Water Reclamation

Most (13.8 millions gallons per day) of the wastewater we collect from you gets treated by the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA) at their Blue Plains Treatment Plant through an agreement we hold with DCWASA. Blue Plains is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world and is located in southwest DC.

In 2008, we began collecting more wastewater than we could send to Blue Plains, due to growth. In anticipation of this, we built the Broad Run Water Reclamation Facility (BRWRF), a state-of-the-art plant that treats wastewater to the limits of technology for the protection of the Capital region’s drinking water and the Chesapeake Bay.

The BRWRF is an 11 million gallon per day water reclamation facility in Ashburn, Virginia. The facility is subject to a specific state regulation, the Dulles Watershed Regulation, that requires stringent standards due to the fact that it is upstream of a drinking water supply in the Potomac River. The facility is also subject to other specific state regulations as well as Chesapeake Bay regulations.

Some of those stringent discharge limits include a total nitrogen limit (TN) of 4 mg/L, a total phosphorus limit (TP) of 0.1 mg/L, a Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) limit of 1.0 mg/L, and a chemical oxygen demand (COD) limit of 10 mg/L. The BRWRF sets a new world-wide technology standard for environmental protection and water reclamation. The facility uses preliminary screening/grit removal, primary clarification, fine screening (2 mm), flow equalization, a membrane bioreactor (MBR), activated carbon and UV disinfection. Waste activated sludge (WAS) is centrifuge thickened, combined with primary sludge for stabilization in anaerobic digesters, and centrifuge dewatered prior to land application.

	Figure 1- Process Flow Schematic This process was developed during an extensive nine-month pilot study which demonstrated its treatment capabilities and provided the basis for process design. The facility incorporates a fully automated plant-wide control system to optimize treatment, energy, and chemicals consumption.
	The modified 5-stage Bardenpho design allows for biological phosphorus removal. Results from the first full year of operation at the BRWRF show that a membrane bioreactor can achieve extremely low nutrient levels. Total phosphorus concentrations of less than 0.1 mg/L were achieved monthly. Total nitrogen concentrations averaged less than 3.2 mg/L for the first year without supplemental methanol addition.

The membranes (pictured below) are dispersed in twelve membrane tanks. Some advantages of membrane filtration are improved water quality that enables water reuse, and elimination of the need for clarifiers and inherent settling issues.

If you are one of Loudoun Water's 600+ Community Systems customers in the Transition Policy or Rural Policy Areas, your wastewater is treated to a high degree at a small on-site facility and discharged into small creeks and tributaries that eventually lead to the Potomac River.

Water Reuse
The use of reclaimed (highly treated) wastewater for non-potable uses is rapidly taking hold throughout the United States as a sustainable alternative to using highly treated drinking water for irrigation and cooling tower coolant. Reclaimed water is available from Loudoun Water’s Broad Run Water Reclamation Facility. There are key benefits of using reclaimed water for non-potable purposes: it conserves precious drinking water, reduces water withdrawal from rivers, reduces nutrient loadings to the Chesapeake watershed and is cost effective.

The first water reuse project is to install 3,900 feet of 16-inch “purple pipe” for a water reuse main to serve a private office building and the “One Loudoun” World Trade Center development on Loudoun County Parkway near Route 7. The second project is to install 4,920 feet of purple pipe to the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation located along Route 28. Both customers expressed interest in receiving reclaimed water for irrigation, cooling towers and other non-potable uses, in order to meet LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) criteria.

According to Dave Paylor, DEQ Director, “Using reclaimed water will conserve high quality water for drinking and other essential uses, reducing stress on water resources throughout the Commonwealth.”

The facility began discharging to Broad Run, a tributary to the Potomac River, on May 2, 2008, after an extensive start-up period that allowed the facility to meet permit requirements on the first day of discharge. Loudoun Water has made significant investments in architecture, state-of-the-art odor control, and landscaping along Loudoun County Parkway in order to be a positive addition to the local community. We worked with a Citizen's Advisory Group to develop an outdoor interpretive area and indoor exhibit center that we call the Aquiary. For specific questions about the BRWRF, contact Bob Canham, Plant Manager, at 571.291.7823.

Preliminary Design Study
Pilot Study
BRWRF Educational Opportunities
Learn about wastewater treatment