Landmark for groundwater replenishment
The Hampton Roads Sanitation District celebrated a refreshing achievement for its Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow program on Friday.
According to the press release, 100 million gallons of drinkable SWIFT water has successfully been replenished into the Potomac Aquifer at the SWIFT Research Center located at HRSD’s Nansemond Treatment Plant in Suffolk.
The program takes sewage water and treats it to drinking-water standards, then injects it into the underground aquifer in an effort to stop the sinking of the ground in the area and other issues.
This SWIFT Research Center uses advanced treatment processes and is capable of recharging the dwindling groundwater resources in the Potomac Aquifer at a rate of one million gallons per day.
“SWIFT is an innovative water treatment project designed to ensure a sustainable source of groundwater to meet current and future needs in the region,” according to the press release. “The project takes HRSD’s already highly treated water that would otherwise be discharged into the Elizabeth, James or York rivers and puts it through additional rounds of advanced water treatment to produce drinking-quality water.