How HRSD transforms wastewater into a ground water resource

Eastern Virginia has faced groundwater challenges for more than a century. The Potomac Aquifer, the region's primary drinking water source, has been so heavily utilized that water levels have dropped dramatically. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, groundwater withdrawals have lowered water levels by more than 200 feet in some areas. That kind of change affects more than just the water supply. It causes the land itself to sink, speeds up the effects of sea level rise, and opens the door to saltwater creeping into freshwater sources.

The Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) launched its Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow (SWIFT) in 2016 to tackle these challenges. Rather than discharging treated wastewater into local rivers, SWIFT treats it further to meet drinking water standards and returns it to the Potomac Aquifer. At full scale, HRSD will be able to recharge the aquifer with up to 100 million gallons of purified SWIFT Water — a registered trademark — every day.

Garney, a national water and wastewater contractor with 3,000 employees and 19 regional offices, is helping make this vision a reality through five major projects: the James River Crossing subaqueous and land force mains, the Nansemond Treatment Plant upgrades and capacity expansion to 50 MGD, and the Nansemond SWIFT facility and recharge wells. Together, these projects form critical links in the reclaimed water treatment chain that will support managed aquifer recharge for decades to come.

Setting a world record under the James River

The James River Crossing project presented one of the most complex engineering challenges in the SWIFT program. The goal was to install a large-diameter force main beneath the James River to convey wastewater from the Boat Harbor Pump Station in Newport News to the Nansemond Treatment Plant in Suffolk. The subaqueous force main had to pass under the Newport News Shipping Channel, the sixth-busiest port in the United States, without disrupting maritime traffic.

Using horizontal directional drilling (HDD), Garney set a world record in May 2024 by completing the longest pullback ever recorded for a 42-inch high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. In just 22 hours, crews pulled the 5,700-foot-long string of butt-fused HDPE pipe through a bore more than 100 feet beneath the riverbed.

The collaborative approach among Garney, engineer Dewberry, Huxted Trenchless and HRSD led to major savings and reduced risk. Early in the project, the team redesigned the alignment to extend the drill to the shoreline, adding 1,400 linear feet to the bore length. That change eliminated the need for a second marine platform and open-cut trenching in the river, cutting more than $10 million from the project cost while reducing environmental impact.

Garney wrapped up the subaqueous work in July 2025, and pipe crews are now pushing toward final connections to the Nansemond Treatment Plant on land. This phase includes nearly 6,700 linear feet of 48-inch force main, more than 2,900 linear feet of SWIFT finished water main, 3,600 linear feet of SWIFT backflush water main, and a 400-foot microtunnel passing beneath Interstate 664.

Proven Science, Careful Monitoring 

SWIFT is the result of years of research and demonstrations, not an experiment. The SWIFT Research Center at the Nansemond Treatment Plant opened in May 2018 and has been recharging up to one million gallons of SWIFT Water daily ever since. That operational track record, combined with extensive monitoring by HRSD and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), provides the foundation for scaling up to full production. 

USGS installed extensometers at the research center to measure how the aquifer responds to recharge. These instruments can detect when water is being withdrawn for maintenance and when recharge resumes, confirming that SWIFT is having a measurable impact on aquifer behavior. As full-scale facilities begin operating at higher volumes in 2026 and beyond, continued monitoring will track how those benefits extend across the region. 

Critical control points throughout the advanced treatment process allow strict, real-time monitoring. If any parameter falls outside specifications, SWIFT Water is automatically diverted away from the recharge wells and sent back to the treatment plant. This fail-safe approach ensures that only water meeting drinking water standards enters the aquifer. 

Looking Ahead 

The James River Crossing and Nansemond projects represent significant pieces of a larger puzzle. SWIFT is designed to eventually operate at HRSD’s other treatment facilities, creating a regional system capable of sustainable aquifer recharge at scale.  

What makes SWIFT compelling is how it addresses multiple challenges simultaneously. It restores a depleted groundwater resource. It reduces nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. It helps slow land subsidence that compounds sea level rise. And it does all of this by treating wastewater as a resource rather than a waste stream. 

For Garney, delivering the conveyance and treatment infrastructure for SWIFT means being part of a project that will benefit the region for generations. The world record under the James River is a milestone worth celebrating, but the real measure of success will be the long-term impact: a healthier Chesapeake Bay, a recharged aquifer, a more resilient coastline, and a sustainable water future for Hampton Roads.