Tampa Utilities Guide: Water, Sewer, Trash, Drainage and Watering Rules

The Tampa Water Department supplies drinking water to more than 733,000 people across a 220 square mile area, and its primary source is the Hillsborough River (City of Tampa Water Department).

River water is treated at the David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility, which can produce up to 120 million gallons in a single day at peak and averages 82 million gallons a day over a year (Tampa Water Department). In wet months, excess water goes underground: up to 1.2 billion gallons can be held in the Tampa Aquifer Storage and Recovery System for later use. When the Hillsborough River cannot meet demand in long dry spells, Tampa buys treated groundwater, surface water and desalinated seawater from Tampa Bay Water.

The Tampa distribution system runs through more than 2,200 miles of water mains and more than 14,000 fire hydrants, and about 9,000 water samples are analyzed each year during production (About Us, Water). The service area covers the City of Tampa and parts of unincorporated Hillsborough County, and the Water Department page offers an address lookup to confirm whether the City of Tampa provides utility service there. The City of Tampa Utilities rates page sends residents who are not city customers to Hillsborough County Water and Sewer, Pasco County Utilities or Temple Terrace Water and Sewer (Rates, Deposits, and Fees).

Billing, start and stop service and outage reports go to the City of Tampa Utilities Call Center at (813) 274-8811, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with emergency calls answered 24/7 (Tampa Water Department). The Tampa water service guide covers the treatment plant, Tampa Bay Water supply and water quality reports in depth.

Tampa Water Department customers may irrigate lawns only once a week, on their designated day, between 12am and 4am or 8pm and 11:59pm, under Modified Phase III restrictions extended through March 31, 2027 (City of Tampa, September 23, 2026).

The Southwest Florida Water Management District set that extension, and the City of Tampa announced it on September 23, 2026, citing a 12-month rainfall deficit of 15.4 inches in the region (City of Tampa news). The Tampa Water Department pages still carry a red banner reading Modified Phase III, Extreme, effective April 3, 2026, so the drought rules have now been in force in Tampa for more than six months (Tampa Water Department). Customers look up their watering day on the city Water Restrictions page, which assigns the day by the last digit of the house number (0 or 1 Monday through 8 or 9 Friday) and allows properties of one acre or larger both time windows on that day; questions go to [email protected].

The Tampa Water Department offers free irrigation evaluations, leak detection help and free water saving devices, and it scheduled a Compost Giveaway for October 23 and 24, 2026, with free compost and mulch for customers (City of Tampa news).

Reclaimed water is the main exception. Tampa reclaimed water customers may water any day and any time, though the city suggests Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday for even addresses and Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday for odd addresses to keep pressure up (City of Tampa, Reclaimed Water). Reclaimed water runs in purple pipes, costs $1.20 per ccf (748 gallons), and is offered in Davis Island and parts of South Tampa (Rates, Deposits, and Fees). The Tampa reclaimed water and PURE guide explains the purple pipe system and the stalled PURE reuse plan.

The Tampa Wastewater Department collects and treats more than 55 million gallons of wastewater a day from over 100,000 customers in Tampa and its immediate suburbs (City of Tampa Wastewater Department).

The Tampa sewer system includes over 1,800 miles of pipelines, more than 225 pumping stations and the Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, which has a permitted capacity of 96 million gallons per day (About Us, Wastewater). The city puts the replacement cost of the whole wastewater system at over $3.3 billion. The Howard F. Curren plant also produces the reclaimed water that reaches Davis Island and South Tampa lawns (Reclaimed Water).

The Wastewater Department works in three divisions: Engineering, the Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, which also runs the pumping stations, and Wastewater Collection, which builds and repairs the Tampa pipelines (Wastewater Department). The department page links to Tampa Connect and to city guidance on sewer backup problems and blocked drains (Wastewater Department). The Tampa sewer services guide covers the Howard F. Curren plant, sewer charges and the PIPES pipe replacement projects.

