Conservation Careers Blog Newsroom Contact Regional Water Quality Providing clean, safe drinking water is a top priority at Tampa Bay Water. The drinking water we provide our member governments is safe: it meets or is better than all local, state and federal drinking water regulations. We recognize the tremendous responsibility to provide our region with high-quality drinking water 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Water is vital not only to our health and well-being but to our economy and way of life. Your drinking water comes from a diverse water supply network that is designed to be responsive to weather and environmental conditions, water quality and more. Your water is a blend of groundwater, river water and desalinated seawater. Water Treatment Three unique sources mean three different treatment processes to clean and disinfect drinking water. Proven technology, advanced disinfection, corrosion control and state-certified laboratories and operators ensure a high-quality product. Groundwater requires less treatment than river water and seawater because nature does most of the cleaning for us. The Floridan Aquifer serves as a natural filter as water moves through it, leaving only the need to disinfect and stabilize water before we blend it with other sources. Our river water treatment and desalination plants use multi-step processes for added safety. Both facilities strain water to remove fish and other large debris, then they each use a traditional treatment process where chemicals are added that cause small particles to clump together and settle out. At the surface water treatment plant the water is disinfected using ozone, one of the most powerful disinfectants in water treatment. The water is again filtered and disinfected with monochloramines before being blended with other sources and distributed to our members. At the desalination plant, after the clumping process, seawater flows through progressively finer filters to remove any remaining matter. Highly filtered seawater is then forced at high pressure through reverse osmosis (RO) membranes to remove salt. Chemicals are added to stabilize the desalinated seawater, which is then disinfected with chloramines before being blended and distributed. GROUNDWATER RIVER WATER DESALINATED SEAWATER Quality tested, purity proven The region demands, and Tampa Bay Water delivers, high-quality drinking water. A continual process of sampling, testing and monitoring assures that purity and quality. Water quality standards More than 100 local, state and federal drinking water parameters 17 additional, stringent parameters established by member governments 7 additional parameters under study Water quality assurance More 500 regional water quality monitoring sites 6,000+ samples collected annually Nearly 60,000 water quality tests conducted annually in a state-certified laboratory Protecting surface water, groundwater and Tampa Bay from contamination protects your drinking water, the environment, and saves money and energy. The cleaner the source water, the less treatment that’s required — which means less energy and fewer chemicals are needed to clean the water. SAMPLING TESTING MONITORING Microbiology Learn how Tampa Bay Water's microbiology section in its State-certified lab helps provide clean, safe water to the Tampa Bay region. Tampa Bay Water Lab – Microbiology View Video with Audio Descriptions Anions Learn how Tampa Bay Water's anions section in its State-certified lab helps provide clean, safe water to the Tampa Bay region. Tampa Bay Water Lab – Anions View Video with Audio Descriptions You use it every day and can't live without it. But how well do you know your H2O? Learn your drinking water's journey, watch the video and take the quiz at tampabayh2o.com. View Video with Audio Descriptions VIEW CURRENT WATER QUALITY REPORT MONOCHLORAMINES Tampa Bay Water uses monochloramines to treat drinking water. After initial treatment with a primary disinfectant, small amounts of a secondary disinfectant, or disinfectant ... Learn More › BLENDED WATER Tampa Bay Water taps three sources of supply to meet the region’s water needs: groundwater, surface water from local rivers and an off-stream reservoir, and desalinated seawater ... Learn More › SOURCE WATER PROTECTION Clean, safe drinking water doesn’t start at the tap — it starts at the source. Because our region depends on surface and groundwater for most of our water supply ... Learn More › FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Providing clean, safe drinking water is a top priority at Tampa Bay Water. The drinking water we provide our member governments is safe: it meets or is better than all local .... Learn More › Copyright 2021 By Tampa Bay Water Terms | Privacy | Accessibility