ENHANCED SURFACE WATER SYSTEM:THE REGION'S FIRST ALTERNATIVE

AN IMPORTANT ALTER

Since late 2002,Tampa Bay Water’s state-of-the-art surfacewater treatment plant has provided high-quality drinkingwater to the Tampa Bay region. The plant is the hub ofTampa Bay Water’s Enhanced Surface Water System—thefirst alternative water supply built to serve localgovernments that traditionally relied on groundwater tomeet their residents’ drinking water needs.

The Enhanced Surface Water System is designed to takeadvantage of the more than 50 inches inches of rain thatfalls in an average year in the Tampa Bay region. Whenavailable, water is skimmed from the Tampa Bypass Canal,Hillsborough and Alafia rivers. Some is treated forimmediate use at the Tampa Bay Regional Surface WaterTreatment Plant, and surplus water is stored in the 15-billion gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir to supplythe water treatment plant during dry times.

The amount of water supplied by the surface watertreatment plant varies daily depending on a number offactors, including how much water is available from riversor the regional reservoir. The surface water treatmentplant has a maximum rated capacity of 72 million gallonsper day (mgd), enabling it to regularly produce 66 mgdwhen supply is available.

Care has been taken to ensure Tampa Bay Water’swithdrawal permits for the Alafia River, Tampa BypassCanal and Hillsborough River are conservative and basedon available flows. When river flows are lower, less water iswithdrawn. When river flows are higher, more water iswithdrawn.And no water is withdrawn below a designatedlow-flow amount. This environmental approach protectsboth the low- and high-flow regimes of the rivers.

NATIVE

BUILDING ON OUR SUCCESSESThe Tampa Bay Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant hasbeen central to helping Tampa Bay Water meet the region’sdrinking water needs and the agency’s goals for environmentalstewardship through reduced groundwater production.It is alsocentral to meeting the region’s future water needs.

Tampa Bay Water plans to quench the region’s thirst in 2011and beyond through a series of projects that would build onthe Enhanced Surface Water System. The new projectsinclude modifying existing water use permits at theHillsborough River and Tampa Bypass Canal and addingpumping capacity, so more mid-range (higher) river flowscan be captured for treatment or storage, withoutenvironmental harm.

Also, the surface water treatment plant will be expanded,using the same treatment processes that have performedsuccessfully since 2002, to a rated maximum capacity of 120mgd to achieve an annual average delivery of up to 99 mgdwhen supply is available. With the plant expansion, thesurface water treatment plant and the sources that supply itwill comprise 40 percent of Tampa Bay Water’s system.

Veolia Water North America was awarded the design-build-operate contract for expansion of the surface watertreatment plant in April 2007. The expanded plant isscheduled for completion by the end of 2010.

A WALK THROUGH THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT The treatment plant, which is fully automated andmonitored 24-7, 365 days a year, uses a state-of-the-art,multi-barrier method to treat the surface water. Picturean assembly line where the water goes from onetreatment process to another, each step reinforcing andaugmenting the one before it.

Water quality criteria for the plant are stricter than thoserequired by the United States Environmental ProtectionAgency’s Safe Drinking Water Act and the even tougherparameters specified by Tampa Bay Water’s governanceagreements with its members.

Pretreatment processTampa Bay Water pumps water from the Tampa BypassCanal, Hillsborough and Alafia rivers and the C.W. BillYoung Regional Reservoir through pipelines into twolarge tanks that can hold a combined 12.5 million gallonsof water. Blended water stored in the tanks then movesthrough the treatment process.

ACTIFLO®Veolia Water’s patented ACTIFLO process removes thecolor, organics and particles from the water. ACTIFLO iswidely used throughout the world and is especiallydesigned to treat large flow rates with variable raw waterquality—exactly the conditions found in the surfacewater treatment plant.

Addition of fine grain sand (injection tank) This stage illustrates the major difference between thetrademarked ACTIFLO process and the traditionaltreatment process. Traditionally, a mixture of chemicalsis used to separate the particles. The ACTIFLO processbuilds on the traditional process by adding fine grainsand with polymer, allowing for water to be processedmore quickly and efficiently.

