Treated wastewater to be used for irrigation in south Apache Junction

By Richard Dyer
Mail | X: @RHDyer

Two Apache Junction utilities have agreed to flow reclaimed water from the sewer district to the water district and then send it by pipe to irrigate plants and trees in south Apache Junction.

The Apache Junction Water District Board, comprised of Apache Junction City Council members, voted unanimously Sept. 16 to approve an intergovernmental agreement for the sale of reclaimed water and the lease of fiber-optic cables with Apache Junction Sewer District.

The sewer district board on June 24 voted 4-0 to approve the agreement with the water district, with Vice Chair Jim Reynolds absent.

The water utility initially will pay 85 cents per 1,000 gallons of reclaimed water — water that has been treated or processed by the wastewater treatment plant. Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, it will increase to the prevailing rates, fees and charges for reclaimed water. On July 1, 2027, and July 1 each year going forward it will increase to the prevailing rates, fees and charges, it states in the sewer district agreement.

Water district decision

The water district is leasing land from the sewer district to have a tank there. The fiber-optic cable is between the water and sewer treatment plants, Water District Director Mike Loggins said during the Sept. 16 meeting.

“AJ (Water District) will be purchasing the reclaimed water as part of this. Also we have an agreement with both of the developers to the south on state land that will be Blossom Rock and Radiance. The sewer district has the same. So the sewer district in their agreement say they will sell us effluent at a certain price and then the water district agrees we would sell this effluent to the customers in the end for another price,” he said.

“They treat their water to A-plus water quality standards, and now we can deliver it to those customers to the south for applications (such as) turf, the lake, different things that we have down there,” Loggins said. “You’ll notice signs out there when you are at some of the parks that say, ‘Don’t drink this water, this is reclaimed water.’”

The Apache Junction water district supplies well water (groundwater) pumped from the Eastern Salt River Sub-Basin Aquifer, which flows southwesterly under Apache Junction and its surrounding areas. The groundwater is treated for arsenic removal where necessary, disinfected with chlorine, pumped into storage tanks and blended with Colorado River (surface) water.

The surface water is transported through the Central Arizona Project canal system, filtered and purified at the Superstition Area Water Plant before being introduced into the distribution system.

The water district can also receive treated CAP water from the city of Mesa through an interconnect for a backup supply of water, if needed.

Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@inusua.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines, https://www.yourvalley.net/civility-checklist/.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.