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The Copper Basin Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) is the solution to longstanding issues with the Section 11 WRF in EPCOR's new San Tan wastewater district. Read more about this important project – why it's needed, how it solves the Section 11 problem, and when it will be complete.
Copper Basin was planned over two decades as the safest and best long-term solution to the needs of the areas served by the issue-prone Section 11 plant. Section 11 does not reflect industry standards, uses outdated technology, and has seriously deteriorated over the years – at the same time that the population it serves has grown significantly. The facility uses an open-air, lagoon-style treatment process that is partially responsible for many of the issues customers have experienced.
During EPCOR's time as Interim Manager we made as many improvements as possible to Section 11 – but nothing more could be done to improve it effectively. Ideally, Copper Basin would already have been built and providing service today. We immediately went to work on Copper Basin when we officially became the utility provider in the San Tan district in 2021.
We are required by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to have the new Copper Basin facility providing service by December 2023 and to decommission Section 11 by the end of 2025.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) requires EPCOR to decommission and replace the Section 11 lagoons by the end of 2025, with the Copper Basin facility providing service by the end of 2023.
Construction on Copper Basin started in mid-2022, soon after EPCOR became the San Tan district’s wastewater service provider and has stayed on schedule ever since.
We recognize that customers and others may have ongoing questions about the project, and we're committed to transparency and responsiveness. We'll be posting updated project information and timelines on this page and staying in touch with customers in other ways, like EPCOR Essentials news in your monthly bill, throughout the process.
The proposed location is also part of the Central Arizona Governments 208 Plan, which was approved in 2007 and the Copper Basin Planned Area Amendment, proposed in 1999.
EPCOR’s approach to building and operating state-of-the-art water reclamation facilities is different to what customers have experienced with Section 11. We were able to improve it enough to continue to operate until Copper Basin is up and running, but we can’t turn it off until that happens. If we do, there is nowhere for the wastewater coming from homes and businesses in this area to go. We have improved Section 11 as much as possible and significantly lowered instances of odor exceedances, but there continue to be times when the facility’s ecosystem is upset and odors can increase. When that happens, our team immediately gets to work to fix the problem. Here’s one example:In March 2023, an excessive amount of sewer trash and elevated flows of wastewater coming into Section 11 damaged the lagoon-style aeration system several times. Section 11’s screening system is ineffective, so EPCOR team members must manually rake the screens to clear them and prevent larger debris, like flushable wipes and rags, from coming through. Once the floating debris subsided and all aerators were back up and running, odors decreased to normal levels. Help us protect your wastewater system: Don’t flush anything but toilet paper down the toilet. Everything else, even flushable wipes, can cause major issues.
