Official Web Site of the City of Phoenix

Wastewater Treatment

The first sewer system in Phoenix was also a private utility, completed in 1892. In 1911 the city of Phoenix purchased a private sewer system and municipal wastewater operations began. Although there were individual septic tanks and cesspools in use to dispose of wastewater in the growing city, the early sewer franchise disposed of raw wastewater at a sewage farm at 15th Avenue near the Salt River. The city built a large septic facility there in 1913, and in 1915 expanded the system with a series of settling tanks to treat wastewater at 19th Avenue and the river. an actual industrialized facility to treat wastewater to protect the public health didn’t exist until 1932, when the 23rd Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant was completed and began operation. The plant has since been enlarged and modernized, and now is one of the best examples of wastewater treatment facilities in the southwest United States, capable of producing highly treated effluent that can be used for many reclaimed water needs.

In 1958, another wastewater treatment plant was constructed in cooperation with the city of Glendale. The plant site was near 91st Avenue and the Salt River. Today, the 91st Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant can treats wastewater from the cities of Phoenix, Glendale, Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tempe, who co-own the facility as part of Multi-City partnership known as SROG, the Sub-regional Operating Group. Reclaimed water from 91st Avenue is used for crops and the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, thus saving on drinking water. The treated wastewater also helps provide a wildlife refuge in the Tres Rios Demonstration Wetlands Project.

In 2000, the Cave Creek Water Reclamation Plant was completed, which is the department’s first plant that was constructed specifically to provide reclaimed water for urban uses, such as golf courses, cemeteries, and parks.

Last modified on 11/05/2008 20:12:58