An artist’s look at wastewater
A couple of weeks ago a few of us from the Rivanna crew attended the Second Street Gallery exhibit on Sustainability to see the film “Wastewater” by Jason Robinson. Of course, we were interested in the entire exhibit, but most intrigued by Jason’s film in which the headline star was none other than the substance we handle every day 24/7: wastewater! Victoria Fort, one of our civil engineers, had heard about the exhibit from a friend who jokingly said, “You work at the poop plant… This is right up your alley!” And gave her a copy of the Cville Weekly article. We prefer the term Advanced Water...
Read MoreRivanna accepts ACECVA Engineering Honor Award tonight!
Michelle Simpson, Senior Civil Engineer, and Tom Frederick, Executive Director, are headed down to Richmond for the American Council of Engineering Companies of Virginia Award Gala at the Jefferson Hotel. With the help of our engineers, Greeley and Hansen replaced a 60-year-old sewer interceptor. The Meadow Creek Interceptor, originally installed in the 1950’s, had significantly deteriorated over time causing occasional sewage contamination of Meadow Creek. The project faced an array of challenges and obstacles, including excavation and construction in close proximity to neighborhoods,...
Read MoreFirst week of composting declared a success!
Charlottesville and Albemarle residents are all abuzz over the expanded composting services in the community. In the first week of the new program, Rivanna’s McIntire Recycling Center collected 150 lbs of food waste and household compostables in five days! NOPE, our pick-up hauler, also reported that only one item was found in the bins that was not allowable and that was a plastic bag. We urge everyone to remember to use compostable bags. The 3-gallon compostable bags (“Biobag” is the brand name) can be found at the following local retailers: Whole Foods Kroger Bed, Bath...
Read MoreCrew Breaks Through 1600 feet of Rock for New Rivanna Pump Station Tunnel
Charlottesville, VA— September 29, 2015 After five months of work, the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority contractors have successfully tunneled through about 1,600 feet of rock (6,000 cubic yards), officially reaching the destination at the existing Rivanna Pump Station located adjacent to the City’s Riverview Park in the Woolen Mills area. The construction crew and engineers witnessed the 11′-3″ diameter, 175 foot long tunnel boring machine (affectionately named Ms. Chelsea, pictured below) breaking into the exit shaft at about 1pm on Tuesday, September 29 as a part of the...
Read MoreA Day in the Life of a Lab Technician
Our three full-time laboratory specialists complete over 7,700 lab tests annually to ensure that your drinking water meets all federal and state regulations. We also test the wastewater to assist operational staff in maintaining daily treatment process balance and to ensure that the final effluent meets and exceeds federal and state standards. Lab technicians count and identify algae populations in the reservoirs to help prevent harmful blooms, and analyze water and wastewater for coliform and E. coli bacteria, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous), metals, oxygen demand and solids. A...
Read MorePowering Moores Creek with Renewable Energy
Part of the anaerobic digestion of biosolids from our wastewater creates renewable energy for us on site in the form of methane gas. On average, Rivanna produces 32,725,000 cu ft of methane each year that is captured for use at our Moores Creek Water Resource Recovery facility. A cogenerator burns the gas and produces electrical power that can be distributed within the facility’s internal grid, thereby reducing the amount of external energy that we are required to purchase to run our operations.
Read More
