Wastewater Facility World Cass

Its entrance can pass as any low-profile office site, but inside, industrial-size pipes, monitoring screens with colorful maps and codes, and the constant whoosh of compressed air, reveal clues about why, as far as treating wastewater goes, Peoria's Butler Water Reclamation Facility continues to attract international attention.

Butler opened in 2008 and is still the largest membrane bioreactor facility in North America, a leading technology that helps clean wastewater better in a much more compact space than older techniques.


In June, the facility played host to about 20 delegates from the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore, visiting Phoenix for an international water conference.

As one of the country's fastest-growing cities and still only a third built out, Peoria needs to keep up with demand for water. The Butler facility helps, by turning wastewater into a reusable resource, said Shawn Kreuzwiesner, Peoria's systems-planning manager.

Peoria's population is about 150,000. City officials estimate that could be closer to 500,000 by 2055.

"We live in an arid environment, so we need to manage our available and future water resources judiciously," Kreuzwiesner said.