Pinellas targets aging pumps in $30 million water project

Some of the pumps that move reclaimed water at Pinellas County’s main wastewater treatment plant have been running for more than 30 years. County documents say they have reached the end of their useful lives and can no longer provide the water pressure the system requires. Pinellas County is now seeking state help to replace them.

County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to apply for a $15 million Resilient Florida grant for improvements at the South Cross Bayou Advanced Water Reclamation Facility in St. Petersburg. The county would provide another $15 million as a required match, putting $30 million toward the work covered by the grant application.

At the center of the project is the facility’s high-service pump station. In practical terms, the pumps provide the pressure needed to move reclaimed water after it has gone through the treatment process.

South Cross Bayou, at 7401 54th Ave. N., is Pinellas County’s primary wastewater treatment facility. According to documents submitted with the grant application, reclaimed water from the plant serves the county’s South County Public Access Reuse system and is also used for processes within the treatment facility itself. The high-service pumps provide water pressure for both.

The proposed overhaul would replace or add seven pumps or pieces of pumping equipment. The grant application puts the pumping capacity covered by the project at about 56.6 million gallons per day.

But replacing aging equipment is only part of the work. The county also wants to protect the pump station from flooding.

South Cross Bayou sits next to Joe’s Creek. The grant application says existing infrastructure at the facility is not above the 100-year flood elevation. A 2022 risk assessment found that the entire site could be affected during what the application describes as a 500-year flood event, potentially exposing buildings and equipment to saltwater and interrupting utility service.

Plans call for reconstructing the high-service pump station building and floodproofing the pump station and electrical buildings above the 500-year flood elevation. Doors, windows and openings where pipes or other equipment pass through walls would be modified to keep floodwater out. The project would also change how electrical wiring enters the structures and replace mechanical, electrical and control systems.

The new equipment would also increase pumping capacity to meet future demand, according to the grant documents.

Tuesday’s vote does not mean Pinellas has received the $15 million. Commissioners authorized the county to apply to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and committed Pinellas to providing the required local match if the state awards the grant.

The grant application covers $30 million in work, split evenly between state and county funding. Pinellas County’s larger capital plan, however, puts the overall South Cross Bayou High Service Pump Station Improvements project at about $41.8 million, with county funding identified through the Sewer Renewal and Replacement Fund. The documents presented to commissioners do not explain the roughly $11.8 million difference between the overall project cost and the work included in the grant request.

Commissioners spent little time discussing the project Tuesday. One question centered on how grant money would show up in the county budget. Office of Management and Budget Director Chris Rose said the grant revenue and corresponding expenses would appear in the capital budget. Commissioners then approved the application unanimously.

The state’s decision on the grant will determine how much of the project Pinellas must cover itself. For now, the county has authorized the application and committed its $15 million match, while the larger $41.8 million pump station project remains in the county’s capital plan.