RiverRenew, the largest infrastructure project in Alexandria\u2019s history, is coming online on Wednesday, July 1.<\/p>\n
John Hill, chair of AlexRenew<\/a>\u2018s board of directors, said that replacing Old Town\u2019s 19th century combined sewer system with a tunnel system and sewer infrastructure has been a \u201cgargantuan\u201d task. The wastewater project will divert approximately 120 million gallons of raw sewage from flowing into the Potomac River every year.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the past, Alexandria had over 70 overflows each year \u2013 almost every time we had more than a quarter inch of rain,\u201d Hill said. \u201cWith RiverRenew operational, we expect fewer than four overflows each year.\u201d<\/p>\n The Virginia General Assembly mandated in 2017 that the work must be completed by July 1, 2025, and later approved a one-year extension. AlexRenew, which is Alexandria\u2019s wastewater treatment authority, managed the multimillion-dollar project using Hazel the tunnel-boring machine<\/a> to dig a 12-foot-wide, two-mile-long waterfront tunnel.<\/p>\n \u201cIts scale is gargantuan,\u201d Hill said. \u201c[A] 12-foot-diameter tunnel that runs for over two miles under Old Town, connecting four separate outfall locations. A pumping station that can lift 20 million gallons of sewage up 150 feet to AlexRenew\u2019s treatment plant every day. They also expanded the treatment facility to process an additional eight million gallons of sewage per day.\u201d<\/p>\n Then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed House Bill 2383 and Senate Bill 898 into law in 2017, mandating that Alexandria must start remediating its four combined sewer outfalls by 2023 and finish the project by July 1, 2025.<\/p>\n When enacted<\/a>, then-Del. Mark Levine (D-45) said the city was handed an impossible task with an unrealistic timeline.<\/p>\n \u201cIf unicorns can fly then maybe we\u2019ll get it done by 2025,\u201d Levine said.<\/p>\n