Maricopa City Council will hold a public hearing in August on the rezoning request for a parcel of land to allow a local water utility to expand.

In the past month, Global Water has received permits for a 1,200-foot wall and for grading and draining as part of the expansion project.

During the planned regular session of the council’s meeting on Aug. 1, there will be a public hearing and a subsequent vote on the approval of a zoning variance to allow for Global Water to expand its water reclamation operations, according to City Manager Gregory Rose’s weekly report.

Global Water General Manager Jon Corwin said the expansion is in response to Maricopa’s projected residential and commercial growth.

“The city is growing quite a bit,” Corwin said. “There’s new homes, and the city is also trying to attract some more commercial clients, so we’re expanding our facility to accommodate so the city can grow as fast as it can.”

Global Water currently serves around 18,500 homes and businesses. The expansion will allow for the plant to process 60 percent more wastewater, he said. That’s another 11,000 possible connections.

Corwin said it’s important to be able to handle the anticipated influx of wastewater. But, he said, it’s about continuing to be good stewards of such a precious resource.

“We treat the sewage and then turn it into Class A Plus recycled water and send that back out into the community to reduce the amount of water we have to pump out of the ground,” Corwin said.

The reclamation program feeds their “purple pipe” or recycled water redistribution program which helps keep the grass green and the small local lakes full.

The non-potable water system is safe for irrigation and feeding water features like ponds and fountains, but is unfit for human consumption.

The expansion will occur at Global Water’s main processing facility located to the northeast of Rancho El Dorado.

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