City council approves sewer resilience projects 

At its June 5 meeting, the St. Petersburg City Council approved multiple sewer system resilience projects, to ensure their resiliency before, during and after a natural disaster.

They include major renovations at Lift Station 85, the biggest lift station run by the City. 

The station is on the Old Albert Whitted Water Reclamation Facility property, which was decommissioned in 2015. Sewage flows from Lift Station 85 are now directed to the Southwest Water Reclamation Facility.  

City of St. Pete public works administrator Claude Tankersley outlined the proposed projects to council members. 

Currently, the Albert Whitted plant’s storage tanks can hold approximately 10 million gallons of water and have been used for emergency storage. These tanks are near the end of their lifespan. 

Tankersley and his team have proposed adding new tanks that can accommodate more water up to 12 million gallons. 

“We have been using some of the existing facilities there from the leftover facilities from the Old Albert Whitted treatment plan as emergency storage,” he said. “In case we need to have emergency storage of sewage during a wet weather event, those facilities were not designed for that use but we’ve been using them that way. 

“This project will replace those older facilities with a brand new facility specifically designed for that use.” 

Additionally, a new administrative building at Lift Station 85 is planned, which will serve as a storm operational center. 

PCL Construction, Inc. has been hired to handle the construction of the proposed additions with a pre-construction cost of approximately $3.8 million for planning and research. 

An ongoing pipe replacement project with PCL Construction was also revisited. Tankersley discussed how Lift Station 85’s pumps are 10 years old and are not as reliable as they once were. 

“They work consistently, these pumps are always running, always working, and are large pumps and over time they have become less efficient, they’ve got some problems with their seals, and we were feeling that it was time to go ahead and replace them for that added resiliency to make sure that the pumps were able to work when we needed them in addition to the everyday activities,” he explained. 

The council approved an additional allocation of $456,751 to better bypass flows while replacing the older pumps. 

“We asked them to increase that bypass capacity so that the bypass basically mimics the existing lift stations so that we are safe in case anything were to happen,” he said. 

Tankersley and his team proposed a $1 million dollar allocation for cured-in-place pipe lining (CIPP) services for sanitary sewer pipes in the city. This type of restoration is performed annually to keep older pipes in working condition. By investing in CIPP, the city’s sewer system can be better prepared for storms and overflows.  

With the council’s approval of this new allocation, over $11 million has been invested in CIPP services for the city’s sewer system. 

After Brajesh Prayman, the city’s engineering and capital improvements director, elaborated on aspects of the projects, Council member Corey Givens Jr. emphasized the importance of resiliency projects moving forward. 

“You talked about going above and beyond, and I appreciate that because that’s going to help us long term when it comes to resiliency. Last year’s hurricanes we learned a lot so I appreciate us being proactive.” 

All projects were approved by the council, with chair Copley Gerdes absent. 

“My administration remains committed to strengthening our infrastructure and enhancing ongoing resiliency efforts, especially as we continue through hurricane season,” said St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch in a prepared statement.

“The projects approved by City Council this week are another step in improving the overall resilience of the City’s sewer system, which is a critical function that directly impacts our residents.”