Apache Junction board approves $2.74 million inspection contract for Superstition-area plant expansion

The Apache Junction water utilities district board on the evening’s agenda approved a $2,735,475 professional services agreement with Wilson Engineers LLC to provide construction administration and inspection services for the final expansion phase of the Superstition-area surface water treatment plant.

District Director Mike, describing the project during the meeting, said the plant’s capacity will be increased from its current 4 million gallons per day to 10 million gallons per day as part of the final build-out. “This next step is going from that 4,000,000 gallons a day to 10,000,000 gallons a day,” Mike said. He told the board that the district expects the total project cost to be roughly $60,000,000 and that the $2.735 million contract is a pass-through cost paid by the developer.

Why it matters: The contract funds inspection and construction-administration work on a multi-phase expansion that district staff say is intended to serve several new housing developments to the south and to provide additional storage and fire-protection capacity for the area. Board members framed the contract as part of a larger multi-year program of capital work meant to avoid large, sudden rate increases.

The board voted unanimously to approve the agreement, using the City of Scottsdale cooperative engineering services contract number 2022-03A-COS. The motion as read to the board requested authority “for phase 3 final build out of Superstition-area water plant, construction administration, and inspection services between water utilities, community facility districts, and Wilson Engineers LLC…in the amount of $2,735,475.” The motion passed by roll call with all members voting yes.

District Director Mike gave an extended report after the vote, describing site improvements included in the project: construction of an on-site raw water impound (about 1 acre), additional treatment trains (bringing the building to five treatment trains total), expanded sludge management and clear-well capacity, and addition of granular activated carbon to reduce total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and improve taste and odor. Mike said the district also previously added carbon dioxide as part of treatment and that the new carbon will further reduce organics that can affect water quality.

Mike said the plant’s arsenic treatment would continue to rely on the district’s existing coagulation/filtration processes while the granular activated carbon would help if higher-organic (dirtier) source water from the Verde River is introduced. “The biggest thing is probably arsenic on the Verde, but our plan already treats for that as [a] portion of the coagulation filtration process that we already currently have,” he said.

Staff also discussed on-site nonpotable storage and reuse. The district has built and is filling shared lakes with raw CAP or effluent water to supply irrigation for community green areas and to avoid using potable water for landscaping. Mike said one lake in the Radiance development has been constructed and will be filled by the end of the year; effluent currently waters some large turf areas. He said the district has transmission lines in place to serve several new development parcels and a planned fire station site near Warner Road.

Board members and staff reviewed growth statistics for the service area. Mike said roughly 1,500 meters are already set in the immediate developments to the south, Blossom Rock phase 1 included about 600 homes and a subsequent phase added roughly another 600; combined across the two developments staff reported about 2,500 meters set. The district’s total service connections increased from about 4,500 three years ago to nearly 14,500 today, Mike said.

Several board members praised the district’s multiyear approach to rate adjustments—citing planned annual increases of about 2%–5%—as a way to avoid the steep rate spikes seen in some nearby cities. One board member said large, infrequent increases (for example, jumps of 12%–25%) can follow when jurisdictions defer maintenance and then face large capital needs.

Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes from 09/16/2025: motion approved, unanimous roll-call vote. - Professional services agreement with Wilson Engineers LLC for construction administration and inspection of the Superstition-area water plant expansion: approved, unanimous roll-call vote; contract amount $2,735,475; cooperative contract cited: City of Scottsdale engineering services contract number 2022-03A-COS.

What’s next: District staff said construction of tanks and other elements on the water campus will continue, with additional storage tanks and treatment-train work scheduled over the next 12–18 months as part of the larger multi-phase build-out. Staff also said future expansion beyond this site may require additional property acquisition to the north or a new site when development and demand continue to grow.