Water System Facts

woman drinking-water- from glass

Cave Creek Water System

Drinking water for the Cave Creek Water System begins its journey at the Central Arizona Project (CAP) Canal at Deer Valley Road in Phoenix. Raw surface water is withdrawn from the canal and pumped approximately 12 miles through pipelines to our Water Treatment Plant on Basin Road. At this location, the raw surface water is filtered and treated to remove water turbidity, adjust the water chemistry so that it does not damage existing pipelines, to inject disinfection chemicals to protect the public health and to meet EPA Drinking Water Standards. Water samples are collected on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis in order to ensure that the system is providing the highest quality water possible.

The Town's major water system components include a surface water treatment plant, storage tanks, booster pumps, valves, pressure regulating equipment, and approximately 100 miles of distribution mains ranging from 2 to 16 inches in diameter.

Desert Hills Water System

Drinking water for the Desert Hills Water System begins its journey deep underground in aquifers. Groundwater is withdrawn from the aquifers by three wells and pumped into steel water storage tanks, disinfected to protect the public health and to meet EPA Drinking Water Standards, and then delivered to our customers.

The Desert Hills Water System is solely dependent on a decreasing groundwater supply and has no other water supplies. To maintain service to existing customers, the Cave Creek Water System supplements the water supply to the Desert Hills area with the Town's treated CAP water which is transferred through an interconnect.

Below is a map of the water service area throughout Cave Creek and Desert Hills. 

Cave Creek and Desert Hills Water Service Areas 5.16.24

Water Customers

As of December 31, 2024, the Town of Cave Creek had the following number of Customer Connections:

Service AreaTotal Active Connections
Cave Creek Water System2,537
Desert Hills Water System1,820
Total Water Customers 4,357


Total Water Production

In 2024, the Town of Cave Creek delivered the following volume of treated potable municipal water to Customers:

Service Area
Acre-Feet (AF)
Cave Creek Water System1,126.56
Desert Hills Water System754.66
Total Water Deliveries1,881.22