VIRGINIA BEACH – HRSD crews will be performing utility inspection and maintenance work on Independence Boulevard near Ewell Road beginning as early as 8:00 a.m. Saturday September 9, and lasting until 8:00 p.m. Sunday September 10. This work will require a closure of a left turn in the southbound travel lane and one inside northbound travel lane on Independence Boulevard as indicated on the map below.
VIRGINIA BEACH – HRSD crews will be performing utility inspection and maintenance work in the intersection of Independence Boulevard and Wishart Road/Haygood Road beginning as early as 8:00 a.m. Saturday August 26, and lasting until 8:00 p.m. Sunday August 27. This work will require two left lanes closed on Wishart Road (westbound), two left lanes closed on Independence Boulevard (southbound), two left turn lanes closed on Independence Boulevard (northbound), and two left turn lanes closed on Haygood Road (eastbound).
VIRGINIA BEACH – HRSD crews will be performing utility inspection and maintenance work on Independence Boulevard at the intersection of North Witchduck Road beginning as early as 8:00 a.m. Saturday August 19, and lasting until 8:00 p.m. Sunday August 20. This work will require a closure of a left turn lane and one inside southbound travel lane and one inside northbound travel lane on Independence Boulevard as indicated on the map below.
VIRGINIA BEACH – HRSD crews will be performing utility inspection and maintenance work on Independence Boulevard near the intersection of Broad Street beginning as early as 8:00 a.m. Saturday August 12, and lasting until 8:00 p.m. Sunday August 13. This work will require a closure of a right turn lane and two outside southbound travel lanes on Independence Boulevard as indicated on the map below.
--Work to Begin--
HRSD, your regional wastewater treatment utility, is undertaking a project to inspect and perform maintenance of the sanitary sewer piping along Independence Boulevard at the Broad Street intersection. This work should take place primarily between the hours of 8:00 a.m. on Saturday August 12th and 8:00 p.m. on Sunday August 13th. This work can be weather and situation dependent and should not affect your water or sewer services.
VIRGINIA BEACH – HRSD crews will be performing utility inspection and maintenance work on Independence Boulevard near the intersection of Pembroke Lake Circle beginning as early as 8:00 a.m. Saturday August 5, and lasting until 8:00 p.m. Sunday August 6. This work will require a closure of the inside northbound travel lane on Independence Boulevard as indicated on the map below.
--Work to Begin--
HRSD, your regional wastewater treatment utility, is undertaking a project to inspect and perform maintenance on the sanitary sewer piping along Old Dam Neck Road. This work should take place primarily between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. beginning as early as Saturday, April 29th. This work can be weather and situation dependent and should not affect your water or sewer services.
--Work to Begin--
HRSD, your regional wastewater treatment utility, is undertaking a project to inspect and perform maintenance on the sanitary sewer piping along Lynnhaven Parkway near Woodbridge Trail. This work should take place primarily between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. beginning as early as Saturday, April 29th. This work can be weather and situation dependent and should not affect your water or sewer services.
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"Atlantic Treatment Plant Odor Control Improvements"
HRSD Capital Improvement Program Project (AT015800, AT015900, AT016000 and AT016100)
Webpage Reviewed: March 2, 2026
HRSD’s Atlantic Treatment Plant is located at 645 Firefall Drive in Virginia Beach, Virginia and was initially brought online in 1983. The plant was expanded in 2009 and currently has an average daily treatment capacity of 54 million gallons a day (mgd), with an ultimate build-out capacity of 72 mgd. The plant is staffed 24 hours per day. Administrative hours are 6:30 am - 3:00 pm, Monday - Friday.
The Atlantic Treatment Plant Reliability and Odor Control Improvements (ROCI) Program includes a series of projects designed to reduce odors from the facility by upgrading the odor control facilities and enhancing the reliability of solids processing systems that produce the most significant odors. Major improvements include new odor treatment systems, new digester covers to better contain odors, a new enclosed flare to improve combustion of biogas, and new solids processing facilities to reduce outages that can impact offsite odors.
HRSD has selected a Construction Management firm to implement the improvements in a multi-phase program that will streamline the construction process and allow program elements to be completed based on their priority and complexity. Complex elements with long material deliveries, extensive permitting requirements, and challenging construction requirements are expected to be completed by 2028. However, many of the improvements can and will be completed sooner. The project phases include:
To review the most recent program status, please continue to the UPDATE section below.
