Tampa advances $280M in wastewater plant upgrades

Nearly $200 million worth of upgrades are underway at Tampa’s Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, with an additional $80 million in improvements recently approved by City Council. The projects are part of a multiyear effort to overhaul the city’s aging wastewater infrastructure, which serves more than 630,000 people.

The newly approved $80 million project will focus on upgrading the plant’s nitrogen removal system, a critical component of advanced treatment that helps protect surrounding waterways from algal growth.

Construction is also moving forward on two other major initiatives. Crews are replacing the plant’s original 1950s-era anaerobic digesters with two new units, scheduled for completion in 2028. At the Main Pump Station, all seven 50-mgd pumps are being replaced as part of an $80 million resiliency-focused project designed to protect equipment from flood risks. Work there is expected to finish in 2026.

“We are in a critical point in Tampa’s history where the infrastructure that quite literally holds our city together is in need of widespread and massive renovation,” said Mayor Jane Castor in a news release.

The upgrades are being funded through Tampa’s $3 billion PIPES (Progressive Infrastructure Planning to Ensure Sustainability) Program. Since 2019, more than $700 million has been invested in the city’s wastewater system, including plant upgrades, pumping station improvements and rehabilitation of nearly 200 miles of pipelines.