HRSD Gains A New Operational Awareness To Improve Wastewater Operations

By Kathleen Kewley and Christa Campbell, ESRI

In southeastern Virginia, Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) handles wastewater treatment for 1.7 million people in 20 cities and counties. Sea-level rise, unusually high tides, and extreme storms prompted a $1.2 billion program—the Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow (SWIFT) that involves replenishing the Potomac aquifer with up to 100 million gallons of SWIFT Water (water treated to meet drinking water standards and matched to the existing groundwater chemistry in the aquifer) per day, an action that may slow or reduce the impact of sea level rise by slowing land settling, or subsidence.