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Officials from Apache Junction’s sewer treatment plant are seeking a renewal permit to discharge up to 2.14 million gallons per day of treated domestic wastewater to an unnamed wash tributary to Siphon Draw in the Middle Gila River.
Superstition Mountains Community Facilities District No. 1, 5661 S. Ironwood Drive, in Apache Junction, applied for the permit from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. ADEQ proposes to issue the permit to discharge pollutants, according to a public notice.
SMCFD No. 1 has indicated that discharge to the wash will only occur when the facility cannot send effluent to the recharge pipeline or when recharge basins are off-line. All treated effluent is sent to seven recharge basins on the treatment plant property, according to a draft Arizona pollutant discharge elimination system fact sheet with the notice.
Renewing the discharge permit with ADEQ is done every five years, SMCFD No. 1 District Manager Darron Anglin said.
“Currently not all treated water can be recharged back into the aquifer here onsite, so we discharge under this permit daily. We are in the process of expanding our recharge facilities, which will allow us to reduce the volume discharged to the wash. Over the past two years we treated 1.4 million gallons per day --- of that approximately 1 million gallons per day were sent down the wash and 400,000 gallons per day were recharged,” he said.
Comments on the permit must be sent before Aug. 26 to ADEQ by email at Kasanneni.swathi@azdeq.gov or by mail to Swathi Kasanneni, Water Quality Division, 1110 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007.
The water treatment plant presently has an average daily discharge of 1.085 million gallons per day with a service population of approximately 17,938 people, according to the draft fact sheet with the public notice.
“The facility is an air-activated sludge plant. The treatment process consists of influent screening, grit removal, extended aeration, secondary clarification, chlorination with sodium hypochlorite and dechlorination with sodium thiosulfate solution,” according to the draft fact sheet.
“Sludge is treated in anaerobic sludge lagoons, dried in sludge drying beds. Sludge is composted to Class A for beneficial reuse. Compost is stored on site until removed for use,” it states.
During the wastewater treatment process, the solids --- sludge --- are separated from the liquid flow and dried out, Mr. Anglin said.
“From there the dried sludge is mixed with horse manure, hay, grass or wood chips and placed in windrows for composting. Once the windrow is made, bioactivity in the pile will cause the temperature to increase until it reaches 55 degrees Celsius. It must remain at or above that temperature for 15 consecutive days to remove pathogens and make the product safe for use. Sampling and testing are done to ensure that the compost meets the Class A Biosolids requirements. The finished product is an excellent soil amendment that can be used for lawns, gardens or other related uses,” he said.
About the sewer district
Superstition Mountains Community Facilities District No. 1 is an independent, public, nonprofit entity developed solely for the benefit of its customers and the Apache Junction community to operate and maintain a regional system for the collection, transport and treatment of sewage from the properties existing within its boundaries.
Board members to the community facilities district are appointed by the Apache Junction City Council.
Members of the facilities district board serve as volunteers who are responsible for setting policy and rates, adopting a budget and other high-level decision making regarding all aspects of the district’s operation and on-going business affairs.
By state law, board members cannot own 40 acres in the district, cannot be an employee or agent of a landowner who owns 40 acres or more in the district, cannot be an employee of the city or the county and cannot be an elected official of the city or county.
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