TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa's wastewater department director said a project nearing completion at its Howard F. Curren Advanced Water Treatment Plant is expected to give residents relief from a sewage smell that's invading neighborhoods.

"We collect a solid material, and we biologically treat those solids. That's what's causing the issue. Illegal discharges into the city's wastewater system has interrupted this biological treatment process, which is creating these odors," said Director Eric Weiss.

What You Need To Know

  • People who live on Davis Islands say a sewage smell coming from the direction of the treatment plant on Port Tampa Bay has become a regular part of life, but it's gotten worse lately

  • Tampa's wastewater department director, Eric Weiss, says illegal dumping at the Howard F. Curren Advanced Water Treatment Plant is believed to be the cause of the smell

  • Weiss says a $17 million project to add a new digester should wrap up by the end of the month and eliminate the smell

  • The city is now only allowing tankers with wastewater from Tampa to discharge at the plant and testing is being conducted to determine the source of the illegal dumping

Weiss said a new $17 million digester is expected to be online by the end of the month and should clear up the smell pretty quickly. People who live on Davis Islands told Spectrum News they’re looking forward to that.

“It is definitely a surprising, pungent smell,” said Kristen Jordan, who moved to Davis Islands with her family six months ago.

“It’s something my kids and I joke about and call ‘the poop wind,’” said resident Eric Freundt.

Neighbors said the smell isn’t constant, but it has become a regular part of life.

“When we first smelled kind of a sewage smell, I asked around if it was normal,” said Jordan. “Sometimes, this smell does come in the morning when you walk out, and it’s just kind of in your face.”

Freundt said it happens when the wind comes from the east — the direction of the plant, which is located at Port Tampa Bay.

“It’s been happening on and off for years. It’s definitely, lately, been pretty strong,” said Freundt.

Weiss said up to 40 tankers a day haul wastewater to the plant from around Tampa Bay. According to him, they all need a permit, and the contents are randomly tested once or twice a month. But he said one of the tankers appears to be getting through those checks and illegally dumping something that’s interrupting the biological treatment process.

“It could be coming from industries or agriculture. We really don’t know. It’s all spelled out in the permit, but if there’s somebody that wants to illegally do something, it’s kind of hard to find,” said Weiss.

He said the new digester will give the plant more treatment capacity to handle any illegal discharges and get rid of the smell.

“We think it should immediately get better,” he said. “I’d call it a short amount of time. I think that’s days to a week.”

Freundt said the smell does impact the quality of life, and he’s glad a solution is in the works.

“Happy that we have such a great wastewater treatment facility and, you know, sometimes living close to that means that you smell something that we all contribute to,” Freundt said.

In addition to the new digester, which is expected to be complete by the end of the month, Weiss said only tankers carrying wastewater from Tampa can discharge at the plant now. He said the city has also done comprehensive lab testing of samples taken from around the area to see if they can figure out where the illegal discharge came from.