Scottsdale’s Chaparral Water Treatment Plant Earns Two Awards for Excellence

With related site work still under construction, Scottsdale’s new Chaparral Water Treatment Plant (WTP) has already earned two significant awards. The 30-million-gal-per-day facility, which began producing potable water in March 2006, recently received two local awards: an Art in Public Places Award of Merit from the Valley Forward Association and a Grand Award in Engineering Excellence from the Arizona chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC).

Black & Veatch provided site selection, pilot testing, design and construction-related services for the new facility, which uses direct microfiltration for advanced treatment of surface water. The company worked closely with architectural sub-consultant Swaback Partners to ensure that the plant, situated in Chaparral Park and surrounded by residential neighborhoods, would be a welcome addition to the community.

According to Scottsdale Water Resources General Manager David Mansfield, the finished water from Chaparral surpasses the city’s water quality goals, including particulate and arsenic removal and odor and taste control.

“The Black & Veatch team exceeded expectations in applying cutting-edge technology to reliably meet our needs, while integrating the plant into a much used city park system,” Mansfield said. “Like a good neighbor, the plant is quiet, produces no pollution and creates no traffic hazards.”

The Chaparral WTP is the first major surface water treatment plant in Arizona to employ direct microfiltation followed by granular activated carbon adsorption. Disinfection is accomplished with sodium hypochlorite, which is produced and stored on site – eliminating the need for delivery of hazardous chemicals.

The treatment facilities, a buried 5.5-million-gal finished-water reservoir and pump station, encompass only nine acres of a 29-acre site. By comparison, a conventional plant typically requires an area two or three times this size.

The site features public art in the form of weathered metal sculptures that resemble sails and nomadic desert dwellings. The sculptures span the two exterior walls of the plant that face the intersection. Special landscape treatments in terraces defined by gabion walls (indigenous rocks in metal baskets) step down from the building perimeters to the street.

Source: Black & Veatch