Just Don't Call it PURE- No, really, it's not PURE

CORRECTION

As much as I tried to get clarification on the projects before posting, the mistake I made was confusing two different "deep well injection" projects going into the budget at the same time — both wate related and drawing the wrong conclusion. I misread the statement "Unlike PURE, the Aquifer Recharge Project does not include recovering this water for minimum flows for the Hillsborough River" to mean there would be a water recovery component and there was a relation between the two projects.

This evening I received clarification from the Director of the Water Department emphasizing there is no connection between SIX and the wastewater aquifer recharge project. Further, the wastewater aquifer recharge does not have a recovery component nor are the SIX deep injection wells aquifer recharge wells. Which makes the point these are not insignificant projects in the 5 year CIP that should have been at least mentioned at the budget workshop if everyone could be adults.

PURE was an acronym for “Purify Usable Resources for the Environment”, a design-build project proposed by Mayor Jane Castor in her first term to address state laws related to wastewater discharge. The city had evaluated several possible solutions and narrowed it down to two: an “aquifer recharge/recovery system to treat, store and recover Advanced Wastewater Treatment (AWT)quality reclaimed water that will be treated to drinking water standards prior to injecting into the aquifer for subsequent delivery to the Hillsborough River Reservoir” or “discharge Advanced Wastewater Treatment (AWT) quality reclaimed water that will be treated to drinking water standards downstream of the Hillsborough River Dam to comply with the LHRMFs, sell 20 MGD of reclaimed water to an interested entity and install 10, 5 MGD deep injection wells.”

Public opposition was loud as the project was nicknamed “Toilet to Tap”. Ultimately Tampa City Council killed the project and instead the city moved forward with a suspended ion exchange (SIX) pilot. That pilot proved successful enough that council approved an additional $9 million for design in December 2025, bringing project total to $21M. In June the city noted the results of the pilot, including the reduction of PFAS (“forever chemicals”).

While this technology was initially chosen to help remove naturally occurring organic matter, testing confirmed its ability to remove PFAS as well. By removing both organic matter and PFAS early in the treatment process, SIX delivers multiple water quality benefits through a single treatment technology. SIX will not only allow other treatment processes work more effectively, but it will also position the Tampa Water Department to meet future drinking water regulations.

In addition to improving water quality, SIX is expected to lower both future construction and operating costs. By helping the rest of the treatment system work more efficiently, SIX reduces the scale of treatment improvements needed at the plant. Studies conducted during project planning found that using SIX could save more than $80 million in future facility improvement costs compared to other treatment options.

When the mayor and staff presented the budget at the end of July however, they failed to mention a big next step — deep well injection and aquifer recharge wells. Little is outlined in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects however a few clues exist. A project (number 1002185 in OpenGov) notes “three Class I injection wells for the new Suspended Ion Exchange (SIX) treatment process.” In the wastewater 5 year CIP there’s $54M for “engineering services to complete permitting applications to obtain approval for construction of underground injection wells for aquifer recharge of treated effluent from the Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant”, including $34M in FY27. Followed by $111M in the water department for “DLTWTF Suspended Ion Exch (SIX)” starting with $7.1M in FY27 and showing $42M in FY31. Several other contracts over the last year also mention SIX in their scope including a $52.9M electrical upgrade contract.

Tampa Monitor reached out to the administration to ask about the projects. In a statement, they re-emphasized the success of the SIX® pilot program and that "Design of the full-scale, 140-million-gallon-per-day system at the David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility is now underway."

As to the aquifer recharge

The Wastewater Department’s Aquifer Recharge Project will use specially constructed and monitored wells to convey highly treated and disinfected reclaimed water to a water-bearing rock zone in an area that has historically experienced increasing saltwater intrusion. The project will help meet SB 64 requirements, support aquifer levels, and help slow the inland movement of saltwater. It may also generate groundwater credits or offsets that could have value to the City or other permitted water users. Unlike PURE, the Aquifer Recharge Project does not include recovering this water for minimum flows for the Hillsborough River.

Asked why the projects weren't discussed at the buget workshop the answer was "because council members didn't want to hear the presentation city staff was planning to make. They had presentations prepared for the four enterprise areas, but the City Council opted not to hear them." Council member Bill Carlson motioned to skip the presentation calling it propoganda.

Tampa Monitor reached out to Carlson (and 2027 mayoral candidate), a vocal critic of “Toilet to Tap” about the projects. In a text message exchage he first said he wasn’t familiar with the project, following up with “I am opposed to toilet to tap. So far, this is the only alternative the administration is willing to do to comply with state law. I don’t like it but it’s better than toilet to tap.” He then mentioned a $50M cost and cited an old talking point about the cost of “Toilet to Tap” at $2.1 billion, a number derived from an early study that estimated total 30 year lifetime cost.” The same set of talking points estimated “aquifer recharge and recovery” at $3.3B. The PURE Request for Qualifications (RFQ) estimated construction costs at $350M “depending on treatment options.”

Council Member Lynn Hurtak (also a 2027 mayoral candidate) told the Tampa Monitor she was familiar with the general outlines of the proposals but didn't realize the projects were in this year's budget. She shared that she would be in communication with the commuity stakeholders that worked with the city on PURE but it was her understanding they were amendable to the proposed solution.