Hillsborough County residents, especially those living down south, here's your heads-up: Local officials are gearing up to present a series of proposed wastewater projects meant to overhaul how we deal with our down-and-dirty water for the foreseeable future. According to a recent release, Hillsborough County Water Resources wants to loop you in on these plans at a public meeting set for 6:30 p.m. on next Wednesday, taking place at the Balm Park Community Center, 14747 Balm Wimauma Rd., Wimauma, FL.

If you can not make it in person or have other plans, visit the Hillsborough County Engagement and Education Hub at HCFL.Gov/HCENGAGE to explore project details and share your feedback through an online survey.

The aim here isn't just to lay down some pipes and call it a day, the agenda is much bigger. The county staff is bringing to the table, a conversation about a potential cooperative acquisition of construction and utility easements, and they want the property owners who might be affected to be right there hashing it out with them.

The "One Water - South Wastewater Conveyance and Treatment" endeavors to bring Hillsborough into a new age of water treatment, with a triple-threat plan composed of the One Water Campus Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility—strategically placed where it's needed most near the Southeast County Landfill on Balm-Picnic Road, the new Balm Road Super Pump Station that will push sewage from old to new, and this gang of new pipelines that'll be the old blood vessels of the operation—they'll link up U.S. Highway 301 to the plant and pipe reclaimed water back into the county's system, with one formidable force main trailing down Balm Riverview Road to the super pump.

This $671 million project, part of the Water Resources Capital Improvement Program, has been approved by the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners. As construction begins, county reps will provide updates on road closures and potential disruptions.