Chesterfield begins $168M in upgrades at wastewater treatment plant near Chester

Chesterfield officials and project team representatives held a groundbreaking ceremony this week for an improvement project at the Proctors Creek plant. (Jack Jacobs photo)

Amid rising residential and commercial growth, Chesterfield is embarking on its largest investment in its utilities infrastructure to date.

County officials gathered Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony at the Proctors Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, where Chesterfield is planning to build a 12 million gallon flow-equalization basin.

The concrete structure will be up to 50 feet deep and roughly the size of a football field. The storage facility is designed to temporarily hold and release peak wastewater flows at a manageable rate, providing protection to the plant during periods of high water flow and allowing for more efficient treatment.

This week’s ceremony followed the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors’ vote in September to approve a $168.3 million contract with Chesapeake-based MEB General Contractors Inc. to complete the five-year project, which in addition to the construction of the basin includes other improvements at the treatment plant near Chester.

Engineering firms Hazen and Schnabel are also involved in the project.

The project, which started in January, is the largest single capital improvement that’s been undertaken by the Chesterfield utilities department in its history, Matt Rembold, the department’s director, said in his remarks during the event.

The Proctors Creek plant services the southern area of the county, and the improvement project is aimed to help Chesterfield accommodate its ongoing and future growth, Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Miller said at the ceremony.

“As the county’s population and business activity continue to expand, of course it is essential we continue to have our infrastructure grow as well. (The project) will strengthen our ability to safeguard our waterways and support economic development across the whole region,” Miller said.

Hazen Vice President Chris Tabor, MEB President David Ervin and Chesterfield County Administrator Joe Casey also shared remarks at the event.

The project features a new 12 million gallon flow-equalization basin and other improvements. (County documents)

The Proctors Creek plant doesn’t currently have a flow-equalization basin, and the new facility will help the plant better manage the ebb and flow of wastewater that it treats and then discharges into the James River, Rembold said in an interview following the event.

“What this tank will do is let the water come and be held. The tank level can fluctuate, but then we can introduce a smooth, constant flow into the plant for enhanced treatment. Basically it makes the treatment process more easy to dial in and operate more efficiently so we’re wise with our energy consumption and chemical usage,” he said.

The project also involves improvements to the existing fine-screen building. A new coarse-screen and grit-removal facility would be built as a replacement to existing facilities at the site, which have reached the end of their useful life. An existing pump station would be rehabilitated.

Rembold said the project, which is slated to be completed in 2031, comes as an early step in a larger initiative to expand the plant’s treatment capacity from its current 27 million gallons of water per day to 54 million gallons per day. The facility services a “significant” portion of Chesterfield County, and the overall project is anticipated to provide the capacity that’s expected to be needed over the next 90 years, according to a county memo.

“There’s a number of iterative improvements that need to occur along the way to get to that doubling of the plant’s capacity. This is like project zero. We need to get this one completed to set the stage for those future improvements,” Rembold said.

The improvements have been years in the making. A decade ago,  Chesterfield kicked off the creation of a master plan for the plant’s upgrades, a process that was completed in 2024.

The Proctors Creek plant, which treats wastewater that is afterward released into the James River, opened in 1975 and currently has the capacity to treat up to 27 million gallons of water per day. (Jack Jacobs photo)

Chesterfield gets underway on improvements to the Proctors Creek facility as officials weigh potentially introducing a reuse system at the plant, which would allow for treated wastewater that could be used as an alternative to drinking water for industrial and other uses that don’t require potable water. There’s an engineering study underway to determine whether it is feasible, Rembold said.

“I think it’s aspirational. It’s something that certainly would be environmentally conscientious of us to promote reuse and preserve our potable water supply for our potable water needs. It’s something we’re interested in doing,” he said.

The Proctors Creek plant opened in 1975 and has been expanded in capacity several times over the years, most recently in 1995.