Desal Plant reopens under flood of criticism from local lawmaker
$160-million plant only operates 4 months a year
Posted: 01/06/2011
APOLLO BEACH, Fla. - Tampa Bay Water's $160-million desalination plant began making fresh water Thursday for the first time since April 19, 2010. A Florida Senator wants to know why such an expensive plant only runs four months a year.
Sen. Ronda Storms, (R) Plant City, sat on Tampa Bay Water's Board of Directors when the plant was built a decade ago. "See if you spend that kind of money on something, in my opinion, you ought to be running that bad boy full capacity," said Storms. "That's an expensive proposition. It should never be idle."
Tampa Bay Water says it costs four times as much to turn water from Tampa Bay into drinking water as it does to pump water out of the ground.
"In these economic times, every penny counts," said Tampa Bay Water Operations Director Chuck Carden. "If we have less expensive sources to use, why wouldn't we use them?"
The desalination plant pumped about 9-million gallons of water Thursday. It's maximum capacity is 25-million gallons a day.
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