In north Phoenix, where the landscape is a patchwork of scrubby desert and master-planned communities, the future of the city’s water system is taking shape.
With climate change and drought shrinking the amount of water in the rivers and reservoirs that supply the nation’s fifth-largest city, Phoenix is betting big on technology that can turn sewage into clean, safe drinking water. It will allow water managers to squeeze every last drop out of the supply they already have at a time when they expect less to be coming down the pipe from once-dependable sources.
“What we’re doing here in Phoenix,” said Max Wilson, the city’s water resources management advisor, “is really building the pathway for what’s just going to be the new normal for the next generation.”…