Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant

Innovative large-scale desalination plant producing drinking water from seawater using advanced reverse osmosis technology
Location

Tampa, Florida, U.S.A

Procedure

Reverse Osmosis

Type of Contract

EPC and O&M – 25 years

Capacity

108,675 m³/day

Project Overview

The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination facility is one of the largest desalination plants in the United States, designed to convert seawater from Tampa Bay into 25 million gallons per day of drinking water. The facility utilizes state-of-the-art reverse osmosis technology and is integrated with the adjacent Tampa Electric power plant for improved efficiency.

Our company designed, engineered, and constructed this large-scale facility to provide a drought-proof, sustainable water supply for the Tampa Bay region. The plant includes pretreatment systems, membrane filtration, post-treatment processes, and an innovative brine dilution system to minimize environmental impact.

Project Objective

The primary objective of the Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination project was to develop a reliable, drought-resistant water supply for the Tampa Bay region, reducing dependency on groundwater sources that were becoming increasingly stressed.

By utilizing reverse osmosis technology to process seawater, the facility aims to produce 25 million gallons per day of high-quality drinking water that meets or exceeds all federal and state drinking water standards. The project was designed to provide approximately 10% of the region’s drinking water needs, serving as a critical component of the area’s water supply diversification strategy.

Challenges

The Tampa Bay Desalination project faced several significant technical and environmental challenges:

  • Managing variable seawater quality with seasonal algal blooms that caused membrane fouling
  • Ensuring environmental compliance for concentrate discharge into Tampa Bay
  • Integrating with existing water supply infrastructure
  • Optimizing energy consumption to maintain cost-effectiveness
  • Designing resilient systems capable of withstanding hurricanes and storm surges

These challenges required innovative engineering solutions and close collaboration with environmental agencies, local utilities, and the power plant operator.

Solutions

Our team implemented several innovative solutions to address the project challenges:

  • Advanced pretreatment system with sand filtration and diatomaceous earth filtration to handle variable water quality
  • Co-location with Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station to dilute concentrate with cooling water before discharge
  • Energy recovery devices to reduce power consumption by up to 40%
  • Robust structural design meeting Category 5 hurricane standards
  • Advanced control and monitoring systems for optimized performance

These solutions resulted in a reliable, efficient facility that provides high-quality drinking water while minimizing environmental impact and operating costs.

Project Initiation
Initial design phase and permitting process began
Project Initiation Two
Initial design phase and permitting process began Two
Project Initiation Three
Initial design phase and permitting process began Three
Project Initiation Four
Our team implemented several innovative solutions to address the project
Project Initiation Five
Our team implemented several innovative solutions to address the project
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5

Project Partners

The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant was made possible through collaboration among various organizations, each bringing unique expertise and resources to the project.
Group 303
Group 304
Group 305
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