HRSD is preparing to recycle water that previously was treated and released to the environment from the James River Treatment Plant. SWIFT, the Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow will put the highly treated water through additional advanced treatment processes to become SWIFT Water™, treated to meet drinking water standards. The SWIFT Water™ will be used to recharge the Potomac Aquifer (our regional groundwater supply that has been overused for decades).

The new SWIFT treatment facilities at the James River Treatment Plant will produce 16 million gallons of SWIFT Water™ each day. Each well has the capacity to recharge the aquifer with up to two million gallons per day. Therefore, multiple wells are required to meet the target recharge capacity. The wells are spread throughout the park because they require separation to reduce their influence on each other when recharging the aquifer.

Up to ten wells will be operated daily to support recharge, allowing for up to two of the wells to be taken out of service for cleaning (backflush) or maintenance. HRSD can accommodate four on the James River Treatment Plant property, and the remaining six have been located in areas around River View Farm Park.

The pumps that recharge the aquifer with SWIFT Water are located at the treatment plant. Water is sent under pressure via underground pipes from the treatment plant to the wells in the well houses and directly into the aquifer without additional pumping.

The well houses protect the well heads and above ground equipment associated with the recharge wells (where SWIFT Water™ enters the aquifer, hundreds of feet below the ground). The equipment in each well house includes piping, valves, and a large backflush pump. The well house protects the equipment from the weather and conceals the industrial look of this equipment in an attractive building similar in appearance to other park facilities. The well houses will also be equipped with exterior amenities park goers will be able to enjoy, including some with restrooms and shelter areas.

No, well house operations will not produce odors. SWIFT Water™ is drinking-water-quality water that is treated to match the existing groundwater chemistry within the aquifer and is odorless.

These well backflush pumps withdraw water from the well to clean the well much like the way a pool filter is backwashed periodically to keep the filter from clogging. During normal operations, backflushing occurs once or twice a day for 30 to 60 minutes. The water withdrawn from the well during backflushing is piped back to the plant, using a separate dedicated pipe, where it can be put back into the treatment process. Pump backflush will be asynchronous. Pumps will be backflushed when the pressure builds up from screen blinding. While we would like to schedule them at night, there may be times they occur randomly during the day.

The only noisy equipment in the well house is the backflush pump used periodically for cleaning the well (running less than twice daily for up to an hour each time). HRSD is designing and constructing each well housing with sound dampening materials, such as acoustical CMU and sound dampening blankets, to reduce the noises heard to levels well below city requirements. Testing will be performed before and after construction to confirm the sound levels from pump operation are appropriately reduced to near background level.

To avoid peak electrical demand charges, backflushing may be scheduled for overnight hours. The frequency and duration of backflushing is set by pressure build-up within the recharge well and could occur at any time.

HRSD will access the well house buildings several times per week utilizing a golf cart or bicycle on the existing trail. From time-to-time, major repairs or maintenance will require HRSD to use larger equipment to access the well houses. These events will be coordinated with Newport News Park officials.

Newport News Parks and Recreation will develop the education material for the pump houses.