Editor’s Note: The following is a letter to the community from John Hill, Chairman of the AlexRenew Board of Directors. It is published as submitted.

By John Hill, Chairman, AlexRenew Board of Directors

Unsung Heroes: The Professionals Who Protect Our Water

Most Alexandrians don’t realize that prior to 1956, sewage flowed freely into the Potomac River. In fact, sewage worms were often the only organisms able to survive on the riverbed at that time.

Today, we can sometimes take clean water for granted. We turn the faucet for an endless supply of clean, drinkable water. Our wastewater is cleaned to exacting standards to protect our waterways. Even rivers and streams in dense urban areas, like the DC-Metro area, are used for fishing, swimming, and recreation.

Clean water doesn’t just happen automatically. So who’s responsible for this remarkable transformation in water quality? Over 130,000 Americans work in drinking water and wastewater facilities to protect this essential resource, which is so fundamental to our modern life.

They work in all aspects of the water cycle: from the reservoirs that supply drinking water, to the plants that treat it, the pipe networks that deliver it to our homes, the sewers that transport dirty water for treatment, and the reclamation facilities that return clean water to our rivers and streams.

On June 30, we have an opportunity to recognize the essential role these workers play on National Water and Wastewater Professionals Appreciation Day. This year in particular, that day holds special meaning for the wastewater professionals at AlexRenew.

On July 1, the RiverRenew tunnel and pumping facility officially goes online.   It will prevent 120 million gallons of combined sewage from polluting the Potomac River. In the past, Alexandria experienced overflow almost every time it rained more than a quarter of an inch—causing about 70 overflows each year. With RiverRenew operational, we expect fewer than 4 overflows each year.

For the past eight years, the AlexRenew team has labored on this monumental project against an ambitious deadline.  RiverRenew is the largest public works project in Alexandria history.

Its scale is enormous: a 12-foot diameter tunnel that runs for over two miles under Old Town, connecting four separate outfall locations. A pumping station that can lift 20 million gallons of sewage up 150 feet to AlexRenew’s treatment plant every day.

They also expanded the treatment facility to process an additional eight million gallons of sewage per day. RiverRenew was completed in record time and on budget. Projects of this scale and complexity usually require 15 years – RiverRenew was completed in eight.

The wastewater professionals who built the RiverRenew tunnel and pumping facility are the unsung heroes who protect our water every day. On June 30, National Water and Wastewater Professionals Appreciation Day, let’s sing their praises.

John Hill
Chairman, Alex Renew Board of Directors