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SIERRA VISTA — Two proposed wastewater treatment plants could initially replace 124 million gallons of water into the aquifer and provide irrigation to Pueblo del Sol Golf Course and city parks, according to a report by a environmental engineering and consulting firm.
Michael Fleury, vice president of Brown and Caldwell, presented design concepts of two proposed water reclamation facilities, to the City Council during a special work session Tuesday.
The Section 36 Water Treatment Facility, proposed near the City Complex and Domingo Paiz Sports Complex, would cost about $8.5 million to construct and $350,000 annually to maintain and operate, Fleury said. The Tribute Water Facility, to be located near Castle & Cooke’s planned community of the same name, near Avenida del Sol and Snyder Boulevard, would be built in four phases, each lasting five years. The initial phase would cost about $10.5 million to construct, and annual operation and maintenance would cost about $400,000. The construction of all four phases would total about $32 million with about $1 million in annual operation and maintenance costs.
Both facilities would provide class A+ reclaimed water to be used for irrigation of public landscaping, including the Domingo Paiz Sports Complex, Veterans’ Memorial Park and Apache Middle School, Fleury said.
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Last year the city’s sole waste treatment plant, the Environmental Operations Park on Highway 90 East, recharged about 2,200 acre-feet, or 717 million gallons, of effluent. The EOP is approaching 90 percent of its wastewater treatment capacity, said Michael Hemesath, director of Public Works. The two proposed facilities would cover 25 percent of the current facilities water treatment and delay expansion of the current facility, Hemesath said.
The Section 36 facility could treat about 400,000 gallons of wastewater per day at full capacity, Fleury said. The Tribute facility could initially treat 500,000 gallons of wastewater daily and up to 2 million gallons daily once all phases are completed, he said.
In additon to providing water for recharge, the reclamation facilities could eliminate the city’s groundwater use for irrigation during most of the year, Fleury said. However, increased water demand during the summer would require the city to use about 1.7 million gallons of groundwater for the Section 36 site. The city currently pumps about 57 million gallons of groundwater annually for irrigation of the Domingo Paiz Sports Complex, Veterans’ Memorial Park and other landscaping in the area.
Fleury said that no groundwater is expected to be needed for the Tribute development and Pueblo del Sol community once the Tribute Reclamation Facility is built to capacity.
Currently the golf course irrigation requires about 450 acre-feet of water annually. Last year Castle & Cooke agreed to convert golf course irrigation from groundwater to treated effluent after the city constructs a treatment facility within the development.
Wastewater treatment is usually funded by user fees, Hemesath said.
The city has a connection fee of about $600 to $700 for new residences, though that would probably need to be increased to about $3,000 to $3,500 to fund the reclamation facilities, he said.
Each treatment site would require a hydrogeologic study, costing about $20,000, which is required for an aquifier protection permit and other needed permits, said Michael Bostic, supervising hydrogeologist for Brown and Caldwell.
Completion of the study would take about one year, although design of the facilities could also be completed at the same time, said Mary Jacobs, assistant city manager.
The facilities may also indirectly augment the flow to San Pedro River as well, Fleury said. The facilities would treat wastewater in an “environmentally friendly” way, through various filtration and treatment processes, including ultraviolet radiation disinfection. The facilities could also be designed with odor and noise control in mind, Fleury said.
The current wastewater treatment process loses as much as 40 percent of its water to evaporation, and the city is trying to determine how much, Hemesath said.
The proposed facilities would lose very little water to evaporation and would be more efficient, Fleury said.
Brown and Caldwell recommended that the city recharge unused effluent from the reclamation facilities through direct-aquifer injection wells to reduce water loss to evaporation, and the water would be treated to quality so as not to degrade the aquifer, he said.
Each well would cost about $1.6 million, Bostic said.
Alternative options, including surface basins, require additional space and lose much water through evaporation, Fleury said.
Both facilities could reduce the city’s water use by 5 percent, as well as minimize the growth of the depression cone, Hemesath said.
Herald/Review reporter Laura Ory can be reached at 515-4683 or by e-mail at svhnews@transedge.com.
don wrote on Jul 25, 2007 6:20 AM: