EPCOR starts expansion to San Tan water plant

This month, EPCOR is beginning construction on a project to add capacity to the Pecan Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) and replace the existing headworks.

According to a press release, this is one of EPCOR’s most urgent wastewater priorities for San Tan customers, and it is on an accelerated timeline to complete it by first-quarter 2022 before the highest-flow months next winter.

The current Pecan WRP is a 3 million gallons per day Biological Nutrient Removal facility in the northern part of EPCOR’s San Tan service area, adjacent to the Queen Creek Wash.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality permit requires the expansion of wastewater treatment facilities when the amount of wastewater coming into the plant exceeds 90% of what the facility can handle. The amount of wastewater coming into the Pecan facility regularly exceeds that 90% trigger point.

The $21 million expansion will add 1 million gallons per day of capacity for a total of 4 million gallons per day, the level the facility is permitted by ADEQ to receive and treat. It will replace the existing headworks, which are in very poor condition.

Without the extra space for wastewater to come into the plant, there’s a continued risk of overflows. The plant is already operating at capacity. Until it has additional treatment space, new homes in the area can’t be built.

EPCOR is getting started right away to bring the Pecan wastewater treatment facility into compliance with environmental permits and accommodate future growth in the San Tan service area, officials said.

The Pecan WRP expansion is on an accelerated timeline with construction starting in March 2021 and expected completion in early 2022. Until then, EPCOR continues to use interim measures, including the new Queen Creek Interconnect to handle wastewater delivered to this facility for treatment.

Last November, the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a plan to tie in the San Tan wastewater system with the Queen Creek municipal wastewater system as a temporary solution to wastewater capacity issues at the Pecan WRP.

This arrangement partially and temporarily increases wastewater capacity for the San Tan system. In addition to adding reliability for existing customers, it’s allowing limited homebuilding to continue in the area served by the Pecan plant until EPCOR completes expansion of the plant early next year.

There are three separate interconnection points and as of March 1, two of these are now in operation.

The press release also states that some of EPCOR’s San Tan district customers were required to make deposits when they started their water and/or wastewater services under Johnson Utilities if they were unable to establish good credit.

As EPCOR prepares to integrate San Tan customers into EPCOR’s account management system, the company is discontinuing this policy. EPCOR doesn’t collect or require deposits from customers and will be refunding existing deposits. If you originally paid a deposit on your account, you’ll see this refund appear as a credit on your March 2021 bill.