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Like your community lake? So do QC officials BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer
NEWS ........................ 4 State House panel recommends 33 actions for teen mental health.
NEWS ...................... 12 Gilbert has approved a controversial extended stay hotel in Queen Creek’s backyard.
Sunday, December 18, 2022
T
hat lake you are paddle-boarding on? The water came from your toilets and showers as well as those of your neighbors. But Queen Creek planned it that way. “It allows them to have an amenity, but also … the water that’s in this lake and the water that’s watering all the bushes and trees and stuff, we produced out of our own toilets and showers and kitchen sinks,” said Paul Gardner, Queen Creek Utilities director. Gardner explained that the process the town uses to fill about a half dozen pristine
lakes in several Queen Creek communities helps manage the growing volume of wastewater, also known as effluent. And the lake water is almost as clean as your drinking water. “As we grow,” Gardner said, “the issue will be what do we do with this effluent on a daily basis. We started thinking, ‘there’s got to be a better way to do this.’” Gardner found one. Right now, Queen Creek generates between 3 and 3.5-million gallons of wastewater a day, every day, and it is only going to grow exponentially in the not-too-distant future.
When the town reaches build-out, that number will swell to closer to 8-million gallons a day. In water lingo, that’s about 24acre feet of water. In layman’s terms, Gardner’s analogy is much easier to visualize. “So, if you had 24 acres you would be able to float a foot of water across that 24 acres,” Gardner said. “Well, the problem is the next day, guess what you get? You get another 24 feet. Then the following day you get another 24 feet and it really doesn’t change from winter to summer because the demand stays pretty constant.” see
EFFLUENT page 3
QC landmark restaurant sold BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer
BUSINESS............... 16 A Queen Creek bean counter now grinds them instead.
COMMUNITY ..........................14 BUSINESS................................16 OPINION.................................... 18 SPORTS....................................... 20 GET OUT.................................... 21 CLASSIFIEDS............................ 23
A
fter nearly 50 years, Rudy’s Mexican and American Food – a Queen Creek landmark and popular gathering spot in town – has closed its doors for good. The eatery near Ellsworth and Ocotillo roads where founder Rudy Valenzuela oversaw the entire operation has succumbed to tough economic times and difficult emotions. “It would have stayed open if my husband see
Toni Valenzuela has bid a fond farewell to Rudy’s, the restaurant and Queen Creek landmark she and her late husband Rudy ran for decades until he passed away in 2016. It was sold earlier this month. (David Minton/ Tribune Staff Photographer)
RESTAURANT page 7
Central Arizona College www.centralaz.edu
Paths to Great Careers