Another water bottling operation to open in Arizona desert — this one in Mesa.
While bottling water in a drought-stricken desert might not seem a natural fit, water experts say the facility will use no more water than other large manufacturers in the state, and will fill a growing localized demand.
The Mesa facility will be slightly larger than a Nestle water bottling plant expected to open in Phoenix next year.
Bottling water in the desert Niagara is investing approximately $76 million into the bottling operation and will filter, bottle and distribute water provided by Mesa.
This isn’t Niagara’s first Arizona facility.
In 2016, Nestle Waters announced plans to invest $35 million to revamp a 395,000-square-foot Phoenix warehouse into a water bottling facility.
Similar to Niagara, the Nestle’s Phoenix plant will treat city tap water.
Nestle’s Phoenix plant, which was expected to open this year but now is slated to begin production in 2018, may use up to 35 million gallons of municipal water per year.
But, she said, massive amounts of water are used in all types of manufacturing across the Valley, and access to appropriate water systems varies from city to city.
For every dollar spent on the operation, $1.81 will return to the local economy, according to Mesa Director of Economic Development Bill Jabjiniak.