Virginia utilities to jointly develop water treatment facility

Bedford Regional Water Authority (BRWA) and the Western Virginia Water Authority have signed an agreement to jointly own and operate the expanded $14m Smith Mountain Lake Water Treatment Plant.

The facility will be designed with expansion capabilities in order to allow for the drinking water needs of existing and future customers through the year 2060.

The plant will also allow the authorities to expand their service, including to Franklin County. More than half of its water supply is expected to run to Forest and Bedford.

The plans call for a 4 million gallon a day treatment facility to be constructed by the end of 2016. There are further plans to expand its capacity to 6 million gallons a day.

BRWA owns the existing facility which has a 1 million gallon a day capacity, of which 400,000gal a day are allocated to the Western Virginia Water Authority.

In April 2014, the boards of the two authorities separately voted to enter into the contractual agreement in order to build the water treatment plant.