Opinion
Long wait
TBO.com
Published: June 14, 2012
Back in 1992, the city of Dunedin brought on line a plant that uses reverse-osmosis to remove salt from water pumped below the Pinellas County peninsula, rendering it drinkable. Decades ago, overpumping in wells within Pinellas allowed salt water from the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay to infiltrate the aquifer, rendering the water undrinkable. These days, about the only time you read about the Dunedin reverse-osmosis plant is in connection with the debate over fluoridation of public drinking water supplies, something Dunedin continues to do even though Pinellas County has decided to stop.Published: June 14, 2012
We mention the two-decade history of operation at the Dunedin reverse-osmosis plant because last week the city of Tarpon Springs moved a step or two closer to its goal of having its own desalination plant. The reverse-osmosis process might have gotten a bit of a bad reputation on the Suncoast because of the long series of problems at the desalination plant Tampa Bay Water built in southern Hillsborough County. The situation is not the same, because the regional utility's plant takes water from Tampa Bay, not the ground.
It has been six years since Tarpon Springs voters endorsed building a plant. A grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District is providing $20 million of the $45 million cost. An environmental lawsuit has slowed the project, but city officials say they could be ready to seek bids for construction by August. We hope they are right.