Cottonwood, AZ is planning on using reclaimed wastewater as a drinking water source sometime in the next15 or 20 years. The city plans to build an $8 million, wastewater treatment plant capable of removing many trace synthetic compounds via advanced oxidation using ozone and hydrogen peroxide. The focus is on pharmaceuticals which have recently become an emerging issue in drinking water systems.
The process calls for the raw sewage flows into a large screen to remove major solids, then into a tank where bacteria eat more solids, then into what’s called a “clarifier” where more solids separate from the water, and then into an oxygen-free zone that further removes solids. The wastewater next gets filtered through sand. This is followed by advanced oxidation process (AOP) using ozone and peroxide. After AOP, the wastewater will be sent to membrane filtration and finally ultraviolet treatment.
Construction is planned to start in about a year.