Chesapeake Bay TMDL
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Policymakers began imposing stricter water quality requirements in the late-1960s. The blueprint for a cleaner Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay included the Potomac Embayment Standards, the original Chesapeake Bay Agreement and its many amendments, and the State Water Control Board Water quality standards.
The landmark Chesapeake 2000 Agreement pledged to restore water quality by 2010 and three years after its signing, the region’s governments set dramatic nutrient reduction targets throughout the watershed.
ASA took deliberate and focused action to meet those targets. You see the results today in our advanced water treatment facility, with the last series of facility and process upgrades going into operation in 2002.
In 2006, Virginia imposed an unprecedented legal requirement – ASA must remove 62% more nitrogen from our treated wastewater by 2011. That means designing, building, and installing modern equipment that allow us to meet the new regulations.
Now EPA has required a plan be put into place by states within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed that provides a total maximum daily load (TMDL) – or “pollution diet.” This diet seeks to further reduce harmful nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as sediment from entering waterways from all sources.
This is where SANUP, our State-of –the-Art Nitrogen Upgrade Program, comes into play. SANUP is a “must have” investment – to help us continue providing exceptional service in an environmentally and financially sustainable manner.
