the April 2019 election resulted in a new mayor and several new council members for Tampa, Weber said they quickly came on board and “Mayor Jane Castor championed the effort.”

As part of the PIPES initiative, the city is implementing a minimum monthly charge for water service.

“Tampa is one of the last municipalities in Florida to implement a base charge,” Weber said. “There have been drought years where severe watering restrictions reduced water usage and revenue by millions of dollars, depleting reserves.”

To help vulnerable households adapt to the rate increase, the city expanded its customer assistance program. Eligibility includes those earning 50 percent or less of the area median income – currently about $25,750 for a family of four. Qualifying households also receive free water saving devices and a personalized water conservation audit.

“We’ve been good stewards of what we’ve had, and we have a lot of room to grow on our water rates compared to the rest of the Tampa Bay area and Florida in general,” said Weber, a member of Florida AWWA’s Water Utility Council. “The city has bounced back now and it’s time to address these needs.”