Development expected to sprout around a planned 23-mile extension of Metrorail, and the scores of associated new toilets, could spur Fairfax County to invest in greater sewage-treatment capacity, according to the county’s public works director.
Jimmie Jenkins, who heads the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, said the county is now well under its capacity, and any potential expansions would be years down the road. But looking ahead two decades from now, he said the department may have to beef up its facilities in the Blue Plains Sewer Shed, which serves the northern part of the county.
“We have sewer service in those areas now,” Jenkins said. “But if the area changes in character, if you get a lot of intense development along the rail line, then we may have to look at additional capacity in the long term. But it’s not going to happen overnight.”
While mundane, the potential sewer need represents one of the many facets of planning for a new Metro line slated to slice into the north county and run beyond Dulles airport. Developers have already put forth proposals for high-density construction projects that would depend on the new track, and more are likely to follow.
It’s yet unclear how many new houses, town houses and apartments will be built because of the new track. One thing is certain: Expanded sewer capacity isn’t cheap. New treatment plants cost on the order of $15 million, according to Jenkins.
The county has the ability to process about 184 million gallons of wastewater each day, about 64 million gallons more than it’s handling right now.
Fairfax officials, he said, are now in talks with Loudoun County to purchase sewer service from a new plant in the Dulles area, which would serve the Blue Plains shed.
