Every year HRSD celebrates Engineers week and the importance of Engineering in shaping the future. This year, Engineers Week was celebrated February 18 – 24, 2024. Engineering is the cornerstone of human progress, continually propelling us forward and creating innovative solutions to problems around the world.

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For those of us who cherish the waters of Hampton Roads, the very thought of a sewage spill can be unsettling. But did you know that with sensitive DNA technology, HRSD scientists are able to safeguard the health of our waterways?

Did you know that Virginia has over one million acres of wetlands?

Whether it’s grabbing snacks for lunches and baseball practices or making dinners that my kids most likely won’t eat (if you know, you know!), I find myself in the kitchen a lot. With the extra time in the kitchen, I realized I was creating extra waste as well.

We’re already thick into the holiday season, and although gifts for loved ones are already piling up under trees, tucked away in closets or crammed into mailboxes, the hunt for those last-minute gifts continues for many of us.

In the latest entry to the Making Waves blog, we sit down with Christel Dyer to discuss her career at HRSD as well as her upcoming children's book, Lemon and Cedar.

With the holidays quickly approaching, we have some delicious meals to look forward to, not to mention all of the leftovers and extra ingredients. Throughout the year, we might find ourselves accidentally buying or preparing more food than we can enjoy before it spoils.

In the latter half of an above-average Atlantic Hurricane season, storms including Hurricane Lee and Tropical Storm Ophelia brought persistent storm surge and coastal flooding to eastern Virginia. Behind only the notoriously beleaguered New Orleans, Hampton Roads is the most at-risk community to relative sea level rise in the United States.

The Chesapeake Bay is a Mecca for coastal wildlife, ranging from the regal Bald Eagle to the iconic blue crab. The nation’s largest estuary, the Bay serves as a critical nursery, seasonal foraging grounds, and permanent residence for a vast array of birds, fish, and other wildlife.

Don’t throw away your salad just yet!

 Which Type Of Bag Is Best For The Environment? And Why?

Happy Infrastructure Week! 

Spring is here, the sun is shining, the house is clean, and we are going to learn some tips for sustainable spring cleaning! These tips will help you to make more sustainable cleaning choices to protect you and the environment.

Engineer's Week offers an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of engineering and highlight those who are currently in or pursing a career in engineering.

Ho ho ho-ow can we make the holidays more sustainable? 

As the holidays approach,  there is so much planning to do! Presents, costumes, dinner parties, brunches, and birthday parties.

We’re raising of glass (of water) to the 8^th annual Imagine a Day Without Water. Imagine a Day Without Water is a National Day of Action that raises awareness about the value of water. This year, The Value of Water is challenging communities to increase water awareness.

Fall is my favorite time of year, and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.

This blog was contributed by Deb Kopecky - Wellness Specialist for HRSD

Water is everywhere in Hampton Roads. In fact, there is so much water in Hampton Roads, we often have to cross a bridge or drive through a tunnel to travel from city to city.

When I graduated college, I remember one of the most anticipated parts of the ceremony was walking across the lawn. The tradition was for each graduate to carry as many balloons as possible to help their family identify them in the crowd.

Have you ever forgotten your sunscreen on a beach day and left the beach looking like a lobster?

​We know that when we flush the toilet, the waste doesn’t just go “away”. Instead, it comes to one of HRSD’s 16 treatment plants. HRSD cleans the dirty water that travels from the homes of over 1.9 million residents in Hampton Roads.

Once the stockings are hung and Santa has given all the boys and girls their gifts, what do you do with all the packing and wrapping paper these thoughtful gifts came in? With the busyness of unwrapping all the gifts and collecting all the trash, it is easy to mix all the materials and not realize which items are recyclable and which aren’t.

There is so much buzz and excitement around Christmas time, especially when it comes to Elf on the Shelf. Is your family team Elf on the Shelf?

Now that I’m a mom of a toddler, the word “no” is used pretty frequently in my household. 

“No, you can’t go outside without your jacket.”

Halloween H20 is the seventh Halloween movie of the classic Halloween film series starring Michael Myers. This movie takes place 20 years later, giving it the shortened name Halloween H20. Or, as my husband would call it – the best Halloween movie of all time – his words, not mine.

This year on October 21, groups all over the country came together to educate their communities and find solutions to combat a rapidly changing climate and aging infrastructure.

This blog post is contributed by Christene Mitchell, HRSD Condition Assessment Manager and Lacie Wever, HRSD Community Education and Outreach Specialist

 Have you ever heard the saying “there is no planet B”? Do you know what that means?