City of Tampa utility customers get blue cart garbage pickup twice a week and green cart recycling plus yard waste pickup once a week (City of Tampa, Collection Days and Times).

Tampa carts must be at the curb no later than 6:00 AM on collection day, unblocked by vehicles and placed 3 feet apart from other carts or obstacles. Yard waste goes out containerized, bagged or bundled in pieces under 50 pounds (Collection Days and Times). The collection schedule for each address is found by entering it on the same City of Tampa page.

The McKay Bay Waste-To-Energy Facility helps Tampa manage over 360,000 tons of trash a year and turns it into electricity for up to 15,000 Tampa homes each month (McKay Bay Waste Management Resource Facility). Residents can drop off loads at 114 South 34th Street from 8:00 a.m. to noon, Monday through Saturday. The plant is being renovated, and the McKay Bay page was last updated August 27, 2025, and the McKay Bay Scale House at the same address lists longer hours (7am to 5:30pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 7am to 3:30pm Wednesday and Saturday), so drop off hours are worth confirming with Solid Waste customer service at (813) 274-8811 before a trip. The Tampa garbage and recycling guide lists drop off stations, household chemical collection and holiday schedules.

Tampa drainage is paid for by two annual non-ad valorem charges on property: a Stormwater Service Assessment for upkeep and a Stormwater Improvement Assessment for new capital projects (City of Tampa Stormwater Assessment Program).

The Tampa Service Assessment has existed since 2003 under Resolution 2003-937 and pays for street sweeping, pond maintenance, pipe and outfall cleaning and ditch maintenance. The Improvement Assessment, adopted in 2016 by Resolution 2016-706, pays for capacity increases and treatment facilities in the Central and Lower Improvement Area (Stormwater Assessment Program), which the city describes as south of Fletcher Avenue (City of Tampa news). The same Tampa page also lists a Stormwater Hardship Program.

The latest large project is on South Manhattan Ave from W Vasconia St to W Obispo St in South Tampa: a $6.9 million flood relief job announced October 1, 2025 that adds and upsizes pipes and puts inlets at every intersection (City of Tampa, October 1, 2025). Grants cover much of it, including $2.75 million from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and nearly a million dollars in federal community priority grants. Mayor Jane Castor said Tampa had invested approximately $350 million in stormwater since 2019. The Tampa storm water and flooding guide covers neighborhood drainage projects and flood relief across Tampa.

Tampa water, irrigation, wastewater and solid waste rates reset each October 1, and the FY27 schedules took effect October 1, 2026, running through September 30, 2027 (City of Tampa Utilities, Rates, Deposits, and Fees).

The yearly increases are set by PIPES, the Progressive Infrastructure Plan to Ensure Sustainability, a $2.9 billion funding plan for Tampa sewer and water work that the city calls the largest public works project in its history (City of Tampa, PIPES). Under PIPES, water and wastewater rate increases take effect every October 1 until October 2040. When it passed, the annual cost to repair broken Tampa pipes had reached $20 million, and the PIPES page says some equipment and materials are nearly 100 years old.

One detail on the Tampa PIPES page is inconsistent: it says City Council passed the plan in September 2019 in one place and approved it in November 2019 in another (PIPES). Both say 2019, and the page adds that the plan passed after nearly 10 years without a utility rate increase.

A Tampa bill has fixed monthly base charges for water and wastewater based on meter size (most single family homes use the smallest, 5/8 inch meter) plus tiered usage charges, so the more water used, the more the bill (Rates, Deposits, and Fees). Customers outside Tampa city limits who receive city water pay slightly higher rates. New City of Tampa Utilities accounts pay a deposit that varies by account type and meter size, and a deposit waiver can be requested.

Five Tampa utilities guides go deeper than this hub, one for each City of Tampa utility department and the reclaimed water system.

Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the City of Tampa website. Tampa drought rules can change on short notice from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, so the watering day lookup on the city Water Restrictions page is the current word (City of Tampa news).