The Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department (RWRD) has reached substantial completion of the Regional Optimization Master Plan (ROMP). The ROMP was designed to allow RWRD to meet higher water quality standards for effluent discharges into the Santa Cruz River. These standards were mandated by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and are based on Clean Water Act standards.
Four major components of the ROMP included the construction of:
- A five-mile long plant interconnect pipeline
- The Water Energy and Sustainability Center
- The upgrade and expansion of the former Ina Road Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WRF), now known as the Tres Rios WRF
- The construction of the Agua Nueva WRF to replace the now decommissioned Roger Road WRF
The final mandated project of the ROMP was completed a full year ahead of schedule. The overall ROMP was completed $114 million under budget.
According to Jackson Jenkins, RWRD Director, “With the ongoing drought and projections of future population growth for our region, reclaimed water is increasingly important. With the completion of the upgrades to our treatment facilities, the quality of our reclaimed water allows for many more reuse applications. This quality will allow our community to expand the use of this critical water resource.”
A news conference followed by a ribbon cutting was held on Wednesday, April 9, at 10:00 a.m. at the Tres Rios WRF. Prior to the news conference, tours of the facility were available to the media.
For further information on the major components of ROMP, please review the fact sheets on each project: