Palo Verde Energy Educational Center in Buckeye, Arizona

Built in the mid-1970s, Palo Verde Generating Station isn’t your typical nuclear power plant. Almost all thermal power plants — those that produce steam to spin turbines and generate electricity — are situated near large bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans.  But a desert? Many laughed at the thought, but engineers designed an innovative solution that pipes reclaimed wastewater from Phoenix’s 91st Avenue Sewage Treatment Plant over 35 miles west to the power plant. Check out a cross-section of this water pipe, lean into a life-sized version of a reinforced-concrete storage cask, and tour the energy education center to learn more about the plant that generates nearly one-third of Arizona’s electricity. 

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