Without spending money or hiring an outside contractor, the City of Chandler, Ariz., increased production of its drinking water treatment plant by 4.7 percent while decreasing annual electricity consumption by 1.4 million kWh, reducing well usage, reducing disinfection chemical usage, and saving more than $1.1 million. The key to the project's success was to involve the water treatment operators throughout planning and execution.
Anticipating the U.S. EPA's 2012 disinfectant byproduct rule, Chandler's Water Quality division and Victoria Sharp, water systems operations superintendent, began looking at water age two years ago. Some reservoirs
