Clean drinking: City of Tempe opens new water testing lab

TEMPE, Ariz. — Tempe residents will now have their water tested in a brand new environmental laboratory.

The city officially cut the rope on an 11,000-square-foot facility that is part of the South Tempe Water Treatment Plant near the Loop 101 and Guadalupe Road on Friday.

It features new technologies and increases the city’s water testing capabilities, including allowing chemists to analyze any emerging water contaminants.

Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said water testing is one of the most important services the city provides.

“This [facility] gives us the ability to really continue to do more testing but also to make sure that we’re accurate and [it] gives us the opportunity to be proactive in testing for additional things that could be in the water to make sure that we provide safe drinking water for our residents,” he said.

City workers collect water samples from over 100 locations. Those samples are brought back to the lab, where they are tested and analyzed by six chemists and one lab supervisor.

Mitchell said the new lab also allows the city to keep up with any new water testing regulations that might be enacted by the federal government.

“A lab of this magnitude will help us keep up with those regulations, but also keep in front of it to be more proactive [and] to think outside the box to make sure we’re able to provide the safe drinking water that our residents expect,” Mitchell said.

The building is also expected to become a certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building. Mitchell said it is sustainable, as the facility itself is built out of recycled materials.

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