Written by Lisa Bolen, HRSD Public Information Specialist

Have you ever seen a landfill? Have you ever smelled a landfill? No? Have you seen the movie WALL-E? I collected wastewater samples out of sewer manholes for 13 years, and I can tell you I prefer that smell to the smell of a landfill. It is rancid!

Blog contributed by Lacie Wever, HRSD Community Outreach and Education Specialist

During the month of April, HRSD’s Sustainable Environment Advocacy (SEA) team organized a community cleanup at a different location every Saturday. Earth Day is April 22nd after all, so why not do some good by cleaning up public areas that are susceptible to litter?  

There is more to infrastructure than roads and bridges. In fact, infrastructure is defined as the basic physical and organization structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise (Oxford Languages). 

Out with the old and unused, and in with the secondhand gently used!

Spring is a time for deep cleaning, decluttering, and bringing more sustainability into our lives.  Last month, I decided to finally go through my entire wardrobe, shoes and all, and get rid of the items that I had not worn within the last year. 

Let’s talk about a subject that a lot of the population deals with but not a lot of people talk about: menstrual products.  The subject is not talked about often, and that has contributed to the lack of knowledge being shared about the tremendous impact disposable

Spring is just around the corner, and it’s time to gear up for the annual deep clean. Often called Spring Cleaning, now is the time to declutter, organize and remove the accumulated dust and grime from your home.

My almost two-year-old son is a HUGE fan of water. In fact, it is difficult for me to do dishes without him insisting to “help dishes.” By “help dishes” he means splash in water while I do all the work. Seeing him happily enjoy playing with water gave me the idea to incorporate water appreciation this Earth Day!

What is an engineer? What do engineers do? 

Engineers create, dream, and invent; they also solve problems every day. The work we do at HRSD heavily depends on the creativity and practical solutions of our engineers. 

STEM is important to us at HRSD. Without Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, we would be unable to protect public health and the waters of Hampton Roads.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has caused dramatic changes for everyone in the last year.

Water is life. We need clean water for everything we do in our daily lives. Experts say humans could not live more than four days without water! In addition, access to clean water and sanitation is essential to our public health, especially during our current COVID-19 pandemic. 

Why Cloth Diapers? 

When you think of cloth diapers, what comes to mind? Old sheets, clothes pins, poop explosions? These are all valid associations with cloth diapers, only they’re not exactly relevant anymore. 

I recently watched a YouTube video where the homeowner placed her leftover food down the garbage disposal before proceeding to clean the rest of her kitchen. I cringed as I scrolled down to the comments section as eager viewers responded with words of affirmation like “I do this too!” 

Which is better…real or artificial?

Let’s talk about the pros and cons of Christmas trees!

Wednesday, October 21, 2020 recognized Imagine A Day Without Water. 

If you consider yourself a resident of the 757, you already know Hampton Roads is a water-rich region. This means that we can often take for granted our access to clean water. We never have to question where our water comes from or where it goes when it is dirty.

The Hampton Roads Sanitation District employs over 800 environmentally minded people who serve almost 2 million residents in Hampton Roads. HRSD began in 1940 with one mission – to protect public health and the waters of Hampton Roads by treating wastewater effectively.

If you drive along I-64 near the Indian River Road interchange or along Providence Road, you may notice a lot of infrastructure projects under construction at the City of Virginia Beach’s Woodstock Park!

HRSD’s mission is to protect public health and the waters of Hampton Roads by treating wastewater effectively.

Do you enjoy learning about environmental science? Does learning something new at work every day interest you? Have you ever collected samples for lab testing or used lab results to draw conclusions? Would you like to incorporate chemistry, biology, geology, and/or geography into your job every day

Imagine waking up on a hot summer day…the sun is shining, there is a light warm breeze, and if you’re in Virginia, when you walk outside, you are greeted by a wall of humidity that immediately breaks you out in a sweat.

If you recycle, there is a thought that has probably crossed your mind: “I’m going to recycle as much as I can because recycling is helpful for the environment!” It is true that recycling is helpful for the environment, BUT (you knew there was a but coming, right?) just like in sports, ther

Imagine waking up in the early morning and stepping out onto your back porch with a hot cup of coffee, steam rising lazily into the air. You stare into the distance, a dense fog lightly hanging over the trees. There is a peaceful and surreal quality about your surroundings.

With the current pandemic, Earth Day will look much different than year’s past. Although there will not be any events, fairs, or rallies, we still have an opportunity to celebrate our Earth. April 22, 2020 marks the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day.