Trevor Hill describes how this private utility is helping cities and towns reduce overall water consumption by up to 50%.

As a native of Western Canada where it rains nearly 300 inches per year, Trevor Hill never thought twice about leaving the water running while brushing his teeth. That is until he joined the Canadian Navy. As a marine systems engineering officer in the Middle East, Hill worked on a number of projects, including one to generate drinkable water for troops. “I became acutely aware of potential water scarcities and how technology can make a difference.”

During the 1990s, after he retired from the Navy, Hill started a firm that designed and built water recycling facilities for municipalities and large developers. After 10 years, he realized that he didn’t just want to design utilities, he wanted to run his own. “Up until then, I was in a rat race with dozens of other design-builders.”

In 2003, Hill formed Global Water Resources, a private water utility based in Phoenix, Ariz., one of the fastest growing—and driest—cities in the nation. The company currently serves about 85,000 customers via a network of 16 water and waste water utilities across the state, but the bulk of its business is the hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses that have not yet been built.

Trevor Hill, President and CEO

“Generally, communities supply public areas—school grounds, parks, water features, commercial buildings, cooling water, etc.—with the same water piped to citizens’ homes. If the community plans for a second set of water mains to transport recycled water, they can reduce their overall water consumption by up to 50%,” said Hill. “People who live in the community can’t tell the difference other than a few purple meter boxes to indicate recycled water.”

Hill, president and CEO of Global Water Resources, said that with the rampant growth in the Phoenix area (he expects 5,000 to 10,000 homes will be built in the company’s service area each year) and climate changes, a water shortage is practically guaranteed. “It won’t be today, maybe not even in 10 years, but 50 or 100 years from now? You can count on it. The communities being built today have a life expectancy of several hundred years, so the planning needs to start today.”

Leading the way
According to Hill, building the infrastructure to support the use of recycled water is only half the job. Public education plays a key role in the success of any water conservation system. After surveying several communities and discovering that most people are unaware of an impending water shortage, Global Water Resources began a grassroots outreach and print campaign to answer basic questions, such as “Where does our community’s water come from?” “How does it get to our homes?” and “What is recycled water?”

Global Water Resources also recently opened the Global Water Center, a LEED-certified customer service and education center in the Maricopa/ Casa Grande area. Visitors can browse the 4,000-square-foot museum-like lobby filled with displays, videos, posters, and other outreach materials to learn about water usage and conservation throughout Arizona.

The center is a testament to Global Water Resources’ commitment to conserve water: it is the first commercial building in the state to use 100% recycled water for toilet flushing and uses very little water overall. Also, as a LEED-certified facility, the majority of the materials used in the building process, such as counters and plywood backers, are recycled.

Hill speaks publicly about water conservation, addressing local chambers of commerce, rotary clubs, community organizations, and schools. Hill also spends time with state regulatory officials, helping them understand dual-plumbing systems.

“The goal of our outreach program is to help citizens in our service areas feel more comfortable using recycled water in their everyday lives. A lot of misconceptions are out there, but once they understand that this region is in danger of a water shortage, they realize it makes more sense to conserve,” said Hill.

Global Water Resources also participates in Water: Use it Wisely, an program aimed at educating citizens about how they can conserve water in the home by, for instance, turning off the faucet while brushing their teeth or putting bricks in the toilet tank. However, Hill explained, water is an inexpensive commodity, and people aren’t motivated to change their lifestyles. “That’s why we are implementing a program that helps entire communities preserve precious water resources.”

Enabling change
For Global Water Resources’ efforts to be effective, they need to be done on a large scale. For that reason, the company continues to acquire small utilities throughout the state. Most recently, it acquired West Maricopa Combine, the parent company of five local utilities, in 2006. “The majority of utilities in this region have a few hundred customers, but to make a difference, you need thousands of customers,” he said.

On the same note, Global Water Resources’ dual-plumbing systems won’t do much good unless communities can afford to install them. The CEO explained that cities and towns across the state are under tremendous growth pressure. “For municipalities, raising enough money to build the infrastructure in advance of having enough tax revenue to float bonds is nearly impossible,” said Hill.

To that end, Global Water Resources partnered with the cities of Maricopa and Casa Grande in 2005. Although neither city had many houses at the time of the agreement, they are expecting tens of thousands in the near future. As stated in the agreement, Global Water Resources will master plan both cities and provide private financing. “We took all the capital and regulatory risk, and they offered us the opportunity to serve within their city boundaries.”

In the future, Hill expects to see more private utilities working closely with municipalities, especially high-growth areas. “The municipalities can tap into readily available private financing, and with the help of private utilities, they can accomplish much more than either could on their own.”