What: a regional wastewater backbone project with a new pump station, about 32,000 feet of 36-inch force main including a crossing under the New River, and upgrades at the Land Treatment System plant, built to serve growth north of Western Boulevard.
Where it stands: about $60 million, built as three contracts. The river crossing force main is installed and being cleaned; about 13,000 feet of the Pony Farm Road force main is installed with roughly 7,000 feet left; the pump station and plant upgrades are under construction.
Next: finish the Pony Farm Road section once utility lines are moved; whole project expected within about 12 months. Staff will bring the water and sewer system model, with 10, 20 and 30 year projects, to the committee.
Details
Contract 1: 36-inch PVC force main from Pony Farm Road to the plant, with conduit for fiber. Utility relocations, power poles, septic systems in front yards and a trench about 10 feet deep and 20 feet wide have slowed the work; one provider took three months to move equipment and another needs about six more weeks. The City bore the relocation costs.
Contract 2: 12,000 feet of 36-inch PVC plus a 42-inch HDPE crossing under the New River, drilled about 50 feet deep and 2,000 feet long. It is substantially complete and being cleaned and televised.
Contract 3: a pump station of about 4 million gallons a day with a grinder, plus plant headworks and hydrogen peroxide feed changes to accept a second 36-inch line. The coffer dam floor is 60 feet below grade.
Funding: about $23 million in state grants, which must be spent by December 2026 and have been spent, with all but about $1 million reimbursed; the rest came from revenue bonds and fund balance. The 2008 estimate was roughly $20 to $25 million.
The system will intercept flow from Williamsburg Plantation and shopping center, the Vineyards, and Gum Branch and Western Boulevard, relieving the Brookview station, with a future gravity sewer to Western Boulevard; in time it is planned to serve areas north of Western Boulevard including the VA clinic and Carolina Forest. A large residential development nearby is expected to tie into the station, not the force main; private connections to force mains are not allowed.
ONWASA is not a partner on this project. The City's agreement with ONWASA provides access to a million gallons a day of base treatment capacity, of which about 20,000 gallons is used.
A water storage tank near the 258 area appears near the end of the 10-year capital plan.