O R O VA L L E Y W AT E R U T I L I TY N E W S L E T T E R
FA L L 2 0 2 4
A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTOR As we leave the Southern Arizona summer behind us and head into Fall the production demands placed on our water system begins to relax a little bit. There is a direct correlation between the average daytime temperature and the amount of water consumed. The hotter the average daytime temperature the higher the demand is for water and vice versa.
Peter Abraham, P.E. Water Utility Director
The month of June is typically when the Utility’s water system experiences the highest average daily demand of about 7 million gallons a day of drinking water produced while the month of February the average daily demand is about 4 million gallons a day.
Thanks to designing our water system with the future in mind, a robust maintenance and capital improvement program, and our community’s strong conservation ethic, our drinking water system operates at about 60% capacity even during the hottest months of the year.
Without conservation every aspect of our water system would be larger, and more expensive to construct, operate and maintain. Unfortunately, the cost of water deliveries continues to increase annually but conservation ensures that our water system does not need to be grossly overbuilt to support a water wasting community.
ACRE-FEET
The graph to the right shows the Utility’s water resource delivery and the Town’s population by year. The Utility began its conservation program in 2004, and our community listened. Since 2007, our community has continued to increase in population while our water resource utilization has decreased.
12,000
66,000
10,000
55,000
8,000
44,000
6,000
33,000
4,000
22,000
2,000
11,000
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POPULATION
WATER RESOURCE USE BY TYPE - ANNUAL COMPARISONS
While proper Engineering, system operation and maintenance are very important elements of a robust and reliable water system, it cannot be overstated how important the conservation component is.
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1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2012 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 GROUNDWATER
CAP
RECLAIMED
POPULATION
With our community’s continued support and conservation mindset your Water Utility will continue to operate a robust, reliable, and efficient water system that will ensure our communities sustainability for generations to come. Looking forward,
Peter Abraham
Peter A. Abraham, P.E. | Water Utility Director
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