An edition of: WaterAtlas.orgPresented By: USF Water Institute

Water-Related News

Tampa City Council halts any new funding of the PURE water project

TAMPA – The Tampa City Council put the brakes on a project that is looking to repurpose city wastewater.

The council, in a unanimous vote, halted any new funding for the PURE project.

"I don't want to fund this anymore," said Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak. "To me this is it. This is done. If we need to do something different, we'll deal with it in a different way. I don't anticipate approving any more funding for PURE as it stands and to me, that is closing it. I understand legally it's a little different, but to me, it's a closure."

The Purify Usable Resources for the Environment (PURE) project was a proposed water recycling project. The City of Tampa said the project would redirect up to 50 million gallons per day of "highly treated reclaimed water" from the city's Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant that would have been put in Hillsborough Bay.