Community Outreach

Drilling Schedule - The original plan for the drilling of two monitor wells and two extraction wells would have resulted in drilling activities near residential areas occurring in the fall. Input received at the 6/16/2021 Public Meeting encouraged the County to reconsider the order of the drilling schedule. Drilling closest to the neighborhoods will be completed in the summer months when people are mostly indoors with the house closed up. Wells furthest from residential areas will be drilled in the fall, resulting in less impact to residents from noise. (Click either map for a larger version.)

Sound Mitigation During Drilling - Noise abatement consultants were asked to review the original drilling plans and determine if additional measures would be effective. As a result, in addition to the sound walls that will be installed for drilling operations, an additional noise barrier consisting of temporary sound panels will be added. It is anticipated that this "double wall" approach will be effective in helping reduce any noise from drilling. The flyer describing the additional sound panels can be accessed by clicking the image to the far right.

Noise Management at the Injection Well Site - Several options were addressed regarding the equipment at the injection well site at 4050 Sleepy Ranch Road, including the type of pump to be used to inject clean water back to the aquifer. Typical installations of this type include a pump style that places the motor and switch gear above the surface (as shown to the right). Due to noise concerns, a decision was made to use a fully submersible pump putting the pump, motor and switch gear over 1,000 feet below the surface. Click the image of the submersible well for a larger diagram to the far right.

Screening Phase III Infrastructure - The injection well site at 4050 Sleepy Ranch Road contains various infrastructure necessary to inject clean water back into the aquifer. Some of the items included are electrical gear, a concrete holding tank and piping. The holding tank and electrical gear are being custom built to ensure they are below the height of the screening wall. The only object that will appear above the wall is a communications antenna to allow monitoring of the site and equipment.

APS Line, Boring vs Trenching - An electrical service will be installed from an existing transformer just north of where 40th Street turns to the East ending at the injection well site at 4050 Sleepy Ranch Road. The original plan called for open trench installation, a cheaper but more disruptive process. Plans have been revised to utilized boring technology to minimize the impact along 40th Street while the electrical service is added to the existing City of Phoenix utility right-of-way.