Water Utilities Operations includes Engineering support, Tempe Town Lake operation, maintenance and water quality, preparation of the operation and maintenance budget, Capital Improvement Project Coordination and Water Utilities Department Integrated Master Plan.                     

Plant Operations includes operation and maintenance of the following:

• Johnny G. Martinez Water Treatment Plant (JGMWTP)
• South Tempe Water Treatment Plant (STWTP)
• Kyrene Reclamation facility
• Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Control Center

The surface water treatment process involves removing solids, disinfecting and purifying water that enters the plants from wells and canals.

Pre-sedimentation:  A preliminary treatment process used to remove gravel, sand and other gritty material from the raw water before it enters the main treatment plant. This is usually done without the use of coagulating chemicals

Coagulation: The water treatment process that causes very small suspended particles to attract one another and formed larger particles. This is accomplished by the addition of a chemical, called a coagulant, that neutralizes the electrostatic charges on the particles that cause them to repel one another.

Flocculation: The water treatment process, following coagulation, that uses gentle stirring to bring suspended particles together so that they will form larger clumps called flock.

Final Sedimentation: This is the water treatment process where the flock is allowed to settle out of the liquid stream to be removed as solids.

Filtration: The water treatment process involving the removal of suspended matter by passing the water through a porous medium, such as sand, anthracite or other materials.

UV Disinfection: Ultraviolet (UV) is considered to be the primary mechanism for the inactivation/destruction of pathogenic organisms to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases to downstream users and the environment. An UV disinfection system transfers electromagnetic energy from a mercury arc lamp to an organisms genetic material (DNA and RNA). UV radiation penetrates the cell walls of an organism and destroys the cells ability to reproduce.