SUFFOLK, VA – HRSD will resume replenishment of the Potomac Aquifer with drinking water quality SWIFT Water as early as August 20. Recent groundwater sample readings taken on August 12 indicated less than half of the maximum contaminant limit (MCL) for nitrite. As reported on August 6, elevated nitrite levels were discovered in 11 of 15 SWIFT Water samples taken in June.
-- Night Work To Begin --
HRSD, your regional wastewater treatment utility, continues work to replace a sanitary sewer pipeline along Warwick Boulevard from Thorncliff to Lucas Creek Road. This work should take place primarily between the hours of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., Monday - Friday, to minimize traffic disruptions as requested by the City of Newport News.
HRSD, your regional wastewater utility, is undertaking a multi-phased project to rehabilitate over 100 manhole structures located throughout the Hampton Roads Service Area. These below ground structures are reaching the end of their service life and require new internal protective coatings to restore the structures and prevent further corrosion. This large program is being broken into multiple phases and grouped geographically.
SUFFOLK, VA – HRSD recently discovered an exceedance in the maximum contaminant limit (MCL) for nitrite in 11 of 15 samples of SWIFT Water used to recharge the Potomac Aquifer from early June through June 21. The exceedance occurred while biomass in the biological filters was still developing during initial startup and is no longer an issue.
U.S. Water Alliance recognizes SWIFT for outstanding achievement
-- Utility Work to Begin --
HRSD, your regional wastewater treatment utility, is undertaking a project to rehabilitate and perform maintenance of the internal system and connecting manholes of our pump station, installed in 1947 and located at 1548 Buckingham Avenue. This work should take place primarily between the hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. This work can be weather and situation dependent and should not affect your water or sewer services.
-- WORK COMPLETED --
HRSD's contractor has completed all phases of the multi-year project to replace the aged sewer pipelines and pump station near the Rivermont neighborhood and adjacent to your home.
If any additional work is required, you will be notified.
HRSD would like to thank all the residents for their continued understanding and patience during this important rehabilitation project fulfilling HRSD's vision:
HRSD, your regional wastewater treatment utility, is undertaking a phased, multi-year project to replace and upgrade identified portions of sewer infrastructure within the Town of West Point. This is part of a regional effort to reduce the risk of sanitary sewer overflows during heavy rain events such as Nor'easters or hurricanes. The project will also improve the system’s performance and ensure continued, reliable sewer service in the future.
Project Overview
Each of HRSD's 13 treatment plants is unique. While the size and layout of the pumps, pipelines and tanks is different, each plant is designed to speed up the process by which water cleanses itself. What happens at a treatment plant is similar to what occurs naturally in a river, lake or stream. This section provides an overview of how our facilities clean wastewater every day for a better Bay.
Wastewater typically is treated in two basic stages known as primary and secondary treatment. In some cases, advanced treatment is required. During primary treatment, solids are screened and settled out of the wastewater. In secondary treatment, bacteria and other small organisms consume the waste and help clean the water. Sometimes, these stages are combined into one operation.
When wastewater enters the treatment plant, it flows through a screen that removes large floating objects such as trash, sticks and rags. The wastewater then typically flows to a grit chamber and a sedimentation tank. These devices slow the flow of the water and allow sand, coffee grounds, egg shells, small stones, human and animal waste solids and other small particles to settle to the bottom.
Secondary treatment facilities speed up the processes of nature, allowing microorganisms (bacteria and other organisms) to remove 80-90 percent of the "organic matter" - or human, animal and plant waste. The most commonly used secondary treatment technique in HRSD plants is the activated sludge process.
An activated sludge process speeds up the work of the microorganisms by bringing air and sludge into close contact with the wastewater in an aeration tank. Over several hours, the organic matter is broken down into harmless by-products.
After the activated sludge process, the partially treated wastewater flows to another sedimentation tank to settle out any excess microorganisms.
Additional wastewater treatment processes are required to remove additional pollutants, such as the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus. If a treatment facility is to remove 90 percent of the nutrients in the influent (an anticipated requirement for some HRSD facilities), it is necessary to install additional processes that use microorganisms that differ from those in secondary treatment, use additional chemicals and add an effluent filtration system. This significantly increases plant construction and operation costs.
To keep heavy metals, chemical compounds and toxic substances from entering our system, industries that discharge to the sewer are required to pretreat their waste to remove pollutants before they reach HRSD's treatment plants.
The final step of treatment is disinfection, usually with chlorine. Chlorination will kill more than 99 percent of harmful bacteria. HRSD facilities remove excess chlorine before discharging the cleaned water.
The final treated wastewater must meet strict state and federal permit requirements established under the Clean Water Act. These requirements are designed to protect both human health and aquatic life in our waterways. Laboratory workers monitor water quality frequently at the wastewater treatment plant, to make sure it meets permit limits.
Various types of solids are removed as wastewater flows through a treatment plant. The untreated or unstabilized solids are commonly known as sludge. Stabilized solids are called "biosolids." Higher degrees of treatment typically produce larger volumes of solids. Processes that condition, thicken, stabilize and dewater the material are used to facilitate disposal or recycling of the solids. At the end of the process, the concentrated solids can be placed in landfills, incinerated, applied to land or composted for use as a soil conditioner. HRSD uses all of these methods to manage its biosolids.
Sources:
How Wastewater Treatment Works...The Basics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, May 1998 (EPA 833-F-98-002)
Clean Water for Today: What is Wastewater Treatment?, Water Environment Federation
--Portion of Chesapeake Avenue Closing to Thru Traffic--
HRSD, your regional wastewater treatment utility, is replacing a sanitary sewer pipeline located along a portion of Chesapeake Avenue from the Monitor Merrimac Overlook Park to the HRSD Pumping Station near Claremont Avenue. This work should take place primarily between the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.