Transforming the desert. Because water reuse can keep water tables from dropping and water resources from shrinking, communities in arid regions throughout the world increasingly turn to water reclamation and reuse to stretch water supplies.

Scaling up from pilot plant to record size. In the 1980s, Scottsdale, Ariz., city managers began looking for ways to meet the water needs of a rapidly growing population. Eventually, it was decided to treat Central Arizona Project (CAP) water and recharge. Black & Veatch designed and constructed a pilot plant that featured microfiltration to treat water before injecting it into a groundwater aquifer. Subsequently, Black & Veatch designed the full-scale Water Campus - one of the largest reverse osmosis reclaimed water projects in the country.

Recharging aquifer with purified water. Water Campus systems not only treat water for immediate use but stockpile water for future needs. A 12 mgd (45 Ml/d) water reclamation plant treats wastewater to a level acceptable for irrigating the city's 30 golf courses. Another 10 mgd (37 Ml/d) advanced water treatment plant, which features microfiltration and reverse osmosis, treats reclaimed water and water from CAP to a level exceeding drinking water standards. This water is used to recharge the aquifer. The Water Campus also includes a groundwater recharge and recovery system that uses vadose zone injection wells to put purified water into the ground for later recovery.