The City of Tampa Wastewater Department has now invested in 64 portable generators, a critical step in strengthening and improving the City’s infrastructure and response time during hurricane season.
On Monday, media crews are invited to tour the recently renovated Louisiana Pump Station that now has one of these huge on-site generators. The City of Tampa Wastewater Department will also bring different-sized generators to showcase what the City is currently using.
New generators were purchased by the City of Tampa to ensure power at pump stations in an emergency.
The City now has all seven regional pumping stations with on-site generators.
Eric Weiss, director of the City of Tampa Wastewater Department, said these portable generators ensure the City has a reliable and alternate means to provide power and keep wastewater systems operational if an emergency arises.
“Pumping stations rely on electricity to operate,” Weiss said. “In 2017, during Hurricane Irma, we had pumping stations without power for one week. It presented huge challenges to our teams who had to haul portable generators to those stations.”
Additionally, the City of Tampa now has five generators, rated at two megawatts each, located at the Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. These generators provide backup power for the treatment plant.
The City of Tampa also has 75,000 gallons of on-site fuel in storage. This is enough fuel to last five days in case of a power outage at the treatment plant during heavy rain events, or longer power outages.
The purchase of these on-site generators is another way the City of Tampa provides reliable resident services. This starts with sound, resilient, and sustainable public infrastructure, all key aspects of Mayor Jane Castor’s Transforming Tampa’s Tomorrow initiative.