Smith Mountain Lake Water Treatment Plant and Waterline Project
Smith Mountain Lake Water Treatment Plant and Waterline Project
November 13, 2015
11/13/2015
Construction on the new Smith Mountain Lake Water Treatment Plant and waterlines has now commenced.
The installation of the raw water pipeline that will run from the Authority’s water intake in the High Point subdivision to the proposed water treatment plant site on Radford Church Road has begun! A few hundred feet have already been installed. This is the first step in construction of the new project to satisfy the reversion agreement requiring a backup source of water for the Town of Bedford be in place by December 2016. Construction of the finished water pipelines along Routes 122 and 460 is expected to begin in November and be completed late fall of 2016, which will effectively allow the Authority to provide water from Smith Mountain Lake to both Bedford and Forest.
Preparation for construction of the plant has also begun. Construction trailers are onsite, erosion and sediment control measures are in place, and grading should be starting soon.
With the beginning of construction, the Authority is hosting two public meetings to provide a forum to inform the public about the project and answer any questions. Meetings will be held at the Bedford Regional Water Authority offices located on 1723 Falling Creek Road on November 19th and December 16th from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm.
The facility is being constructed through progressive design/build agreement with Black & Veatch and Overland Contracting, Inc., with CHA Consulting serving as a local design/build representative for the project.
The Regional Long Range Water Supply Plan, completed in 2010 in conjunction with the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, recommended expanding the treatment and distribution of drinking water from Smith Mountain Lake to meet the growing water needs within the region by 2060. This new facility will allow for the drinking water needs of current and future customers to be met. To this end, the Bedford Regional Water Authority and the Western Virginia Water Authority signed an agreement May 7, 2014 to work together to develop these facilities and implement this recommendation.
Under the partnership concept, the two water authorities will equally share the ownership and the operation of the new Smith Mountain Lake Water Treatment Plant. Initial plans for the new facility, anticipated to be operational by the end of December 2016, are to construct a 3-million gallon per day treatment facility that could be expanded to 6-million gallons per day within the framework of the new building. The existing facility, owned by BRWA, is a 1-million gallon per day facility of which 400,000-gallons per day are allocated to the Western Virginia Water Authority.