Particle separation (maturation tank)The water then moves into the maturation tank forfurther mixing. The mixing allows for large particlescalled “floc” to form. The sand acts as the nucleus of thefloc, and the polymer acts as the glue holding the floctogether. After the floc removes the color and organicmatter from the raw water, the water passes into thesettling tank.

Completion of particleseparation (settling tank)In the settling tank, thefloc and raw water arecompletely separated. Thesand’s weight forces thefloc to fall to the bottom ofthe basin and allows thewater to rise to the top forfurther treatment. Waterflowing over the topmoves onto the nextprocess.

At this point, the pH level of the water is lower thannormal, so it must be slightly increased before ozonedisinfection.

Ozone disinfectionOzone gas is added as a primary disinfectant, and staticmixers are employed to transfer ozone to the water.Ozone kills microorganisms that may be left in the water,including bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Usedthroughout the United States, it is the most powerfuldisinfectant in water treatment today.

After the ozone disinfectionprocess, which takes about 15minutes, the pH is readjustedto normal levels to prepare itfor filtration.

Biologically active filtrationprocessWater moves from the ozonetank to the biologicallyactive filtration area where“good bacteria” aid inremoving remaining organicmolecules. After that, layers

of sand and granular activated carbon filter outremaining particles.

Secondary disinfection The water moves to a storage area (or clearwell) for asecond disinfection process. A two-step process, whichincludes chlorine and chloramines, is used to disinfect thewater and maintain a disinfectant residual in the supplysystem to ensure it remains free of bacteria.

Water distribution After this extensive filtration, high-quality drinking wateris the final product. In nearby storage tanks, Tampa BayWater blends the finished surface water with watertreated at its desalination plant. The blended water isthen stored until needed or pumped into Tampa BayWater’s distribution system, where it is further blendedwith groundwater supplies and delivered to localgovernments.

The public-private partnership between Tampa Bay Waterand Veolia Water is a cost-effective and reliable solution toproviding the Tampa Bay region with high-qualityaffordable water.

After a competitive procurement process, Veolia WaterNorth America (formerly US Filter Operating Services) wasawarded a $144 million contract in 2000 to design, buildand operate the current facility. Tampa Bay Waterestimates that this partnership will save the regionapproximately $80 million or 21 percent over the 15-yearterm of the original contract.

Similar savings are expected with the plant expansion.These savings are important to keeping more-costlyalternative water supplies affordable for the public. Thepartnership also provides the region with access to thelatest in water treatment technology developed by theprivate sector.

TAMPA BAY WATER, Florida’s largest wholesale watersupplier, provides drinking water at cost to its members:Hillsborough County, Pasco County, Pinellas County, NewPort Richey, St. Petersburg and Tampa. The membergovernments serve more than 2.4 million residents in theTampa Bay region either directly or indirectly through there-sale of water to other smaller utilities.

VEOLIA WATER NORTH AMERICA is the leading provider ofcomprehensive water and wastewater services tomunicipal and industrial customers, providing services toapproximately 14 million people in more than 600communities. The company is part of Veolia Water, theNo. 1 water company in the world serving more than 108million customers. Veolia Water is the Water Division ofVeolia Environment (NYSE: VE and Paris Bourse: VIE), thelargest environmental services company in the world withmore than 300,000 employees in 67 countries.

Public-Private PartnershipBenefits The Region

2575 Enterprise RoadClearwater, FL 33763-1102

727.796.2355 or 813.996.7009Fa x: 727.791.2388

www.tampabaywater.org

Up to 50 percent of the eligible capital costs for the EnhancedSurface Water System expansion will be funded by the

Southwest Florida Water Management District and local BasinBoards through a cooperative funding agreement.

Participating Basin Boards include:• Alafia River Basin • Northwest Hillsborough Basin• Coastal Rivers Basin • Pinellas-Anclote River Basin• Hillsborough River Basin • Withlacoochee River Basin

12/2007

www.veoliawaterna.com