SCOTTSDALE, AZ — A water official in this Phoenix suburb says he thinks increased use of water softeners and Scottsdale's recent heavier reliance on Colorado River water is putting too much salt into reused wastewater used for irrigation, the East Valley Tribunereported in a recent edition.
Meanwhile, a golf course consultant, Tim Bray, told the newspaper that 25 Scottsdale courses use treated wastewater for irrigation, but rising salt content in the reused water is slowing the growth of grass or killing it on fairways. Salinity is not removed when Scottsdale treats its wastewater, according to the story.
Art Nunez, the city water and wastewater treatment director, said increased reliance by the city on Colorado River water and the growing number of water softeners on the city's north side are responsible for the increased salt content of city water and wastewater.
The golf courses, which are a big part of the local economy, are urging the city to speed up a planned $25 million expansion of the Scottsdale Water Campus, the city's water and wastewater treatment facility, according to the story.
A new reverse osmosis (RO) facility is planned to be built in five years to accommodate growth on the north side; meanwhile, the reused wastewater for irrigating the golf courses is being supplemented by desalinated RO water, the article said.
The golf courses, which pushed the city to install a wastewater reuse-for-irrigation system in the 1990s, pay the city about $2.2 million annually to irrigate with the treated wastewater, and Nunez told the newspaper that the courses would likely have to pay an additional $2 million a year to operate an expansion of the reuse system.
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