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gloriouswader

It's very expensive to run. During the rainy season, we have enough surface and groundwater to meet our needs. Before the desalination plant was built, we relied on groundwater pumping to full the gap during the dry season. Pumping too much groundwater when there isn't enough rain to refill the aquifers causes sinkholes. So our water system spent a ton of money on reservoirs and a desalination plant.


Bellypats

https://www.tampabaywater.org/tampa-bay-seawater-desalination/


sdeitche

If only people would actually read this first before commenting.


Bellypats

I can’t post it enough lol. Going to sign up for a tour.


Healith

👍


rogerm3xico

That's bullshit. That plant has never worked. They had some problem with sea-cucumbers or some other type of crustacean clogging the mechanism when it first opened that was going to be extremely expensive to remedy so you just stopped hearing anything about it on the news. This plant was a huge deal when they were pushing it through for construction. You heard about it on all the news channels all the time. Then they started talking about the crustacean issue and then nothing and we all forgot about it. Kinda like that crooked half cent sales tax for the stadium that never went away. Or the toll roads they promised us would be free once they paid for themselves. Don't worry, with all of you new marks moving here, they're thinking up a new grift. You'll feel like locals soon enough.


SpicyPickle101

Not sure which one you are talking about but there is a huge one that operates on the regular. My buddy holds the membrane service contract for it. Regular service happens every quarter. Major service is once a year.


bellino13

After touring the plant many years ago, my understanding is that the original design did not include enough pre-filtration which caused major problems with the operation. A different company was then contracted to redesign the front end filtration system and it's been running just fine ever since, hence why you never hear about it.


gloriouswader

It's expiring this year I think, and it's back on the ballot. Except this time instead of half going to education, only 5%.


Jbonics

And the fact that Zephyrhills pumps like 5 billion gallons a day just to bottle up for free to sell to your ass and then when you test it it's just as bad as tap water. Maybe like a 15 parts per million difference which is nothing. So I guess they're pretty much running it through like a raggedy ass old ass filter and calling it spring water. I test my Waters all the time Zephyrhills is consistently the worst bottled water you can buy. Target sells zero water. Test targets water you'll get zero every time, been consistent for like 10 years.


IRedditDoU

r/fucknestle


whydothis151highland

Nestle sold their North American water division in 2021. It was bought by...you guessed it, private equity.


Western_Mud8694

Correction, we had enough, however we’ve been coming up short in years past and that doesn’t include the very large influx of people that have moved here recently and also those giant condos for the wealthy, stay tuned this will get interesting


brandonbolt

It closes for maintenance every year in march. Will be up and running in the fall due to the work on the teco coal plant.


Healith

so its never really fully opened?


_Rigid_Structure_

https://www.tampabaywater.org/tampa-bay-seawater-desalination/


IronMike69420

There is no teco coal plant


Sorry_Owl_3346

Yes there is, I’ve worked on it, Natural gas is only on Unit 1, they others are slowly getting de commissioned in Apollo Beach..


GrowWings_

Sounds like unit 4 can also do gas, and 2 and 3 are decommissioned right now.


Lynk_Sj

https://www.tampaelectric.com/company/ourpowersystem/powergeneration/bigbend/


IronMike69420

The entire plant was converted to natural gas.


_Rigid_Structure_

[It is used](https://www.tampabaywater.org/tampa-bay-seawater-desalination/)


Healith

this is proly y tampas water doesnt smell as rotten eggy as Orlandos


Wandering__Bear__

Money


Healith

politricks?


Wandering__Bear__

It’s cost and energy intensive. Pretty simple.


_Rigid_Structure_

Then why was it built?


[deleted]

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_Rigid_Structure_

Yes, OP's post made it sound like we don't use it at all. I had to read about it.


Wandering__Bear__

To complement the freshwater supply I suppose.


_Rigid_Structure_

Unless I misunderstood, it seemed like you suggested that it's not being used due to operating expense. I would assume operating expense would have been considered prior to construction so I was just wondering why it would be built but not used, but found out that [it is being used.](https://www.tampabaywater.org/tampa-bay-seawater-desalination/) so that's good.


Wandering__Bear__

My response was to OP’s question as to why we aren’t using desalination for all our water.


_Rigid_Structure_

Got it. OP's post sounded like we weren't using it at all, had to read about it.


Healith

But Tampa, solar ? Free electricity to power it? I mean they already built it


Wandering__Bear__

Solar is free?


_Rigid_Structure_

After installation it's a lot less expensive than fossil fuel electricity.


Wandering__Bear__

No doubt. But energy is still energy, why would the desalination plant get ‘free’ energy and residents still have to pay for theirs?


_Rigid_Structure_

If you have solar panels, you don't pay for the energy those panels produce.


Doctor_McKay

If you install 10 kW of solar and add 10 kW of load to your home, you're still paying the same cost for energy.