March 2, 2026
BIOSOLIDS UPDATE:
Both North and South Pads are cleared of long-term solids. HRSD’s new hauling strategy aims to remove daily solids during the week using new trucks with tight covers.
PROJECT UPDATES:
Odor Control Station (OCS) D-Carbon Treatment: Construction of the new carbon treatment system is underway. During construction, an underground utility was found that resulted in delays, as crews had to re-design and relocate the piping and underground utilities. Construction has resumed, and the new OCS system is expected to be online in Summer 2026.
Odor Biogas Flare: A new flare has been ordered, and delivery is expected in Fall 2026. The flare is expected to be installed and working by Summer 2027.
Odor Control Station (OCS) E : Phase 1 engineered design is still in development. Schedule is on track for construction completion in Summer 2028.
Renewable Natural Gas Conversion: The project was approved by the public utility commission. Construction is targeted to begin in mid-2026 with final completion in early 2027.
Digester Improvements (New Mixers and New Sealed Covers)
New Mixers: Construction to replace the mixers on the first two digesters is now underway, and the new mixers have arrived on-site. The remaining two digesters are scheduled for completion in 2028.
New Covers: Major adjustments were required after the City provided feedback on the stormwater design. The existing tanks use floating covers that allow rainwater to collect inside the tank, but the new digesters will have sealed covers, causing rainwater to fall onto the surrounding ground instead. This change requires a stormwater management plan to manage the rainwater from the tanks, in accordance with the City's Stormwater Management regulations. HRSD found they needed to redesign the stormwater system on the site, essentially develop a new site plan. This new site plan is currently under City review and pending approval. Construction of the new covers is scheduled to begin in Fall 2026 and will continue through 2028.
NEW ACCESS ROAD (DAM NECK) UPDATE:
HRSD has made the fiscal decision to postpone the pursuit of a truck access road at the Atlantic Treatment Plant in Virginia Beach due to exorbitant costs associated with its construction. Road construction is being deferred until a more cost-effective construction solution can be achieved. Fortunately, HRSD’s dedicated Atlantic Treatment Plant staff, together with a newly established and internally staffed truck hauling operation have significantly reduced truck volume and are better managing the hauling scheduling, reducing both the overall odor and traffic impacts on the community. These positive changes provide HRSD an opportunity to apply a value engineering approach to look for a more affordable option for an access road in the future.
REMINDER: The emergency improvements implemented by HRSD are either complete or nearing completion. The remaining work involves major construction activities being carried out by a contractor. While construction will continue, changes will occur at a slower pace and will not be as noticeable as compared to the emergency improvements. Updates will be posted on the project page as they become available
NOTE: All dates are approximate as HRSD strives to bring on these new processes, procure new equipment, and install in the most efficient and productive way for our rate payers. Long lead times are expected on most equipment after purchase.
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Odorous air is captured from various unit processes and conveyed to three packed tower wet scrubbers and one biological media scrubber that provide odor control.
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LET US KNOW:
We treat an average of 46 million gallons (MGD) of wastewater a day that comes to the plant from area homes and businesses via the city sewer system which sends it to HRSD pump stations that bring the wastewater to ATP. We are authorized by Virginia Department of Environmental Quality permit to discharge up to 54 MGD average daily flows, with a maximum flow of 135 MGD, from our plant. The wastewater is processed via the conventional wastewater treatment process, where we use physical, chemical, and biological treatment processes to clean the water. This process removes and collects the organic solids which are further processed separately using a process called thermal hydrolysis (THP) which sterilizes the solids and reduces the thickness. The solids then go through a process called digestion for further treatment, resulting in a Class A biosolids. We also capture the gas from the digestion process and use it for heating and energy at the treatment plant.
