Tampa Sewer Service: Provider, Rates and Backup Help

Inside the City of Tampa, sewer service comes from the City of Tampa Wastewater Department, which treats the city's wastewater at its advanced treatment plant in the Port of Tampa Bay.

The system's reach goes well past the city line: it serves homes and businesses from the Pasco County line in the north, east to Interstate 75 and south to MacDill Air Force Base, and more than 630,000 people rely on it (City of Tampa news, September 2025). The Wastewater Department receives wastewater collected from the Tampa area and surrounding suburbs (Tampa Wastewater Department).

Many addresses with a Tampa mailing address are not Tampa sewer customers. The City of Tampa Utilities rates page offers an address lookup and, for addresses the city does not serve, points to Hillsborough County Water and Sewer, Pasco County Utilities and Temple Terrace Water and Sewer (City of Tampa Utilities). Hillsborough County Water Resources provides drinking water and wastewater treatment to unincorporated Hillsborough County (Hillsborough County), so the city's address lookup is the way to confirm which utility serves a given address.

Billing, new service and stop service run through the City of Tampa Utilities call center at (813) 274-8811, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with emergency after-hours calls answered 24/7 (City of Tampa Utilities). Wastewater administration and engineering, led by Director Eric A. Weiss, P.E., is at 2545 Guy N. Verger Boulevard, phone 813-274-8070 (Tampa Wastewater Department).

For a single-family home inside the City of Tampa, fiscal year 2027 sewer charges are a $9.00 monthly wastewater base charge plus $5.96 for every ccf (748 gallons) of wastewater billed, effective October 1, 2026 (City of Tampa FY27 residential rate schedule, PDF).

Tampa figures come from the city's FY27 residential rate schedule, a PDF linked from the Utilities rates page (City of Tampa FY27 residential rate schedule, PDF); the county figures are Hillsborough County's FY 2027 wastewater charges, which followed a 5% increase and a 2.91% price index increase approved by the Board of County Commissioners (Hillsborough County). Tampa rate schedules for water, irrigation and wastewater change every October 1, and customers outside the Tampa city limits who still receive city water pay slightly higher rates (City of Tampa Utilities).

Converted to the county's unit, the Tampa inside-city usage rate of $5.96 per 748 gallons works out to about $7.97 per 1,000 gallons, close to the Hillsborough County figure; the bigger difference between a Tampa bill and a county bill is the fixed charge. Both Tampa base charges and usage charges are scheduled to keep climbing under PIPES: base charges rise $2 per month per Equivalent Residential Unit each year through FY34 ($1 each for water and wastewater), and wastewater usage rates rise 3% a year through FY31, then 4% a year through FY40 (PIPES).

Opening a Tampa utility account requires a deposit that varies by account type and meter size, and a deposit waiver can be requested (City of Tampa Utilities). Qualifying residential customers can apply to the Customer Assistance Program; if approved, all water and wastewater base charges are waived (PIPES).

Most single-family homes in Tampa have a sewer max, also called the lawn credit, which the city uses to calculate the wastewater consumption charge, meaning how much wastewater a household generates (City of Tampa sewer max).

For the first 12 months of a new City of Tampa account, the sewer max is based on the people in the home: the city allocates 3 ccf per person, so a household of 4 starts at 12 ccf a month. After the first year it is recalculated from the household's own water history, using the third lowest month, and from then on it is reset every January to the third lowest month of the last 24 months. The minimum sewer max is 1 ccf, or 748 gallons (City of Tampa Utilities).

The sewer max does not apply to commercial accounts, to multi-family residential accounts such as apartment complexes, or to homes with an irrigation meter, reclaim meter or unmetered well (City of Tampa Utilities).

