JUNE 6, 2012

New wastewater treatment system for Cave Creek wins industry recognition

PHOENIX – Since 1996, a wastewater treatment plant serving the Town of Cave Creek, AZ, has drawn numerous complaints from residents and reached the end of its useful life. Located in the middle of an affluent neighborhood with minimal setbacks and minimal odor control, the plant was considered both an eyesore and a source of noxious odor, particularly to golfers playing on an exclusive course located nearby.

In 2009, Burns & McDonnell and Garney Construction were selected to help Cave Creek solve this problem by designing and building a new treatment plant with treatment capacity of 0.66 million gallons per day (MGD), a six-fold increase over the rated capacity of the old plant. Moreover, the $26.6 million price tag for the new plant was approximately 9 percent below the original project budget. Burns & McDonnell and Garney provided comprehensive planning, programming, architecture and engineering design and construction as the design/build project team. Staff from Burns & McDonnell’s Denver and Phoenix offices served on the project team.

In April 2012, this successful project was named one of the American Public Works Association (APWA) Projects of the Year in the Environmental category. In addition to solving numerous community issues, the plant enables Cave Creek to meet all its treatment needs for the foreseeable future while using 100 percent of the reclaimed water for beneficial use in irrigation of the neighboring golf course. The new plant and expanded capacity can accommodate up to 5,000 new residential connections and has been instrumental in helping the Town attract new commercial establishments. The site can accommodate expanded treatment capacity of up to 2.25 MGD if needed in the future.

The project was executed under the design/build delivery method and achieved significant savings due to a number of engineering process design innovations, pipeline routing changes and scheduling efficiencies. The project achieved further savings for the community when it qualified for $2 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding, the first in the State of Arizona.

In addition to those savings realized during design and construction of the new plant, the Burns & McDonnell / Garney team was asked to install a new 16-inch water main in the same utility corridor that was used to accommodate new pipes for the treatment plant. The new water line was needed to provide added capacity and pressure to existing customers.
The new water line also provided capacity for future development at the intersection and along Carefree Highway. Installing the line concurrent with construction of the wastewater lines saved the town considerable expense and time while reducing public inconvenience that could have been caused by a second round of road cuts.

The new Cave Creek water reclamation facility has been designed to minimize noise, odor and visibility.