St. Pete shutters water treatment facility

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information.

City officials “made the difficult decision” to cut the Northeast Water Reclamation Facility’s power at approximately 10:45 p.m. Thursday. Much of St. Petersburg was without power and low-lying areas were under water at the time of the announcement.

The sewer treatment plant at 1160 62nd Ave. NE was taken offline due to an “unprecedented” storm surge. Businesses and residences located north of 30th Avenue and east of I-275 cannot flush toilets, bathe, or wash clothes.

Running water remains accessible; however, officials urge residents not to drain water from sinks, tubs or toilets. “Draining water may cause sewage to back up into homes,” states the announcement.

The City of St. Petersburg could shutter the Northeast Water Reclamation Facility in what Mayor Ken Welch called an “important development” at a 5:30 p.m. hurricane briefing Thursday.

He blamed the possibility of taking a critical piece of municipal infrastructure offline on Hurricane Helene’s “historic level of potential storm surge.” The Category 3 hurricane, with sustained 125 mph winds, was roughly 120 miles due west of Tampa Bay as the mayor addressed constituents.

Officials expect a five-to-eight-foot storm surge to inundate the area by midnight. Welch said the plant would close if it received an “unprecedented” seven-foot surge.

“That means some residents will not be able, for a short time, to take showers, do laundry or flush toilets,” Welch added. “It could take a minimum of 48 hours to resume plant operations.”

Welch said closing the plant would ensure crews could repair flood damage and decrease the time to resume water service. He called it a “challenging time for all of us” and assured residents that shuttering the facility is not a decision “we take lightly.”

The Northeast Water Reclamation Facility (NEWRF) is at 1160 62nd Ave. NE near the Mangrove Bay and Cypress Links Golf Course. It is the lowest-lying of the city’s three plants.

The facility, constructed in the 1950s, has a permitted 16  million gallon average daily capacity. “This is the only treatment plant we anticipate may be impacted by storm surge,” Welch said.

“Now, we’re hoping it doesn’t come to that,” he said. “But we want residents to be prepared for all possibilities.”

A map highlighting the facility (red pin).

Amber Boulding, emergency management director, noted the city has already experienced nearly three feet of storm surge. “Unfortunately, it’s not the worst of it,” she said.

Boulding said some forecasting models show St. Petersburg’s storm surge exceeding eight feet. Welch said the potential for shuttering the plant has existed since its opening; “it’s the level of potential storm surge that has really changed.”

Claude Tankersley, public works administrator, said new projections helped officials realize the surge may exceed the plant’s limits. He also noted shuttering the facility is arduous and time-consuming.

Tankersley said staff would shut down electrical systems and leave the plant to “protect themselves.” He said they would return once the water recedes – also a slow process.

They would, he explained, “methodically turn it on, piece by piece,” while inspecting flooded areas to ensure electrical equipment didn’t succumb to saltwater damage. “That’s one of the reasons why this could be a two-day or more process.”

“If there’s any equipment that has actually been damaged, that makes it unsafe to turn it back on,” he added. “It’s something that we’ve been monitoring. We are lucky we’re not getting a storm surge greater than that.”

Tankersley said staff spent the past few days establishing a time frame and potential surge “trigger” to shutter the facility. He also stressed that seven feet of water must travel from the bay, through mangroves and across neighborhoods to reach the site.

Officials are now discerning how many residents would be affected by closing the facility. He said every home and business above 30^th Avenue North and east of I-275 is a “rough approximation.”

The city will notify each resident if the facility closes. Tankersley said $50 million in under-construction upgrades, with a 2026 completion date, “would have given us more leeway in a situation like this.”

“But, unfortunately, we didn’t get it finished in time for this event.”