Investment in wastewater treatment needed
Keeping pollution out of Chesapeake Bay, local rivers supports thousands of tourism and seafood jobs — and our way of life in coastal Virginia
Most people don’t think about what happens after you flush the toilet, but the question has big implications for all of us in Hampton Roads — and for reducing pollution in rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
If you live in a city or suburb, most likely sewage from your bathroom flows through pipes underground until it reaches one of the 13 wastewater treatment plants the Hampton Roads Sanitation District operates.
Once at the plant, sewage goes through a remarkable treatment process. Screens remove trash and solid waste settles in large tanks. The remaining wastewater goes to a set of tanks where microorganisms consume organic waste. Additional treatment systems take out even more pollution, and the water is disinfected to kill bacteria and viruses. After those operations, which reduce key bay pollutants to specific levels set by law, the plant discharges treated water into local rivers.
We have come a long way. A hundred years ago most sewage flowed untreated into rivers, contaminating waterways and contributing to outbreaks of cholera and dysentery. In Hampton Roads the problem became dire in the early 20th century, when sewage fouled beaches and shut down oyster harvests, leading to the establishment of the region’s first sewage treatment plant in 1947.
The subsequent construction of sewage treatment plants across the commonwealth amounted to a clean water revolution. Public funding to support wastewater treatment grew, resulting in major benefits for the economy, public health and the environment.
In Virginia, sewage plants provide treatment that prevents more than 50 million pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution annually from fueling harmful algal blooms. These algae can create oxygen-depleted “dead zones” where crabs, oysters and fish cannot survive. By keeping pollution out of the water, wastewater plants support our way of life in coastal Virginia and thousands of tourism and seafood jobs.
But the work is not finished. In Hampton Roads the trailblazing SWIFT project is expected to treat wastewater to drinking water standards and inject it into the aquifer.
Virginia legislators are also moving forward with a comprehensive plan to ensure that many older facilities across the state adopt important upgrades that increase their ability to reduce pollution. Wastewater legislation introduced by Sen. Emmett Hanger and Del. Alfonso Lopez, now passed by the House of Delegates and Senate, will require upgrades to keep an additional 1.8 million pounds of nitrogen pollution out of our waters annually.
The effort is part of the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint, which is built on commitments from Virginia and other bay states to take the steps needed by 2025 to restore the bay. It relies on everyone working together to reduce pollution.
Despite progress made so far, Virginia cannot meet its commitments without substantial state investment. A committee of Virginia legislators — led by chairs Sen. Janet Howell and Del. Luke Torian and including Hampton Roads legislators Sens. Mamie Locke, Louise Lucas, Tommy Norment and Del. Barry Knight — have agreed on investing an historic additional $100 million in helping wastewater plants install modern pollution-removing upgrades.
This landmark investment would build on successful funding over the last 20 years that helped upgrade many — but not all — Virginia plants. The General Assembly is expected to vote on the proposed budget this weekend.
Wastewater plants are an indispensable first line of defense for public health and our waterways. The right upgrades at a single plant can prevent vast amounts of pollution from entering our waterways for years into the future.
That means cleaner water, fewer algal blooms that foul beaches and create dead zones, and more local seafood.
Thinking about what happens after you flush the toilet is a dirty job, but we all have to do it. We thank our legislators for supporting a healthy Chesapeake Bay and better future by providing muchneeded investment in upgrading wastewater treatment plants. This work, along with efforts by farmers and cities to prevent runoff, is the key to bay restoration.