Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department

The Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department’s (RWRD) mission is to protect the public health, safety, and the environment by providing quality service, environmental stewardship, and renewable resources. They design, manage, and maintain two metropolitan and six sub-regional water reclamation facilities, as well as over 3,400 miles of sanitary sewer system.

RWRD serves 275,000 customers, encompasses approximately 393 square miles of service area, and includes numerous jurisdictions, unincorporated areas, and tribal reservations in Pima County. The RWRD’s water reclamation facilities treat 60 million gallons of wastewater per day on average, and have a permitted capacity of treating 92 million gallons a day. RWRD also maintains and operates 22 pump stations, and many flow meter stations, odor control sites, major conveyance lines, sanitary sewer manholes and cleanouts.

RWRD’s focus on energy reduction is just one part of its commitment to operational efficiency and overall sustainability. In 2015, RWRD joined the Better Plants Program, and is committed to reduce its energy intensity by 25% over 10 years. In 2010, RWRD’s first solar facility came online and subsequently offset over 28 million kilowatt hours in grid purchased electricity. RWRD anticipates significantly increasing its access to photovoltaic resources in the next two years. The Department also uses digester gas as an energy source for digester heating and internal facility processes. Currently, approximately 15% of RWRD’s total energy requirement is supplied by either renewable biogas or solar energy. As part of the Biogas Utilization Project currently under way, RWRD plans to utilize virtually all of its digester gas by late 2019.

NAICS 2213, Utilities: Water, Sewage, and Other Systems

Date of Pledge: December 2014

Leadership Commitments

DOE Program Participation