Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant

The effluent that leaves Blue Plains is discharged to the Potomac River and meets some of the most stringent permit limits in the United States.

These nutrients deplete oxygen and cause algal blooms in rivers and coastal waters, a process that is detrimental to fish and other aquatic life.

[3] Since the mid-1980s, Blue Plains has reduced its phosphorus discharges to the limit of technology, primarily in support of water quality goals of the Potomac River, but also for the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.

[4] Under the agreement, the Bay states and the District of Columbia government committed to voluntarily reduce nitrogen loads by 40 percent from their 1985 levels.

This award is presented to member agencies for exceptional compliance for their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit limits.

A portion of the sludge is processed in an anaerobic digestion system which generates 10 MW of electricity that is used elsewhere at the treatment plant.

[9] The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) was established in Maryland in 1918 and operated sewer systems in portions of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.