Peoria planners identify reclaimed water and advanced purification as long-term strategy; central AWP facility preferred

Peoria’s water managers told the City Council on Sept. 16 that reclaimed water is the city’s most drought‑proof supply and that advanced water purification (AWP) will likely be required to meet long‑term demand if Colorado River deliveries decline. “Advanced water purification is really taking Reclaim to that next level, which is making it potable,” Deputy City Manager Kevin Burke said during a two-part presentation on the Integrated Water Utility Master Plan (IWAMP) and an AWP feasibility study.

Why it matters: Staff said that under baseline demand projections to 2052, potable demand could roughly double and that all planning scenarios — except a best‑case scenario with full, uninterrupted Colorado River (CAP) deliveries — would require either added well capacity and advanced water purification. Consultants and staff recommended a centralized, city‑controlled AWP facility (with Beardsley Water Reclamation Facility as a primary candidate site) rather than routing reclaimed flow to a regional Phoenix facility.

What staff presented: Water Resources Manager Brett Fleck summarized Peoria’s current portfolio: Central Arizona Project (CAP) supplied about 62% of 2024 demand, the Salt River Project about 29%, reclaimed water and groundwater make up the remainder. The IWAMP used a 30‑year demand projection (2022–2052) with low, baseline and high scenarios and assumed a 34% long‑term reduction to CAP in the baseline resource plan. The plan updates hydraulic models for potable, reclaimed and wastewater systems and identifies major capital needs including new well capacity and reclaimed‑water interconnections.

On AWP, Corolla Engineers’ Eric McCleskey described treatment options (reverse osmosis, advanced oxidation, filtration, disinfection) and regulatory steps needed under Arizona Department of Environmental Quality rules. He said a centralized AWP facility at an existing reclamation site would give Peoria control of the purified water and economies of scale. “Alternative 2 was selected as a preferred approach primarily because it maintains full control of that resource within the city,” McCleskey said.

Scale, timing and costs: The feasibility study estimated phase‑1 available reclaimed flow at just under 11 million gallons per day — “roughly the amount of water that would serve 30,000 connections or 90,000 people,” McCleskey said. Staff and consultants warned AWP is capital‑intensive, technologically proven but expensive: the full program could take multiple years and be measured in the low‑to‑high hundreds of millions up to billion‑dollar scales depending on scope and phasing. The study presented a stepwise implementation roadmap that includes partnership evaluation, piloting, detailed permitting and operator certification; Corolla’s timeline illustration extended over a decade and noted pilot testing and operator training requirements.

Council discussion: Council members asked where the primary bottlenecks were; staff answered that regulation, financing, and connecting reclaimed infrastructure are all constraints. Burke said: “It’s regulatory. That’s a big part of it... Expensive. This is a billion dollar project.” Staff said existing reclaimed networks (Beardsley, Jomax, Butler) should be connected and combined to provide flexibility and that the city is pursuing site protection and funding pathways while continuing water‑quality characterization for future permitting and pilot studies.

Next steps: Staff identified near‑term tasks including evaluating partnership opportunities, securing preferred sites, completing further feasibility and pilot studies, pursuing funding (including potential federal or Bureau of Reclamation assistance), and continuing public outreach and operator training planning. No formal council action was taken at the Sept. 16 meeting.