The City of Tucson is hoping to announce an award by next spring for the building of a modern facility that will transform wastewater into drinking water.
The project, which has been long in the planning stage, belongs to the utility Tucson Water, and will see construction near the Trios Water Reclamation Facility not far from the intersection of Interstate 10 and Ina Road.
The project is the result of a comprehensive plan approved in late 2023 by the Tucson City Council calling for a long-range effort to protect the reliability and quality of the city’s water supply for the next 75 years.
According to city documents, that plan “recognizes the interconnectedness of our surface water, groundwater, recycled water, and stormwater supplies,” anticipating a time when the “region’s water supply portfolio is increasingly diversified, and water demands are well managed.”
It is thought that the facility will cost just under $87 million to complete, with that completion date set for the early summer of 2031.
Known as a “toilet to tap” project, the new plant’s mission will be to turn wastewater into what has been characterized as “very high quality” water.
While similar projects in other parts of the country have met with uneven success, the publication Aveva notes that “many industry experts believe direct potable reuse is the future of water and wastewater management.”
Such projects have been characterized as an “untapped resource” in responding to water scarcity across the globe, according to a World Water Development Report earlier issued by the United Nations.
December 2, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
