Hillsborough County Public Utilities, Florida, USA – Operating groundwater augmentation

Florida’s Hillsborough County Public Utilities has been a national leader in public access reuse for decades by operating one of the largest retail water reuse systems in the US. Now the county is implementing a seawater barrier / aquifer recharge and recovery program that will help them realise their goal of 100 percent beneficial reuse.

The purpose of the Southern Hillsborough Aquifer Recharge Program (SHARP) is to utilise highly treated reclaimed water (not used in its public access reuse system) in an indirect potable reuse project, to reduce saltwater intrusion by improving aquifer levels in the Southern Water Use Caution Area. The Southern Water Use Caution Area was established by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 1995 and retardation of saltwater intrusion has been a priority since that time.

The SHARP Project, initiated in 2016, has proceeded to successfully recharge the mineralised aquifers along the coast of Tampa Bay with over 2 billion gallons (3.8 million litres) of reclaimed water, to date. This system is on track to recharge at a rate of 10 million gallons (37.8 million litres) per day to recover over 600 square miles of the Floridan Aquifer system.

Through this project Hillsborough County will not only create environmental recovery, on a scale never seen before in Florida, but will also generate 9 million gallons (34 million litres per day), (90 percent) of freshwater groundwater withdrawal credits.

Generating fresh groundwater withdrawal credits in the area containing one of the highest growth rates in the state will allow the regional water supply authority, Tampa Bay Water, to save over $100 million while meeting this community’s drinking water demands.