Rivanna updates: Central Water Line to get under construction this year

Another item on the consent agenda of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors’ meeting on January 22, 2025 is a quarterly report from the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority or the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority. Here are some highlights:

Homes and businesses on public water used less water in December than in previous years.

“The production of drinking water for the Urban area averaged 8.07 million gallons per day (MGD) in December 2024 (FY 2025), which is slightly less than the five-year average for December (8.13 MGD),” reads the report.

Wastewater flow was also down with an average of 8.65 MGD, down from the five-year December average of 10.2 MGD.

A year has now passed since high volumes of rain caused a pump station on the Rivanna River to become submerged. A temporary bypass was installed, but will be removed by April as the replacement pumps come online.

“An independent engineering firm completed an assessment of the submergence and determined the primary cause of the submergence was a malfunction of the complex automated pump control system,” reads the report. “We continue to coordinate with our property insurance company to recover restoration costs totaling about $10 million.”

This year, several projects related to the water supply plan will get under construction including replacement of four miles of iron water pipeline that carries untreated water from the Ragged Mountain Reservoir to the Observatory Wastewater Treatment Plant. This has a cost of $62 million costs split fairly evenly between the Albemarle County Service Authority and the City of Charlottesville.

Another major project this year will be the installation of the new “Central Water Line” for the urban area.

“This five-mile-long piping project with two railroad crossings will extend from the Stadium Road area to the Long Street / E. High Street bridge,” reads the report.

Neighborhood meetings will soon be held in the areas that will be affected. This project has a $70 million cost.

Volumes at the transfer station at the Ivy Solid Waste and Recycling Facility have increased from 119 tons per day in December 2020 to 175 tons per day in December 2024.

“Our contract hauler is driving about 15 trailer loads of refuse to Henrico County for disposal each day, Monday – Friday,” the report continues.

The next e-Waste Collection day will be held on April 19 and pre-registration will open on March 19 at this website.

Before you go: This article was originally sent out as part of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter in the January 21, 2025 edition. Both are functions of Town Crier Productions. You can support the work by purchasing a paid subscription or contributing monthly through Patreon. You can also send in a check or send an email, but drop me a line first.