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Ever had a glass of
Chandler’s reverse osmosis water to
drink? You could, but you probably
wouldn’t.
The city’s RO
facility near Price and Queen Creek
roads, just west of the Price/101
Freeway, has churned out more than 3
billion gallons of the crystal-clear
elixir since opening in 1996.
The facility’s
construction was based on a need by
officials at the nearby Intel
semi-conductor plant, then FAB 12, to
dispose of industrial wastewater in a
way that not only met environmental
standards but could benefit the
community.
The result: a
state-of-the-art, high-tech treatment
facility that utilizes nano- and
micro-filtration, followed by a reverse
osmosis process, to remove unwanted
chemicals and other potential pollutants
from the water.
And while the
final, treated product would be just
fine for home use, city spokesman Jim
Phipps says, most people have an
aversion to drinking water that once had
even microscopic impurities among its
ingredients.
“It’s A-plus
quality,” says Phipps. “It could be
poured into your glass, but we don’t do
that for psychological reasons.”
Instead, Phipps
says, the untreated water—nearly a
million gallons a day—flows through an
underground pipeline from the now FAB 22
plant to the city-run facility, built
with Intel dollars. There it is
processed and pumped via injection wells
into the surrounding aquifer.
Although Chandler
residents don’t gain directly from the
plant’s operation, says Phipps, the
collateral benefit is huge.
Because
environmental-protection laws require
that cities take no more available
groundwater than they put back, the
treatment process gives Chandler enough
replacement credits to supply almost
12,000 households with drinkable water
every year.
And that, illustrate a shelf-full of
state and national awards the facility
has received over the years, amounts to
one big gulp. |
