‘Poop Water’ Churns a Local Election in Parched Arizona

A ritzy Arizona enclave is facing water cuts, and the most divisive idea to offset them begins with millions of gallons of sewage. Call it affluent effluent. The plan — which involves rigorously treating and purifying wastewater, then routing it straight to residential taps — has long been seen as critical for the future of Scottsdale, a city heavily reliant on the dwindling flow of the Colorado River. But in recent months, Scottsdale’s wastewater recycling program has been sucked into a bitter political dispute, and its fate could hinge on the outcome of the city’s elections on Tuesday.

The Scottsdale City Council, where two seats are up for grabs, is nominally nonpartisan, but this year’s race may change the balance of power on water issues. Two candidates, both running on a right-wing platform, deride wastewater recycling as an unproven experiment. They call it “toilet to tap” or “poop water.” A third challenger, who is backed by Democratic groups, argues that the science behind wastewater recycling is robust, citing expert support for a technology considered safe and reliable.

His opponents, he says, are capitalizing on residents’ fears of contamination and downplaying the seriousness of Scottsdale’s looming water crisis. “They’re using buzzwords and scare tactics,” Raoul Zubia, a retired banker, said of his conservative opponents, Michelle Ugenti-Rita, a former state senator, and Barry Graham, an incumbent council member. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

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