Photo By Jefferson Wolfe | Alan Harrison, left, the director of Water Renewal for the city of Hopewell, points...... read more read more
By Jefferson Wolfe
Fort Gregg-Adams Public Affairs Officer
HOPEWELL, Va. — Fort Gregg-Adams leaders toured Hopewell’s wastewater treatment facility Thursday morning to enhance awareness on integrated wastewater initiatives and to advance shared interests.
Garrison Commander Col. Rich Bendelewski and Director of the Directorate of Public Works Quay Jones traveled to Hopewell Water Renewal, which treats the wastewater from Fort Gregg-Adams as well as local industries and other domestic sources in southeast Virginia.
“For us, the goal is to advance the Fort Gregg-Adams partnership with the City of Hopewell and better understand shared risk in wastewater management,” he said.
Bendelewski and Command Sgt. Maj. Nickea Harris recently attended a senior leader forum at the Army Installation Management Command Directorate Training, along with other garrison command teams from across the Directorate.
One of the key agenda items was discussing lessons learned from Hurricane Helene and the impact to Fort Eisenhower. The installation experienced catastrophic disruptions to its utilities, particularly the inability to discharge wastewater and sewage.
Before a potential similar disaster occurs, meetings like this with the City of Hopewell are essential for building critical relationships. They also create a supportive framework to address known vulnerabilities within our shared infrastructure.
Fort Gregg-Adams sends an average of 1-1.2 million gallons of wastewater to the plant every day, said Christina Wilkerson, environmental compliance coordinator.
"The wastewater is collected on the installation and piped to the Hopewell treatment plant," said Kyle Alford, the installation's supervisory energy manager. "We use a series of lift stations and gravity systems throughout the installation."
The plant began operating in 1977 and was a partnership between city and five major local industrial business, said Alan Harrison, the director of Water Renewal.
When the plant was designed and built, there was a push for greater treatment of industrial wastewater treatment, he said.
“It’s definitely a unicorn,” he said. “You’ll see things out there you won’t see at a normal plant.”
Over the years it evolved, treating domestic water in 2012 and making changes in 2017 to comply with the Chesapeake Bay Program to reduce nutrient runoff, to which wastewater treatment plants typically contribute.
The city continues to work with the current local industries to reduce toxic discharges and find ways to improve the treatment plant’s effectiveness and efficiency to better protect the James River, according to the city’s website.
“It’s treated as if it’s a board or commission of the City of Hopewell,” said James D, Gaston III, the deputy city manager.
The plant is unique because about 90 percent of the water it treats come from industrial sources and only about 10 percent from domestic sources, Wilkerson said. Each source is piped and treated separately.
Water is cleaned by using physical and chemical process, she said. This involves separating materials that float and sink from the water, and then treating what’s left in the middle, she said.
Frank Halton, the director of engineering and utilities for Prince George County, also attended the tour. It was his first time seeing the facility up close.
“It’s been very educational,” he said.
Because of Water Renewal’s age and the uniqueness of the facility, it needs repairs and upgrades. Harrison assessed the facility after taking over his position as director about six months ago.
“We now know what needs to be done,” he said. “It needs people and money to fix.”
Following the meeting, Bendelewski stated, “By leveraging shared resource opportunities, expertise, and innovative practices, both the installation and the City of Hopewell will advance their partnership to foster a more sustainable and resilient wastewater infrastructure.”
| Date Taken: | 12.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.13.2024 15:15 |
| Story ID: | 487480 |
| Location: | HOPEWELL, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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