Final Report
Project Title: Low-Tech Strategy to Treat and Reuse Waste Water
on the U.S. - Mexico Border
SCERP Project Number: WQ PP96I-3
Principal Investigators: L. Baker, P. Westerhoff, P. Johnson, P.
Fox, S. Houston, S. Gerke, M. Pinney, M. Johnson, B. Alsmadi, P. McSparron
Arizona State University
Objectives:
The problem of providing adequate supply of water has generated a growing
interest in the issue of recycling waste water for municipal use.
The goal of the project was to examine the potential for developing low-tech,
low cost systems for indirect use of wastewater for the border region.
The study site was the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant.
This effluent is now treated with a lagoon system and discharged to the
Santa Cruz River. It would not be suitable for recharge directly
because of the high levels of nitrogen. A three-component low-tech
system was proposed consisting of: (a) aerated lagoons, which provide BOD
removal; (b) treatment wetlands for nitrogen removal; (c) vadose zone treatment,
provided as water passes through the soil system into the acquifer.
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Last updated 6/10/99