The City of Flagstaff has received authorization from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to begin distributing Class A reclaimed water. This eliminates the need to supplement reclaimed water with potable water and current restrictions on the amounts of reclaimed water used by our current reclaimed water customers. The new permits allow the City to distribute Class A reclaimed water while working on upgrades to the treatment process at the Wildcat Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The only difference between A+ and A is the amount of nitrogen allowed.
In May, Utilities Director Brad Hill and City Manager Kevin Burke notified the City Council that the City would require its reclaimed water customers to reduce their usage and that the City would temporarily supplement the reclaimed water supply with potable water. This action resulted from the fact that the Wildcat WWTP had to stop delivering reclaimed water because it had not consistently produced Class A+ reclaimed water in accordance with the original ADEQ permits. This left only 1 plant producing A+ reclaimed water heading into the summer irrigation season leaving the City unable to meet the reclaimed water demand (as measured by 2012 consumption).
From May to June, the City supplemented the A+ reclaimed water supply with 27.5 million gallons of potable water which equates to approximately 1 percent of the total potable water used by all customers in a year. Despite the fact that the month of June was the fourth warmest on record, our reclaimed water customers used 15 percent less reclaimed water than the same period in 2012.
The City would like to thank ADEQ for authorizing these permits to deliver Class A reclaimed water while we work to bring Wildcat up to the facility that voters approved. Thanks to our reclaimed water customers for their tremendous cooperation to not only meet, but to exceed conservation measures.