A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Welcome to our Summer issue of “Behind the Meter”. In addition to managing our water resources to ensure our community’s long-lasting sustainability, the Water Utility is also responsible for ensuring that your drinking water is safe. In this newsletter, you will learn how the Utility’s Water Quality section performs this important work.
Your drinking water comes from two sources of supply. Those supplies include groundwater, which makes up 65% of our drinking water and Colorado River water, which makes up the remaining 35% of our drinking water. Groundwater is pumped from deep wells within our service area while Colorado River water is delivered by way of four separate delivery connections throughout our service area.
With the completion of the Northwest Recharge Recovery and Delivery System (NWRRDS) in mid-2026 the Utility will have the capacity to increase Colorado River water deliveries to our service area by 150%. NWRRDS provides the means to pump less groundwater, access more of the Utility’s Colorado River water allocation and access to decades worth of water that has been stored in underground water storage facilities, if needed.
The NWRRDS project will cost approximately $50 million to construct. The funding that supports this project is a combination of several funding sources as shown in Table A
The funding sources highlighted in yellow are paid for by future customers through development impact fees, the funding sources highlighted in blue are paid for by existing customers through the groundwater preservation fee and the funding sources highlighted in green are paid for by federal and state grants that do not require repayment.
In closing, your water utility staff works hard to ensure our community’s water resource sustainability at the lowest possible cost to existing and future customers. Thanks to your ongoing support we continue to be successful in this endeavor.
Looking forward,
Peter Abraham
Peter A. Abraham, P.E. | Water Utility Director
Peter Abraham, P.E. Water Utility Director
WATER QUALITY SECTION
The Oro Valley Water Utility’s Water Quality Section plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety, reliability, and compliance of our community’s water supply.
The primary responsibility of the Water Quality Section is to monitor, analyze, and report on the quality of drinking water delivered to your home. The Water Quality Staff serves as a guardian of public health by ensuring that our drinking water meets or exceeds all federal, state, and local regulatory standards, as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
The Water Quality Staff also investigates customer inquiries relating to taste, odor, and the aesthetics of the water. The team ensures water quality is maintained during both routine operations and emergency situations, such as main breaks and other water system repairs.
The Water Quality Staff also protects the drinking water system by managing a robust cross-connection prevention program. The program works to keep the water supply safe from contaminants that could be introduced into the water system through backflow, back-siphonage, or backpressure from a non-potable source. The program does this by requiring the installation, testing, and maintenance of approved backflow prevention devices on the water service as per the Town’s plumbing codes and ordinances. Water customers with service protection backflow assemblies are notified by mail that the yearly inspection of their assembly is due. The Utility requires that anyone doing work on a backflow prevention assembly be certified. This includes, but is not limited to testing, repairing, installing, retrofits, and replacements of backflow prevention assemblies.
Public communication and education are key responsibilities of the Water Quality Section. Each year, staff prepares the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), an annual summary of the Oro Valley Water Utility’s drinking water quality. The CCR includes clear, practical information about the water source, any contaminants detected, and how the water meets federal and state standards. It also provides educational content to better understand how their water is managed. This report reflects the utility’s commitment to transparency and ongoing community outreach. We are proud to report that the Oro Valley Water Utility’s drinking water meets or exceeds all federal, state, and local regulatory standards.
To view current and past drinking water reports, scan the QR code or visit the link below: https://www.orovalleyaz.gov/Government/Departments/Water-Utility/Water-Quality#section-1