Projects

Desalination Water Treatment Plant intake

Desalination Water Treatment Plant intake

Apollo Beach, Florida
United States
Tampa Bay Water

TYLin partnered with Tampa Bay Water to deliver a desalination intake tunnel.

Co-located with Tampa Electric Company’s (TECO) Big Bend Power Station, the Tampa Bay Water Seawater Desalination Water Treatment Plant includes seawater supply and brine concentrate disposal systems that rely on TECO’s operation of its power plant cooling water tunnels. The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant intakes up to 44 million gallons per day of seawater, separates it into drinking water and concentrated seawater and dilutes the seawater before returning it to the bay. The plant uses reverse osmosis treatment process to produce drinking water from seawater.

Previous to this project, TECO announced plans to modernize the Big Bend Power Station including upgrading a portion of the power plant with an alternate technology and modifications to the typical operation of its power generation units and cooling water tunnels. Tampa Bay Water decided to implement a contract to connect to Tunnel No. 1 at TECO’s Big Bend Power Plant through design-build delivery. Tunnel No. 1 is 108-inch square Fiberglas Reinforced Plastic (FRP), the proposed connection includes reducing to a 54-inch FRP diameter pipe with a capped 54-inch isolation valve.  

We were contracted to assist Tampa Bay Water with the execution of a Design-Build contract to construct an intake tunnel connected to TECO’s cooling water discharge tunnel. The project team created the Basis of Design Report and technical specifications for the project. Working with Tampa Bay Water, we developed the design criteria, managed the procurement process, evaluated proposals, and supported the negotiations of the Contract. In the design criteria professional role, the project team provided project oversight including design reviews for contract compliance, construction monitoring, and start-up assistance. 

Project Highlights 

  • Served as design criteria professional for design-build of desalination intake tunnel 

  • Multiple agency coordination 

  • Managed contract compliance, construction and start-up