$27.8 Million Preconstruction Services Approved for Water Resource Facility at Pollard Road
by James Coulter
The expansion of Winter Haven’s water resource facility, which aims to reach a capacity of 12.5 million gallons per day (MGD), is one step closer to completion following the city commissioners’ approval of a $27.8 million task order for preconstruction services.
At their regular meeting on Mon. July 27, 2026, Winter Haven city commissioners voted unanimously to approve a task order for preconstruction services to advance the phased expansion of Wastewater Treatment Plant 3 into the One Water Campus Water Resource Facility.
The order authorizes Wharton-Smith, Inc. to begin roughly 20 months of preconstruction work for the phased expansion, the scope of which includes design development, cost estimating, and other services needed to prepare the project for construction.
“This task order will advance the project design to approximately the 60% design milestone, providing the level of design development necessary to establish a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) proposal for the initial construction phase,” wrote Gary M. Hubbard, Water Department Director.
The expansion will modernize the Pollard Road facility and increase its capacity from 7.5 MGD to 12.0 MGD, with the ability to grow to 24.0 MGD in the future. Once the new facility is operational, Wastewater Treatment Plant 2 will be decommissioned.
The preconstruction work is budgeted at $27,783,259 (including allowances) and is incorporated into the Water Department’s five‑year Capital Improvement Plan.
The project is part of the city’s broader One Water Program, an initiative to “modernize aging water and wastewater facilities to support population growth, comply with future regulatory requirements, and address water supply affordability,” according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
City Manager T. Michael Stavres called the effort one of the largest projects the city has ever undertaken. While the current design phase totals about $27.8 million, the full multi‑year expansion program could approach $200 million, according to city staff.
Built in the 1970s, Wastewater Treatment Plant 3 is required to undergo the proposed expansion not only to modernize aging infrastructure and improve treatment technology, but also to secure long‑term wastewater capacity for a growing community.
“It is important to recognize that these are projects that serve a community for at least 50 years, and those costs are recovered over that entire time, leading to when the next decision has to be made on that long after we are all gone,” Stavres said.
Stavres noted that Winter Haven’s One Water Program may be influencing other municipalities, pointing to Hillsborough County’s own One Water initiative, a $1.6 billion sustainable infrastructure program that includes a state‑of‑the‑art advanced treatment plant in Lithia.
“I think it further sends a message that you are not the only ones who are doing this,” he said. “There are a number of agencies that are in the exact same situation with historic legacy water and wastewater treatment facilities that are now to the point of having to make those improvements.”
