Tampa Bay residents asked to cut back on water usage to conserve COVID-19 oxygen supply

Residents of Tampa Bay, Fla., have been asked to cut back on their water usage to help conserve liquid oxygen supply needed for COVID-19 patients, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

In a statement on Wednesday, regional wholesaler Tampa Bay Water shared that it would temporarily replace its liquid oxygen usage with a bleach solution at its Lithia facility, citing the low supplies of liquid oxygen in hospitals. 

Tampa Bay Water services more than 2.5 million people across three counties in the Tampa Bay area, according to the Times.

Hillsborough County Public Utilities customers are now being asked to preserve their drinking water usage by cutting back on nonessential use, the Times reported. 

“Consumers who are sensitive to taste and odor changes in drinking water might notice a slight change during this period,” Tampa Bay Water said. 

“At this time, the Tampa Water Department has sufficient water to meet customer needs and we do not anticipate implementing water restrictions,” said Chuck Weber of the Tampa Bay Water Department in a statement to The Hill.

This comes as Florida has emerged as an epicenter of the current wave of COVID-19 infections, as the highly contagious delta variant is hitting the unvaccinated hard.  

State Sen. Annette Taddeo (D) in a letter called on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to declare a state of emergency regarding the efforts to conserve liquid oxygen in the state, the Times reported. 

Nearly 17,000 people in the state are hospitalized due to COVID-19 complications, with 53 percent of them currently in intensive care units, according to Florida Hospital Association data.