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Water Treatment Plant improvement plans discussed
St. Petersburg’s only drinking water facility will receive numerous upgrades to increase efficiency and reliability.
City Engineering & Capital Improvements and Public Works leaders came together Wednesday to discuss planned operational improvements for the Cosme Water Treatment Plant in a community meeting at the Maureen B. Gauzza Public Library.
The plant, located at 16015 Race Track Road in Odessa, was built in 1930. According to the City, the water produced at the facility is “distributed to more than 300,000 customers through 92,000 water accounts.”
Reinvesting in the Cosme Water Treatment Plant is important because it’s a “regional” facility, St. Petersburg engineering and capital improvements director Brejesh Prayman explained at the meeting. Alongside St. Pete, it serves other communities including Gulfport, Bear Creek and Tierra Verde.
“It’s been a planning decision that has been probably a decade in the making,” said John Palenchar, City of St. Petersburg director of water resources.
“We’re looking at the surface life of those assets and what’s the future water supply demand – how much water are we going to need to reliably supply to our customers.”
Changes include a new control center building, updated emergency generators and a “modernized” electrical power distribution system.
Additionally, the current pump station will be replaced to “improve hydraulics and system performance.” A state of the art water blending facility is also planned to “enhance water quality.”
The plant will receive supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) improvements as well, including upgrades to its instrumentation systems.
“A lot of the equipment is outdated, and so replacement parts are getting harder and harder to find,” Palenchar explained. “We need to upgrade a lot of it to modern technology.”
Multiple storage tanks will also be removed in order to create more “green space” and improve the aesthetic look of the property. These tanks are no longer needed, he added.
The conceptual design process for the project is almost 30% complete, Maureen Wingfield, Engineering & Capital Improvements senior professional engineer, told the Catalyst. She said that the design is in a “preliminary” stage and has not been finalized.
According to the City, the design process will continue until summer 2026. Construction is tentatively set to begin by late 2026 and will be finished by 2030, Prayman added.
However, the design and construction schedules are “subject to change.”
Cosme Water Treatment Plant improvement project website
