Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant
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Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, located at 5000 Overlook Ave SW, Washington, DC 20032, is the largest advanced
wastewater treatment plant Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environmen ...
in the world. The facility is operated by the
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) provides drinking water, sewage collection and sewage treatment for the District of Columbia, in the United States. The utility also provides wholesale wastewater treatment services t ...
(DC Water). The plant opened in 1937 as a
primary treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...
facility, and advanced treatment capacity was added in the 1970s and 1980s. The
effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pollut ...
that leaves Blue Plains is discharged to the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
and meets some of the most stringent permit limits in the United States.


Current operations


Capacity and service area

The plant has a treatment capacity of 384 million gallons per day (mgd) or 1.45 Gl per day, with a peak capacity (partial treatment during large storms) of over 1 billion gallons per day (3.8 Gl/day). The plant occupies in the southwest quadrant of
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and discharges to the Potomac River. It serves over 1.6 million customers in Washington, large portions of adjacent
Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...
and Montgomery County in
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and portions of
Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...
and
Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...
in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
.


Nutrient pollution control

Historically, wastewater treatment plants have contributed nutrients such as
phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...
and
nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
to the waterways in which they discharge. These nutrients deplete oxygen and cause
algal blooms An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompa ...
in rivers and coastal waters, a process that is detrimental to fish and other
aquatic life An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem formed by surrounding a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The two ...
. Since the mid-1980s, Blue Plains has reduced its phosphorus discharges to the limit of technology, primarily in support of
water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...
goals of the Potomac River, but also for the restoration of the
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
. The ''1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement'' was a first step in reducing nitrogen discharge to waterways that are tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. Under the agreement, the Bay states and the District of Columbia government committed to voluntarily reduce nitrogen loads by 40 percent from their 1985 levels. Blue Plains was the first plant in the region to achieve that goal. Furthermore, in every year since the full-scale implementation of the biological nitrogen removal (BNR) process was completed in 2000, Blue Plains has every year successfully achieved and exceeded that goal of a 40 percent reduction. In Fiscal Year 2009, the BNR process at Blue Plains reduced the nitrogen load by more than 58 percent. Installation of enhanced nutrient control systems was completed in 2014. The enhanced plant achieves nitrogen effluent levels at 4 mg/L.


Operational award

In 2010, DC Water received the "Platinum Peak Performance Award" from the
National Association of Clean Water Agencies National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) represents the interests of publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities, collection systems, and stormwater management agencies before the United States Congress, several Federal agencies, and ...
. This award is presented to member agencies for exceptional compliance for their
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...
(NPDES) permit limits.


Sludge treatment

DC Water began operating its
thermal hydrolysis Thermal hydrolysis is a process used for treating industrial waste, municipal solid waste and sewage sludge. Description Thermal hydrolysis is a two-stage process combining high-pressure boiling of waste or sludge followed by a rapid decompressio ...
system, for improved treatment of
sewage sludge Sewage sludge is the residual, semi-solid material that is produced as a by-product during sewage treatment of industrial or municipal wastewater. The term "septage" also refers to sludge from simple wastewater treatment but is connected to si ...
, in 2015. This is the largest thermal hydrolysis facility in the world as of 2016. The system generates high quality sludge that is used as soil amendments (200,000 tons/year). A portion of the sludge is processed in an
anaerobic digestion Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels. Much of the ferm ...
system which generates 10 MW of electricity that is used elsewhere at the treatment plant.


History

The original Blue Plains facility opened in 1937 as a primary treatment facility. It discharged under 100 mgd, serving a population of 650,000. Population increases in the 1950s led to the construction of
secondary treatment Secondary treatment is the removal of biodegradable organic matter (in solution or suspension) from sewage or similar kinds of wastewater. The aim is to achieve a certain degree of effluent quality in a sewage treatment plant suitable for the ...
units in 1959, with an expanded discharge capacity of 240 mgd. In the 1970s a major expansion commenced that led to construction of advanced wastewater treatment components, and by 1983 the capacity was 300 mgd.


References


External links


Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant
at
The Living New Deal The Living New Deal is a research project and online public archive documenting the scope and impact of the New Deal on American lives and the national landscape. The project focuses on public works programs, which put millions of unemployed to w ...
{{Coord, 38, 49, 13.5, N, 77, 1, 6.7, W, display=title Buildings and structures in Washington, D.C. Potomac River Sewage treatment plants in the United States 1938 establishments in Washington, D.C. Southwest (Washington, D.C.) Public Works Administration in Washington, D.C.