AMWUA Blog
Upside Of A Superfund Site
Two companies contain and clean contaminated groundwater under the Phoenix Goodyear Airport located in the west Valley. That's not the only good news. Now both of these companies are saving the City of Goodyear $325,000 in irrigating costs each year. The companies give Goodyear enough clean water to irrigate the town's largest park and its Cactus League-baseball training complex....
May 04 2014
Remembering Senator TurleyIt was a golden era in state politics. Bruce Babbitt was Governor, Stan Turley was President of the Senate, Burton Barr herded the House Republicans, and Alfredo Gutierrez led the Senate Democrats. I was the Executive Director of the Arizona Groundwater Management Study Commission and new to the scene (a kid really at age 28), but it didn't take long to realize that these were great men working to...
Apr 27 2014
Big Leaks Require Big DamageThere are dripping bathroom faucets and backyard irrigation puddles and then there are the big leaks. Age, accidents and weather regularly cause city water lines to break. In Phoenix water lines can reach 9 feet in diameter. These breaks rarely cause gushers or sink holes like breaks in older cities. In the Greater Phoenix Metro area water main breaks damage roads and sometimes sidewalks....
Apr 20 2014
Is There Effluent In My Park?A 6-acre lake in the middle of Peoria's Pioneer Park opened to fishing in September. It will draw an estimated 3,000 anglers a year. These urban anglers will catch and keep about 80 percent of trout, catfish, sunfish, and bass within 30 days after they're stocked. The fish live in a lake of reclaimed water, also called effluent. Yes, it is treated sewage that once flowed down your toilet and your ...
Apr 13 2014
From Grass To Gravel: Even The Dogs ApproveThe city of Avondale gave Mae Jorgensen a $200 check when she removed the grass from her front yard and replaced it with desert landscaping. Avondale gave her another $200 when she removed the grass from her backyard two years later and created a garden of low-water plants and trees. While that was nice, Mrs. Jorgensen’s decisions earned her far more than $400. Her water bill, which once fluctuate...
Apr 06 2014
What You Pay For When You Pay Your Water BillThe next time you receive a water bill remember this fact: It's the water department's job to make sure each person receives enough water at just the right pressure for a good shower at 7 a.m. The demand for water spikes about 7 a.m. in Chandler and in most Phoenix metro cities. Each shower must go on undisturbed, even if firefighters also open a hydrant to battle a fire in the neighborhood at 7:0...
Mar 31 2014
Tempe Grease Coop: City & Businesses Clean Up ProblemSo you stand there for a minute with the frying pan in your hand and think about sending bacon grease down your kitchen sink’s drain. What could it do to the plumbing? Imagine if you served hundreds, even thousands, of meals a day. Grease is a big water problem....
Mar 24 2014
When Are You Willing To Pay A Little More?When are you willing to pay a little more? Perhaps you’ll pay more for steak that is a little better grade, a contractor who is licensed or a car that saves gas. What about a reliable water supply? The water you drink, that flushes your toilet, provides a warm shower and keeps the trees alive in your yard....
Mar 17 2014
A Running Toilet: Is This The Best We Can Do?On March 22, some good sport in the water community will once again struggle into a 6-foot-tall toilet costume and lead the One for Water 4-Miler Race around Rio Vista Community Park in Peoria. The photo of the running toilet is re-tweeted more than any water conservation event in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It must cross people’s minds: Is a silly pun the best a desert metropolis can d...
Mar 09 2014
Tres Rios Wetlands: Not Just For The BirdsOn the industrial southwestern edge of Phoenix where the city bumps up against farmland, Great Blue Herons, beavers and bobcats roam the Tres Rios Wetlands, a man-made 500-acre wildlife haven....