Water System Maintenance Coming to Tampa. City of Tampa water customers will soon be affected by the City’s routine water system maintenance program. The scheduled maintenance is expected to take place from Monday, Feb. 11 to Monday, Mar. 4.
The program is a temporary conversion from chloramine to chlorine disinfection and is a routine maintenance measure designed to reduce the potential for occurrences of coliform or other types of bacteria in the water delivery system.
There are several benefits to conducting this maintenance. It’s an effective alternative to flushing millions of gallons of drinking water through the distribution system. Flushing volumes can be decreased dramatically with periodic chlorine maintenance, saving tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
During the maintenance period, customers may notice a slight change to the taste and odor of their drinking water resulting from a change from chloramine to chlorine disinfection. There’s no need to worry. Tampa’s drinking water will continue to meet federal and state safety standards. The temporary change in system maintenance helps maintain distribution system water quality and minimize the potential for any future problems.
Once the program is complete Mar. 4, local distribution systems will be flushed to clear the chlorinated water as chlorinated water is reintroduced to the system. During this process, customers may see a temporary variation in color as well as possible sediment in the water. Running water at the tap for a couple of minutes should fix this event.
