The Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, Va., is receiving a $225-million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan while Memphis, Tenn. will receive a $156 million grant from the program.
For Hampton Roads, the loan represents the first part of $1.05 billion in financing that will go toward the latest piece of Virginia’s Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow (SWIFT) Program, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced Oct. 13.
The SWIFT program will apply water reuse and water treatment innovations to the restoration of the Potomac Aquifer’s water supply. Program improvements across 20 projects include treatment plant upgrades and the construction of advanced water treatment facilities and wells—intended to add potable water to the aquifer. The restoration of the aquifer will help mitigate land subsidence on Virginia’s coast that is related to aquifer withdrawals.
“Realizing HRSD’s vision that future generations will inherit clean waterways and be able to keep them clean requires significant investment today in clean water infrastructure,” said Commissioner and former Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources, Molly Joseph Ward, in a statement.
该阶段的总项目成本估计为4.6亿美元。7月，该区还收到了弗吉尼亚清洁水循环贷款基金计划的1000万美元贷款。收入债券将用于支付余额。
另一个最近宣布的WIFIA贷款奖将达到孟菲斯，这将获得1.56亿美元的升级至其T.E.Maxson污水处理设施。
“The funding will enable Memphis Public Works to complete important system upgrades, modernization and other vital improvements to its South Wastewater Treatment Plant,” said City of Memphis Public Works Director Robert Knecht, in a statement.
Upgrades to the facility include expanding biological treatment capacity and providing biosolids processing. The funding will also enable it to conform to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements. The city will also renovate lagoons, replace existing infrastructure and improve odor control. The total project cost is $317.5 million.
The pair of projects are the 33rd and 34th WIFIA loans the EPA has issued since 2018, totaling $6.7 billion.
