The Town Council has approved a concept plan for construction of a third equipment control building for the Fountain Hills Sanitary District within Fountain Park.

The new structure will house electrical and well control equipment in an above-ground building to serve the District’s #1 recharge well in Fountain Park. The District constructed three wells for wastewater storage and recovery in 2000 and, at the time, the equipment and controls were installed in underground vaults.

Due to aging equipment, corrosion of the vaults and safety concerns for staff having to work in the vaults, the District is working to replace equipment in above-ground buildings. In 2018 and 2019 the district replaced the underground vaults for two other wells in the park, building new restrooms with attached equipment rooms.

The third well has been delayed due to difficulty in determining a location for the building. The well is located along the edge of the drainage channel adjacent to the Great Lawn toward the south end. There is no practical location near the well.

Sanitary District Manager Dana Trompke told the council she has been working with the Town’s management and parks staff to come up with a solution. The proposed site also involves the cooperation of the Fountain Hills Public Art Committee.

Trompke said the proposal is to build the equipment building, with no restrooms in this case, with an attached shade roof to form a ramada-like structure. The location would be at the west edge of the park along Saguaro Boulevard in the area now occupied by the presidential statutes often called “Fount Rushmore.” The plan calls for a water fountain and seating under the shade as well as a walkway around the structure with the sculptures relocated around the ramada. Trompke said this creates an opportunity for the Art Committee to master plan the display.

Trompke also provided the council with background. She noted that the Sanitary District treats on average two million gallons of wastewater daily, making more than 710 million on an annual basis. She said the district is unable to dispose of its treated effluent as surface water as many communities do. This is not due to quality, but that the neighboring Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation will not allow the effluent onto its land.

“We need to use 100% of the water within the district boundary,” Trompke said.

That includes 15% for internal District operations, 70% going to golf courses in Fountain Hills and 15% to the Town for use in local parks.

Trompke said that while the amount of water treated is relatively stable year-round, it does vary some between summer and winter, there is a dramatic imbalance between when it is used. While the greatest amount is treated over the winter months – December through March – that is when the least amount is used for irrigation. The demand for the water greatly increases between March and November, with the peak in July and August.

The District developed the storage and recovery wells to help smooth out the imbalance. The water is pumped into the storage aquifer when the greatest amount is being generated. It is pumped out for delivery to irrigation users over the summer when there is less wastewater being treated.

Trompke said the District will work to get building plans approval and a contractor on board so construction can start in the first quarter of next calendar year (2023). She said the bulk of the work will be done over the summer when park use is at a minimum, with completion in about nine months.

The Sanitary District is paying for this project with no cost to the Town, Trompke said.