This new design-build wastewater treatment plant serves the new Del Webb’s Sun City Retirement Community consisting of over 5,800 homes and 10,000 residents. Construction was divided into two phases. Phase one construction of a 0.65 million gallons per day (MGD) was finished in less than 12 months. The phase two expansion to 1.6 MGD was successfully completed in 2003. The wastewater treatment plant consists of aerators, sand filters, UV disinfection equipment, digesters, and a belt filter press.

The effluent from the plant is used for irrigation of the Whisper Creek golf course at Del Webb’s Sun City. Clean effluent is pumped from the wastewater plant over one mile to the golf course holding pond. The use of effluent for irrigation reuse is a valuable method of water conservation.

The water supply for Del Webb’s Sun City comes from a deep well. The deep well (Huntley Well No. 9) was drilled 1,320 feet deep into the Galesville aquifer. The well produces 1,000 gallons of water each minute. The deep well was drilled and completed over a period of six weeks. Water from the deep well is treated using three ion-exchange softening units with a total capacity of 1,000 gallons per minute. Barium and hardness are removed from the water through the softening units. Hydrogen sulfide is removed through a draft aerator. The well and water treatment plant were successfully completed in less than eight months.

The Sun City Communities by Del Webb (PDF - 1.2 MB)