Water Treatment Improvements

The Capital Improvements Program includes major water treatment improvement projects at SNWA's two water treatment facilities:

• River Mountains Water Treatment Facility
• Alfred Merritt Smith Water Treatment Facility

River Mountains Water Treatment Facility

The River Mountains Facility treats and distributes water to residents of Henderson and parts of the Las Vegas Valley. The facility has a current capacity of 300 million gallons per day (mgd), and was designed to expand to 600 mgd.

Alfred Merritt Smith Water Treatment Facility

SNWA improvements to the Alfred Merritt Smith Facility increased plant reliability and peak capacity from 400 mgd to 600 mgd. SNWA also added ozone facilities to the existing water treatment facility.

Ozone Treatment

A major component of the improvements to the water treatment systems is the addition of ozonation disinfection. Ozonation is a water treatment process that destroys bacteria and other microorganisms through an infusion of ozone, a gas produced by subjecting oxygen molecules to high electrical voltages. Both the Alfred Merritt Smith and River Mountains water treatment facilities began using ozonation to treat our water supply in 2003.

Ozonation is very effective in eliminating Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and other naturally-occurring organisms. In addition, ozonation reduces Trihalomethanes (THMs) formed as a result of the chlorine treatment process.