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Water that is safe to drink is becoming more scarce worldwide by the day. In this regard, Scottsdale has taken the lead in pushing recycled water processing technology.  With the growing demand, increasing use of safe water is stressing freshwater resources worldwide. Some places in the world do not have the water resources to gain the advantages of conserving water as an adequate solution. However, everywhere that people live, there is waste or polluted water.  

Scottsdale’s Advanced Water Treatment Plant at the city’s water campus in north Scottsdale got permission to do something unique to any Arizona city, turn recycled water into drinking water. The technology takes all the water that goes down residential drains, cleans it, and then sends it back to the residents. This technology is called indirect reuse.

This treatment method has proved very useful to the city of Scottsdale by providing it with a new source of drinking water that didn’t exist before. This is critical because cities’ current supplies depend heavily on the Colorado River, which is shrinking. Plus, Arizona shares the river with other states and it’s highly likely the allocation agreement, which expires in 2026, will provide less water to Scottsdale in the future.

One of the city’s recycling plants offers tasting tours for visitors who want to taste the recycled water. They are also trying to change the perspective that this drinking water might have an awful taste or an icky factor. 

The process of treating this recycled water takes several steps. First, it goes through a standard reclamation process. And then to the Advanced Water Treatment facility. This is where it starts getting into the weeds.  The water starts in the ozone process, which breaks apart molecules. Next, it goes to the ultra-filtration process, where membranes that look like very fine spaghetti filter out microns, viruses and other larger molecules. After that, it goes to reverse osmosis and finally UV photolysis, which does the final disinfection.

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In addition, to get the Direct Potable Reuse permit, officials put in some more UV, as well as granular activated carbon, which absorbs materials that stick to it. They also re-mineralize the water, to give it some of its taste.

The  Scottsdale recycling plant offers that if anyone is skeptical of drinking recycled water, they should pay a visit and taste some for themselves. The facility has given its water to 10 Valley breweries, which they’ll use in their beer-making process. Those beers will be served at the One Water Brewing Showcase during Scottsdale’s Canal Convergence in November.