A practical point for South Tampa: reclaimed water from the city's purple pipes is available in Davis Islands and parts of South Tampa for irrigation at $1.20 per ccf (City of Tampa Utilities), and the FY27 schedule notes that irrigation base charges do not apply when reclaimed water is used for irrigation (City of Tampa FY27 residential rate schedule, PDF). The city advises that using less water this calendar year helps lower the sewer max for the following calendar year, and that the best way to lower it is to cut water use both indoors and outdoors (City of Tampa Utilities).

A sewer backup in the City of Tampa is reported to the Wastewater Department's 24/7 emergency number, (813) 247-3451, and the department asks that its online service center not be used for backup emergencies (Tampa Wastewater Department).

For slow-draining tubs and sinks or gurgling drains, the department's cleaning page gives a second number, 813-898-1420; technicians are dispatched to make sure the blockage is not in the city's lines (City of Tampa). For removing waste after a blockage or backup onto personal property, the page sends residents online to find professional assistance, and the City of Tampa cannot give recommendations. Sewer-related claims against the city go to the City of Tampa Risk Management Department at (813) 274-5708 (Cleaning Sanitary Sewage).

The department's sewer backup page lists prevention steps: no household grease in sinks or toilets; no diapers, wipes or other hygiene products in toilets; no bones or food scraps in a sink without a garbage disposal; and rooftop vents inspected and cleaned by a professional (Sewer Backup Problems). Restaurants and other food businesses fall under the Grease Management Ordinance, which the Collections Division enforces (Tampa Wastewater Department).

Billing questions, such as a high sewer charge after a leak, go to the Utilities call center at (813) 274-8811 instead (City of Tampa Utilities). Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the City of Tampa website.

Tampa's sewage flows through the city's collection system to the Curren advanced treatment plant, a 140-acre plant in the Port of Tampa Bay built in the 1950s, and treated water is eventually discharged into Hillsborough Bay (City of Tampa news).

The city's September 2025 release says the plant treats about 60 million gallons of wastewater daily and up to 200 million gallons during extreme weather events (City of Tampa). The Wastewater Department page puts the average day at more than 50 million gallons and says treatment meets or exceeds federal regulations, including National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System standards (Tampa Wastewater Department).

Behind the plant is a large pipe network. The Collections Division maintains 1,800 miles of gravity and force main sewer lines, 30,000 manholes and 667 air release valves, and also handles utility locating services and the department's vehicle fleet (Tampa Wastewater Department). The two city pages give different figures for the network: the 2025 release describes approximately 1,500 miles of interconnected wastewater pipes (City of Tampa news).

The population figures also differ. The PIPES page says the water and wastewater infrastructure serves over 733,000 people (PIPES), while the 2025 release counts more than 630,000 people on the wastewater system alone (City of Tampa news).

Tampa is rebuilding major parts of its Port of Tampa Bay sewage plant under PIPES, with nearly $200 million in upgrades underway in September 2025 and an $80 million nitrogen removal project approved by Tampa City Council (City of Tampa news).

PIPES, the Progressive Infrastructure Plan to Ensure Sustainability, is a $2.9 billion plan for sewer and water infrastructure that Tampa City Council passed in September 2019 after nearly 10 years without a utility rate increase (PIPES). Its rate steps take effect every October 1 until October 2040, and the city's Capital Improvement Program Viewer lists the water and wastewater projects funded by it (City of Tampa).

At the plant, two new anaerobic digesters are being built to replace the originals from the 1950s, with completion expected in early 2028. At the Main Pump Station, all seven 50-million-gallon-a-day pumps are being replaced, and the city says raising electrical equipment is imperative because the plant is near sea level (City of Tampa news). The city says nitrogen removal protects marine life against algae growth and helps keep the water around Tampa clean, which matters for Hillsborough Bay, where treated water is eventually discharged (City of Tampa).

Residents who smell odors near the Port of Tampa Bay plant will find an updates and FAQ page on odor issues linked from the Wastewater Department site (Tampa Wastewater Department). The rate side of the change is already on bills: the Utilities rates page lists the FY27 schedules for October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 (City of Tampa Utilities).