Fairfax County is taking recycling to a whole new level. The county has devised a way to purify sewage, pump it through a three-mile pipeline and spray 25 million gallons of it onto the greens at Laurel Hill Golf Course. It will also pump up to 700 million gallons of the treated wastewater through the cooling system at a waste-to-energy facility.
The project will make Fairfax the largest direct provider of treated wastewater in Northern Virginia.
“This is water that is being flushed currently, but we’ll generate some money longterm from it,” said county spokesman Brian Worthy.
The project, which costs $17 million, will end up saving the county 25 percent on its water bill for the county-owned golf course and recycling facility. And federal stimulus money paid for $6.5 million of the price tag.
The county completed the pipeline early this month and will start pumping water sometime in October, said Mike McGrath, an official at the wastewater plant.
The wastewater is expected to help the environment, as the golf course grass is expected to soak up more of the chemicals that are harmful to the Chesapeake Bay.
“Water that goes directly into Pohick Creek from our facility does have some nutrients in it. So by reusing the water, that’s fewer nutrients reaching the Chesapeake Bay,” McGrath said.
Using treated wastewater is common in places such as Texas and California, where water is less abundant. One Texas town started blending the former sewage into its drinking water this summer after a months-long drought, according to news reports.
McGrath said using treated wastewater is a good idea for Northern Virginia, too.
“Here in Northern Virginia, if you look at how much water our population uses in the Washington, D.C., area, it’s more than what actually falls in rain. Though we’re not an arid climate here, we’re a populated place, and everyone needs water, so for that reason using our water wisely is a good thing,” he said.
Officials said the wastewater would save money for the golf course and the recycling plant. And golf course and county officials said they weren’t worried about it smelling.
The water treatment plant is studying how to take the reclaimed sewage to more customers in the future.