The Atlantic Treatment Plant serves most of Virginia Beach and parts of Norfolk and Chesapeake as seen below:
The Atlantic Treatment Plant began receiving additional wastewater flow from our now decommissioned Chesapeake-Elizabeth Treatment Plant (CETP), which was operational until December 2021. The CETP needed significant and costly upgrades to meet new regulatory requirements, so the decision was made to upgrade the HRSD collection system and convey the wastewater to the ATP for treatment. ATP had capacity for the additional flow but required an upgrade to the solids processing. HRSD selected thermal hydrolysis technology (THP) for solids processing for several reasons, including biosolids dewatering improvements, better stackability on the storage pads, and increased digester capacity. This was implemented simultaneously as system changes were made to bring flow from CETP to ATP.
ATP staff continue to be responsive to odor and other nuisance complaints, and the HRSD Technical Services Division also continues to dedicate time to tracking down odor sources. Several projects are currently in design that will address the odors at their sources. More details about these projects can be found in the “Overview” section of this page. A narrated presentation provides more details on odor improvement plans, along with timeline information for near and long-term improvements being made.
The Atlantic Treatment Plant was commissioned in July 1983 on what was once an old hog farm which was, at that time, a much less populated area of Virginia Beach. The community has grown around the plant considerably since then, and HRSD strives to provide effective wastewater treatment and recover natural resources while at the same time being a good neighbor to the Ocean Lakes and surrounding communities we serve.
From a health perspective, there is no scientific basis to support the premise that odors which emanate from the Atlantic Treatment Plant present any risk to public health or are otherwise unsafe at detected concentrations. Our chemical specific monitoring measured directly from the process units coupled with odor dispersion modeling has identified that the most common compounds responsible for offsite odors (and their odor descriptors) are as follows: hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs), methyl mercaptan (rotten cabbage), dimethyl sulfide (decayed cabbage), and dimethyl disulfide (garlic). These compounds can be detectable at low concentrations. This evaluation indicates that under worst case meteorological conditions which result in the highest off-site odors, the odors are diluted a minimum of 71 times from the origin of the odor. Though our employees work in and around these unit processes safely each day, we recognize that offsite odors can have a quality-of-life impact. This is why we are investing over $75M in odor control improvements. For broader information about environmental odors, visit these Virginia Department of Health FAQs.
HRSD has an odor complaint response team that investigates odor complaints with the goal of identifying and addressing the sources of odors around HRSD infrastructure. We utilize data such as meteorological conditions and odor descriptors and often send field staff to the location to provide a qualitative assessment of the odor level on a 0 – 5 scale and to trace back to the suspected source. Field staff also carry a handheld instrument to monitor hydrogen sulfide levels when they are investigating odor complaints, as hydrogen sulfide tends to be a more common odorant from wastewater facilities. We are aware that hydrogen sulfide is not the only odorant creating off-site odors from our Atlantic facility. Descriptors of the odors help us narrow down the source and take corrective action where possible.
The trucks entering the Atlantic Treatment Plant provide several services:
The wastewater treatment process uses bacteria that feed on the material in wastewater and break it down into harmless organic matter. This organic matter settles out of the water and receives further treatment to form biosolids which are rich in nutrients and organic matter. All wastewater treatment plants produce residual solids, and the biosolids produced at the Atlantic Treatment Plant meet the highest quality designation set forth by the EPA. Biosolids have been thoroughly researched by top scientists at leading scientific institutions all over the world. They have been found to be safe to human health and the environment when processed and applied properly. The U.S. EPA and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality have established regulations that ensure the safe use of biosolids. The Virginia Biosolids Council provides additional resources for more information, including these Health and Safety Facts.
During the spring for approximately eight weeks, HRSD biosolids are hauled to area farms for use as fertilizer during the planting season. This activity is done under a permit by the Department of Environmental Quality.
The biosolids being hauled from the Atlantic Treatment Plant for land application on area farms are classified as Class A Exceptional Quality biosolids and are considered pathogen free. The THP process used at the plant allows us to achieve this high standard of pathogen control, so this material is no different from what you might purchase at a home and garden center for your own lawn, garden or flower beds. Class A Exceptional Quality biosolids are marketed for home use throughout the country. The below links from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Biosolids Council provide more information about biosolids, including their availability to residential consumers.
--Work to Begin--
HRSD, your regional wastewater treatment utility, is undertaking a project to inspect and perform maintenance on the sanitary sewer piping along Trafton Arch within the Lake Princess Anne Apartment complex. This work should take place primarily between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. This work can be weather and situation dependent and should not affect your water or sewer services.
