A multi-year renovation project is about to begin at Arlington’s Water Pollution Control Plant.
The $32.2 million first phase will be part of an almost $200 million undertaking “to make the facility cleaner, greener and ready for the future,” county officials said in announcing the upcoming start of the initiative.
Just because a wipe says it’s “flushable,” that doesn’t mean it’s fit for Arlington’s sewage system.
That’s what the county’s Department of Environmental Services is reminding residents after a wad of wipes contributed to a sewage overflow last week at a ruptured sewage pipe upstream from Arlington on the Potomac River.
Concerns about monitoring and managing chemicals at Arlington County’s Water Pollution Control Plant have prompted a public hearing this week.
The hearing is a follow-up to a public comment period last September and October, where advocates sought amendments to the draft permit related to limitations and best management practices for PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), also known as “forever chemicals.”
Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services has been on a scatalogical mission: to keep anything other than human waste and toilet paper out of county sewers.
The campaign has included flyers, social media posts and — most recently — a temporary art installation that made its big debut at the Arlington County Fair.
A county expert asserted that Arlington’s sewage systems are well equipped for expected growth as the Missing Middle civil trial neared its conclusion today (Monday).
Jon Lawler, chief support engineer at Arlington County Water Sewer Streets, pushed back against previous testimony from a plaintiff’s witness, who argued that an influx of additional housing units could cause backups in individual sewer systems.
More dirty details have emerged in the county’s $175 million plan to start using sewage for consumer-friendly fertilizer and renewable energy.
The first step is a $32 million budget authorization, set to be considered by the Arlington County Board this Saturday, to begin new upgrades the Arlington County Water Pollution Control Plant.
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Firefighters are on scene of a fire investigation at Arlington County’s Water Pollution Control Plant.
Initial reports suggest that smoke is coming from a portion of the sewage plant along the 3200 block of S. Eads Street, near Crystal City. The fire department is trying to determine the source of the smoke.
Your poop could give Arlington County natural gas to power buildings or buses.
The county is developing plans to upgrade its Water Pollution Control Plant, where local sewage goes. One change involves installing technology that can harness the methane emitted when human solid waste is processed, turning it into renewable natural gas, a process some municipalities have already implemented.
For the last two months, Arlington County has been getting your sewage tested to measure community Covid infection levels.
The Department of Environmental Services is sending weekly samples to Biobot, a Massachusetts-based health tech startup that got its start monitoring wastewater for opioids but pivoted to COVID-19 testing during the pandemic. The company now tests wastewater samples for municipalities nationwide.
(Updated 5:45 p.m.) Washington-Liberty High School senior James Licato is trying to clean up micropollutants in the Potomac River, and he came up with a solution that vaulted him to the finals of a major science competition.
Licato is one of 40 finalists in the Society for Science’s Regeneron Science Talent Search 2021, the nation’s oldest science and math competition for high school seniors. He developed a sandy substance, using zeolites, that acts as a microscopic net, catching the micropollutants that wastewater treatment facilities miss.
An “emergency utility repair” at Arlington’s sewage treatment plant led to a sewage release into Four Mile Run.
The sewage release happened this morning at the plant on S. Glebe Road. County officials are warning people to avoid the stream between S. Arlington Ridge Road and the Potomac.
Updated at 11:35 a.m. — The work on the county’s sewage plant has been postponed until next week, officials say.
UPDATE 11:15am – This repair work has been postponed. Any safe-but-perhaps-noticeable odor likely to be rescheduled for early next week. [Insert Redskins defense reference here.] https://t.co/N1wV5vJkpO
