PHOENIX — The city of Phoenix has plans to build three plants where recycled water will be purified to create a sustainable source of drinking water.
The advanced water purification (AWP) facilities will take treated wastewater and send it through additional processes, including reverse osmosis and ultraviolet advanced oxidation, so it can be used over and over again.
“You can’t have economic growth if you don’t have water,” said Nazario Prieto, assistant water services director for the city.
The purification program is called Pure Water Phoenix. Its goal is “to continue to clean and remove viruses, pathogens, chemicals, anything that could be in that wastewater stream to get it to the point where it’s safe to drink,” Prieto said.
AWP drinking water is tasteless, and minerals must be added back in before it is distributed to consumers. Scottsdale has partnered with local brewers to make beer out of recycled water as a way to get the public used to the idea of drinking it. Tucson also has an AWP facility in the works.
Work started on 1st plant for bolstering drinking water supply
Construction is already underway on the first AWP facility, which is replacing the former Cave Creek Water Reclamation Plant in north Phoenix.
It is expected to be operational by 2029 and will purify water through a process called indirect potable reuse.
Nazario described indirect potable reuse as “taking the treated wastewater, running it through those advanced water treatment processes, and then putting it into the ground and then pulling it out and putting it into the potable system.”
The water also can be kept in lakes or reservoirs that act as an environmental buffer. It eventually goes through another treatment plant before it goes to customers’ homes.
Once officials and the public are happy with the Cave Creek plant AWP pilot program, the plan is to move to direct potable reuse, where water is sent directly to customers.
North Gateway AWP facility aims to use direct potable reuse
A second planned AWP plant in north Phoenix is expected to be operational in 2030. It’s called North Gateway and will utilize direct potable reuse from the start.
With direct potable reuse, treated water goes directly into the water distribution system. That could be the pipes that go directly to homes or businesses or a finished reservoir that holds drinking water.
91st Avenue facility will be ‘a game-changer’
The largest of the three AWP facilities is planned for the existing 91st Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant in Tolleson.
The timeline calls for construction on the third plant to be completed in 2033.
“Once we build a facility here, that’s really going to be a game-changer for Phoenix because it allows us to be less reliant on the Colorado River,” Prieto said.
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