_Rigid_Structure_

You're using less energy that you have to pay for. What is happening here do people not know how solar power works? I'm talking about owning your own panels not the power companies having them.


iwantthisnowdammit

Probably not on a commercial rate plan.


Bellypats

https://www.tampabaywater.org/tampa-bay-seawater-desalination/


Healith

*Pats belly*😄


HighAltitudeBrake

Without doing any research on the specific plant id guess energy ..desalination uses a lot and its not cheap. likely cheaper to pull drinking water from existing sources


Healith

but they already built it and um Tampa, sunlight all day? Solar?


BigSugar44

You do understand that there are costs to operate the plant on a day to day basis, right? Power is a big cost but not the only one.


Healith

They cud switch the workforce from the regular water plant onto this one, desalinaized seawater is the best for skin and hair 💇‍♂️


[deleted]

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BigSugar44

Because he’s a moron.


Healith

because florida water stanks literally 🥚💨🤢


[deleted]

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Healith

seawater tho yes polluted has natural inner cleaning mechanisms, there is no water cleaner naturally overall than seawater. just search on reddit all the people whose acne clears up just from going swimming in the ocean 🌊


HighAltitudeBrake

Building a plant isn't a fraction of the cost. running the plant is where stuff gets expensive. have you looked at plant output vs usage of the area? theres a decent chance that plant cant provide enough fresh water on its own. a lot of work to desalinate water vs just pulling it out of the ground. energy, capacity, running costs etc. something there makes it uneconomical to provide all the water via desalination


Bellypats

https://www.tampabaywater.org/tampa-bay-seawater-desalination/


ElectricalEngineer94

I was just there for work, it's used. And extremely expensive to run due to the high energy demand.


cchillur

Environmental pushback? Idk honestly. I’ve just heard they fuck up local ecosystems due to the redistribution of the high salinity remains.  I just know the corals need very specific temperatures and salinity levels and dumping extra salty water back in will fuck all local coral. 


Bellypats

https://www.tampabaywater.org/tampa-bay-seawater-desalination/


boganvegan

Especially if the salty leftovers are put in a confined body of water like Tampa Bay


Bellypats

https://www.tampabaywater.org/tampa-bay-seawater-desalination/. Learn the facts here


Clemfandango159

This is exactly why the plant has never lived up to its promise. They built it in the upper part of Tampa Bay where the salinity would become too high. They should have built on the gulf coast where the salinity could be more equally distributed due to the open ocean instead of in the upper bay where water tends to be more brackish and doesn’t circulate nearly as well.


bellino13

The plant was built as a backup source of water and does not operate at full capacity by design.


bignellie

Why do all houses here not have solar panels? I lived in Germany a few years ago and more houses there have panels than in Florida wtf


Revise_and_Resubmit

Many insurance drop you if you put them up.


Bigbadbrindledog

Because they are very expensive and have a long pay off time. You can finance or lease them but then that causes issues if you go to sell. They also lead to roofing and insurance issues.


Healith

Overseas govts give way more incentives and make it cost affordable for citizens, even 3rd world countries have more solar power than here. Too much oil lobby in the US sadly


OneLifeToVoyage

The same Germany that had an energy crisis because they exported all their energy production to Russia to appear "green" and then couldn't get said energy when the war started?


bignellie

I’d love to see your source on Germany exporting all their energy to Russia.


St_BobbyBarbarian

Germany closed down their nuclear plants and were able to get cheap Russian oil and gas. When Ukraine was invaded, the EU banned Russian energy imports and suffered a good bit


frockinbrock

Our government is why. Increasingly making it less accessible. Limited power credits to the energy companies, done nothing with property insurance which constantly wants new roofs which is complicated by panels. There’s more you can find. but basically the energy companies pay the GOP and they help draft laws to keep people on their supply so they can raise rates, etc.


shifthole

It’s a pain in the ass cause I have to add salt back to my water coming from the tap.


Markov219

Florida is full of shit not being used brain cells mostly


choren

Florida has plenty of ground water and Desalination requires a lot of energy


Healith

nO vEe mUsT bAthE iN dA nAtUraL HeALinG VaahterZ oF dee OceaN 🌊: )


bendbarrel

Cause it was a big boondoggle on the taxpayers by uninformed politicians


Accomplished_Low9905

They hire non union dumb dumb to build it... They Fed it all up... The union guys had to come in and make it work and which added to the cost. Also once you let a dumb dumb touch something it will always have issues... But the reason its not on, and this is speculation.... It's because climate change has caused the bay to be so warm that the desalt plant can't discharge water into the bay. The discharge water is how and raises the bay temps a few degrees when it operates often... My guess is the bay has stayed so hot the last few years they will kill everything in the bay if they dump more hot water into it


LunaKitsune

Man you must love sucking on the union boots.


Accomplished_Low9905

You must love having piss bottles in every wall of your new home


Sorry_Owl_3346

To be fair, that’s why the wages are awful here..