Arizona Water Company anticipates that its East Sedona Water Storage Facility, located at the intersection of State Route 179 and West Mallard Drive, will begin pumping water by the end of the year.
AWC Division Manager John Snickers said that the project is intended to address peak water supply demands in the Chapel area, with the project costing “probably” close to $20 million.
“The benefits for [the Sedona Fire District] is going to be more hydrant flow,” SFD Deputy Fire Marshal Kirk Riddell said. “So now there [will be] 1.5 million gallons of water in the Chapel area, before all the water came from Uptown Sedona … [It’s] been a long time trying to get this project going … [so] I’m glad to see it’s finally happening.”
“The construction of the tank’s has been something that [AWC’s] needed for years,” Snickers said. “We’re going to have more storage on the end of the east part of town [along the] 179 corridor … and also give needed storage in case that end of town ever needs to be isolated for any reason. I’m looking at it like adding another source of supply when it’s needed [in case] we have something goes down, a well goes down or equipment breaks. Now we have the redundancy on that end of town to take care of the fire flow and ground storage.”
Construction began in October of last year after nearly seven years of planning, reviews, public hearings and litigation.
Snickers said construction is progressing slightly ahead of schedule, with floors and walls being poured and the tank being wrapped. Concrete for the roof of the tank is anticipated to be poured within the next two weeks.
When completed, the site will include a 1.5-million-gallon underground water storage tank with a 3,000-gallon per-minute booster pump station and two buildings on top of the tank that will be designed to resemble the homes in the surrounding community.
The buildings will house the booster pumps and the electrical room. The project was designed to be non-intrusive to the viewshed with most of the tank situated below grade “to avoid any potential impact on property value,” according to the conditional use permit, but achieving this objective requires a booster system that works somewhat differently than traditional elevated water tanks do.
“This tank is at a lower elevation, so we will use system water and well water to fill it. When the tank is full, the boosters will pump the water out into the distribution system,” Snickers said.
Once operational, the facility will require minimal maintenance, with only occasional visits from service trucks. “It’s not a high-maintenance location,” Snickers said.
Trees that were removed during construction are being maintained at AWC’s yard in the Village of Oak Creek and most will likely be replanted at the site, with some possibly given to the city of Sedona.
Residents can find updates on the construction online at azwater. com/east-sedona-waterstorage.
