Liberty Utilities to build water-recharge plant in Goodyear

A private water company wants to build a 57-acre water-recharge facility and office complex in Goodyear near Luke Air Force Base and across the street from Litchfield Park.

Liberty Utilities and the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District have partnered to build the state's first public-private reclaimed-water recharge facility. The groundwater replenishment district will pay for about $6 million of the potential $8 million project, and Liberty will pay the remaining $2 million, said Greg Sorensen, president of Liberty Utilities' Arizona and Texas divisions.
Liberty Utilities serves more than 17,500 water and wastewater customers in Maricopa County, mostly Goodyear residents who live north of Interstate 10 and Litchfield Park residents.

The Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District is the groundwater replenishment authority of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District commonly known as the Central Arizona Project.
The project will impact water rates, though by how much isn't known. Ratepayers will pick up the $2 million cost to Liberty, Sorensen said.

"Anytime we invest money into utility assets, there ultimately will be an impact on rates," Sorensen said. "But because we are able to work with (the conservation district) and obtain $6 million in funding, that's $6 million we don't have to invest in the utility."
Construction of the project will begin next year and will be completed sometime in mid- to late-2016, depending on permitting, Sorensen said.
The proposed plant, north of Camelback Road between Sun Health and the Falcon Dunes Golf Course, will consist of a 15,000-square-foot office building and potentially six recharge basins built to hold reclaimed water that will percolate into the ground and the aquifer.
Liberty Utilities has 12 wells that pull water from the aquifer. As water gets pumped out, the aquifer water level falls, so it must be recharged to replace the water. Reclaimed water is the most reliable source of locally generated water available.
Reclaimed water comes from residential and commercial taps, toilets, dishwashers and showers.
Recharging reclaimed water has become more important to West Valley cities as a prolonged drought and increased demands for water will lead to water shortages on the Colorado River. The shortage could impact water supplies in Arizona and the Valley. Goodyear, Surprise and Buckeye are all working to capture more reclaimed water to build their drinking-water supplies.
Liberty Utilities will recharge reclaimed water that goes from the drains and toilets in customers' homes and businesses to the Liberty Palm Valley Water Reclamation Plant near McDowell and Litchfield roads. There, the water is cleaned and sold to irrigate parks and golf courses.
The Palm Valley reclamation plant creates about 3.5 million gallons of reclaimed water per day.
About 2,500 acre feet of excess water that Liberty discharges annually into the Roosevelt Irrigation District Canal will be kept by the utility and recharged back into the ground at the new facility. An acre foot of water would cover an acre to the depth of 1 foot, or 325,851 gallons. It is roughly enough to serve a family of five for a year.
As Liberty's service area grows, so will its reclaimed water supply — to 3,000 and eventually 5,000 acre feet per year, Sorensen said.
Goodyear City Council last week approved zoning for the recharge facility last week. There, the water will be pumped into large, shallow basins where it will filter into the ground and into the aquifer. The filtration is an additional cleansing of the water.
Goodyear Councilman Bill Stipp, in the council meeting, said there is a need for the region and state to do everything possible to keep the reclaimed water and return it to the aquifer.
Luke Air Force Base was concerned the recharge basins filled with water would attract birds, which present a danger to aircraft and have caused F-16s to crash. The utility company agreed to design the basins with steep banks and cover the ponds with netting to discourage birds from landing on the water.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...lant/19722025/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk