City of Tempe earns GE ecomagination Leadership Award

Tempe, Arizona – For its efforts in developing a new, sustainable water source that helps overcome water scarcity challenges, the City of Tempe today received a GE ecomagination Leadership Award. Ecomagination is GE’s corporate-wide sustainable business strategy to address challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water.

The GE ecomagination Leadership Award is given to the top one percent of GE Water’ & Process Technologies’ customers who demonstrate significant environmental and economical performance improvements, striking a balance between today’s environmental, industrial and sustainability challenges.

An upgrade of Tempe’s Kyrene Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) features GE’s ZeeWeed Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology, a product of ecomagination. The facility’s capacity has doubled from 4.5 to 9 million gallons of water a day, with a peak flow of 11.7 million gallons, making it one of the largest MBR plants in North America today.

“This outstanding project is an example of a growing trend to turn wastewater into a valuable new resource, particularly in areas where water supplies are severely limited,” said Yuvbir Singh, general manager, UF/MBR/ABMet for GE Water & Process Technologies. “GE’s ZeeWeed MBR technology enabled the City of Tempe to double its water recycling capabilities without expanding plant footprint. Most people in the densely populated city don’t even know the plant is there, thanks to its compact design and quiet, low odor operation.”

The reclaimed water produced by the Kyrene WRF exceeds Arizona Class A+ water reuse requirements and plays a critical role in the city’s long-term water management strategy.  High-quality, treated effluent is used for non-potable applications such as cooling at a major power plant and irrigation at a municipal golf course. The city also injects the reclaimed water into local aquifers, earning aquifer storage credits that can be used to access additional water supplies during times of drought. This expanded water reclamation program results in the reuse of an additional 2.5 billion gallons a year of water for commercial and industrial applications, and for aquifer storage.

“We have to make use of every water resource that we possibly can,” said Don Hawkes, Tempe’s Water Utilities Manager. “This technology provides the flexibility to take waste water and turn it into a commodity that is marketable and usable.”

“We’re working to create the opportunity for water reuse in our community like never before,” said Mayor Hugh Hallman. “The expansion of water reuse helps us address one of our most difficult challenges: water shortage.”

Source: City of Tempe

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