Good to Know
Our water is too valuable to waste. SWIFT provides a sustainable resource to replenish groundwater for generations to come.
The SWIFT Research Center is now open and replenishing the Potomac Aquifer with up to one million gallons of drinking water quality SWIFT Water daily. Visit SWIFT
A Forward Looking Solution
SWIFT Water
SWIFT’s Advanced Water Treatment Process produces drinking water quality SWIFT Water through a multi-step disinfection process that is used throughout the country and the world.
Replenishing
Groundwater is being used in eastern Virginia at rates faster than it can be naturally replaced. Adding SWIFT Water back into the ground will replenish this natural resource and protect the Potomac Aquifer from further damage caused by overuse.
Sustainable
SWIFT will give our communities a sustainable source of groundwater. This resource will support our economy by providing businesses with the water they need to operate.
Addressing Sea Level Rise
Taking water out of the ground at the current rate has led to sinking of land, or land subsidence, in some parts of eastern Virginia. This makes us more vulnerable to rising sea levels and the associated impacts.
Replenishing the aquifer with HRSD’s SWIFT Water can help slow or even reverse the sinking of land due to withdrawal. Scientists believe that overuse of the aquifer causes about 25 percent of the sinking of land in parts of eastern Virginia.
Replenishing our overdrawn aquifer can improve the environment and help our communities adapt to rising seas, contributing to the resiliency of our region.
Helping the Chesapeake Bay
Restoring the health and productivity of the Chesapeake Bay largely depends on reducing the amount of nutrients and sediment that enter Chesapeake Bay waters.
By 2030, HRSD's SWIFT Water is projected to effectively eliminate more then 90 percent of HRSD's discharge to local waters. This will reduce the total amount of nutrients, such as phosphorous and nitrogen, reaching the receiving streams, and ultimately the Bay.
Witness our Advanced Water Treatment and how we replenish the Potomac Aquifer at our SWIFT Research Center
The extensive and systematic steps of SWIFT’s Carbon-Based Advanced Water Treatment Process ensure that SWIFT Water is reliable and protective of our groundwater resources.
Our water is carefully and continuously monitored to meet strict drinking water safety standards.
At the SWIFT Research Center, scientists and engineers will treat up to one million gallons of water each day to meet drinking water quality standards and demonstrate safely adding it to the Potomac Aquifer.
Celebrating the Opening of the SWIFT Research Center!
What Others Are Saying
Why is SWIFT good for the Bay? Check out this 'SWIFT Remark' by Ted Henifin.
Can you imagine a day without water? Read more to find out how SWIFT fits into the national effort to ensure nobody goes a day without reliable water and wastewater service.
Hear from the experts behind SWIFT and learn more about its many benefits here.