Even though its 20-acre site is nearly surrounded by houses, the Southwest Water Reclamation Facility in Henderson, Nevada, is nearly invisible to neighbors and passersby.
The site presents a 35-foot high berm, landscaped to blend into the surrounding countryside of sloping mountains, stones and boulders, and vegetation typical of the Mojave Desert. “Some of the newer homes have been built to within 300 yards of the side gate of the plant and around the back side of the berm,” says Howard Analla, wastewater operations manager in charge of the city’s two wastewater treatment plants.
The berm, which cost nearly $1 million,
