DAVIS ISERS, Fla. (WFLA) – A Davis Islands neighbor said she’s tired of nose and breathing in. A strong sewage smell has taken over the area, and the family says it’s getting worse.
City leaders know that it smells and believe it has something to do with illegal dumping at wastewater facilities factories. But they have solutions that help reduce the smell.
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Residents said the Davis Islands’ air is becoming more difficult to breathe in.
“It’s all about as we get out the door and turn right back and walk back and smell like shit,” said nearby Missy West.
Eric Weiss, director of the Wastewater Division, confirmed that the odor came from the wastewater treatment plant.
“What we’re thinking is that there are trucks that carry wastewater to plants that are not connected to the wastewater system,” Weiss said.
Weiss said that despite having a permit, these trucks were not properly monitored and their digestive system was upset.
“Illegal dumping is absolutely true. Even if they have permission, we can generally test it once a month to see how strong the sewer is,” Weiss said. “For some reason, they’re over it.”
One morning my neighbor said it was a very foul smell and made them sick. After surviving last year’s hurricane season, neighbors said this felt like another hit.
“We just went through two hurricanes. A lot of people lose everything in the house and they’re in the trailers. They exhale far more than ours. But it’s in our house too,” West said.
The city said the new $107 million digestive system is scheduled to go online next week. This should help reduce odors.
“What it does is that if people come in with a big load and upset the treatment process, that’s what gives us more capacity,” Weiss said.
But for the residents, help is not immediately available.
“Would some of us really, really get sick? Where do things start to change, so we hope that doesn’t happen,” one resident said.
The city of Tampa said it would also hold engineering consultants to test air quality and share those results.
The wastewater treatment facility also said it is tightening regulations on external carriers.
