Black & Veatch, a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company, recently celebrated the opening of the Butler Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) with the city of Peoria, Ariz.

This $110 million facility, the largest capital improvement initiative in Peoria's history, incorporates advanced Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology. This allows the city to reclaim its wastewater as a renewable water supply via aquifer recharge and secures future water resources needed for city growth. Previously, Peoria handled water treatment jointly with the neighboring town of Tolleson.

Stephen Bontrager, Utilities Director for the city of Peoria, said sustainability was the driving factor for the facility. "We carefully evaluated our options for long-term wastewater treatment in combination with the city's need for sustainable water planning," Bontrager said. "Water is a precious resource; therefore, we easily concluded that building our own wastewater treatment to retain water credits was necessary to sustain the city's economic development."

The facility design blends with the surrounding area, with much of the plant built below ground level and bordered on all sides by a landscaped buffer. In addition, it consists of low-profile compact structures that are architecturally compatible with their surroundings. The city also has started design work for a park on adjacent property. Another key feature is the enclosure of all major process units to confine odors in combination with a state-of-the-art odor control technology.

"MBR technology was selected for the facility because it provides a high-quality effluent in combination with a much smaller area footprint than other conventional technologies. The technology was central to gaining public acceptance," said Cindy Wallis-Lage, Chief of Global Water Technology for Black & Veatch's global water business.

In its first phase, the facility has the ability to treat 10 million gallons per day (mgd) of reclaimed water for artificial aquifer recharge. By recharging the aquifer, the city earns water credits, which means that Peoria can extract the equivalent amount of water from the aquifer to meet future water needs. With the simple addition of several membrane cassettes, the facility will ultimately treat 13 mgd.

About Black & Veatch

Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions that meet clients' needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions are provided from the broad line of service expertise available within Black & Veatch, including conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, program management, construction management, environmental, security design and consulting, management consulting and infrastructure planning. With $3.2 billion in revenue, the employee-owned company has more than 100 offices worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries on six continents.

Black & Veatch's global water business provides innovative, technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide. Local project teams work with multinational water and wastewater treatment process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management services. The company's Web site address is www.bv.com.