Surface water undergoes extensive treatment at either the Pyramid Peak or Greenway Water Treatment Plants to meet drinking water standards. These facilities use conventional and chemical treatment including chlorine dioxide or ozone to mitigate taste and odor, and minimize disinfection by-products.

Tested – Over 200 tests are performed by plant operators each day, and several parameters are monitored continuously using state-of-the-art equipment, which notifies staff members of any deviations from acceptable conditions. Once the water leaves the water supply well or water treatment plant, water quality is measured within the distribution system to ensure drinking water standards are maintained.

Safe – Drinking water safety is the primary concern of the Utilities Department. Safety is achieved by coordinating technology and qualified staff members to monitor production systems, sample the distribution system, and evaluate opportunities to continually enhance the program while minimizing cost to our customers.

Water is treated and tested at groundwater wells and treatment plants and then monitored to ensure it remains safe on the way to your tap. Numerous chemical and biological analyses are conducted daily. A wide variety of compounds are monitored and tested for in your drinking water, in accordance with federal and state laws and local water quality guidelines.

The Peoria Utilities Department supports a committee of the Arizona Water and Pollution Control Association called Tap Into Quality (TIQ). TIQ provides educational materials to schools and the public on tap water safety and quality. For more information on TIQ please visit www.tapintoquality.com.

Where your water supply comes from

Peoria has invested in four distinct water supplies. Drinking water, also called potable water, comes from the Salt River Project (SRP), the Central Arizona Project (CAP), and groundwater. This redundancy in our drinking water supply helps ensure the availability of water. When one drinking water supply is experiencing below-normal water levels, the city has two other supplies it can rely upon to provide drinking water to our customers. Reclaimed water, a fourth water supply, offsets some uses where drinking quality water is not needed, such as for irrigation and decorative water features.

In 2007, SRP delivered approximately 36%  of Peoria’s water supply from its reservoirs on the Salt and Verde Rivers through the Arizona Canal. Approximately 30% of Peoria’s water was supplied from the Colorado River via the 336-mile long CAP canal, which starts in Lake Havasu. Nearly 28% of the city’s water supply came from groundwater. This groundwater use is offset by the recharge of renewable supplies of water (e.g. SRP and CAP). The remaining 6% was supplied as reclaimed water used only for irrigation of large landscaped areas and filling of decorative water features.