Spotsylvania County wastewater management program

Located midway between Washington, DC and Richmond, Virginia, Spotsylvania County is one of Virginia’s fastest growing counties in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, where nutrient wasteloads are currently capped and stricter effluent quality is needed. The growing community includes residential and commercial development that has increased demand on the county’s wastewater management system, which includes three wastewater treatment plants and involves nutrient wasteload caps in two major basins of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Master planning for this system has forecasted a shift from previous comprehensive planning and aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of wastewater collection, conveyance and treatment.

For over two decades, Ramboll has been a partner to Spotsylvania County in implementing cost-effective solutions that optimize operations and improve quality of water for the community. These have included biological nutrient removal (BNR) and solids handling upgrades at the FMC wastewater treatment plant to extend its life and align with other development plans in the service district, as well as re-rating the Massaponax wastewater treatment plant’s BNR design to enhanced nutrient removal performance and higher capacity.

Ramboll’s support has been multifaceted and included countywide water and wastewater master planning updates; wastewater system consolidation of the FMC and Massaponax facilities to centralize operations; and state-of-the-art technology upgrades at the Thornburg wastewater treatment facility to expand capacity to meet increasing demand.

Coordinated program and construction management across utilities and public works, economic development, procurement and County Administration staff have allowed for cost-effective project delivery. Some highlights include:

• Upgrades at the Thornburg facility have been expedited to handle future growth associated with local commercial development. Once completed, the new facility will be a state-of-the-art membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment facility with a complete build-out capacity to treat 1.5 mgd including a local reclaimed water 'purple pipe' system.

• Deep Run, Hazel Run and FMC service district investigations and pumping system designs allow the county to centralize its wastewater treatment operations at an expanded Massaponax facility that has been designed in parallel. The centralization has provided operational cost efficiencies and helped in avoiding a costly overhaul of the FMC facility.

• The project’s approach and scope have been aligned with changing capital improvement program budgeting and service agreements with neighboring City of Fredericksburg and Stafford County, Virginia to address current and forecasted water and wastewater needs in the county's eastern region.