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Our Serving Our Community for Over 45 Years Journey History Our 2

Clean Water, Quality Service. Striving to be the Best. Navigating our Journey with Strong Leadership and Clarity of Vision

Throughout our history, the Service Authority has faced a variety of complex challenges as times, trends and technologies have changed. As a new water and wastewater treatment utility in the early 1980’s, the Service Authority had to successfully integrate the operational and cultural aspects of its smaller predecessors while also reassuring and educating customers. Raymond L. Spittle General Manager, 1984 – 1989 Nearly 30 years later, the Service Authority faces an array of modern-day concerns: increased environmental regulations and global competition for resources, greater focus on the climate, energy efficiency, water system security and the increased demands associated with growth while at the same time replacing an aging infrastructure. Each of these factors has placed a greater responsibility on the Authority in serving approximately 250,000 residents 3 throughout Prince William County. However, solid financial management paired with an unwavering commitment to excellent service has allowed the Authority to meet the needs and expectations of our customers.

John W. Sloper General Manager, 1989 – 2005 The Service Authority’s story has been one of remarkable vision and dedication, and it is a pleasure to share it with you in the pages that follow. While there is no crystal ball, our top priority remains clear—providing clean water and the highest quality service to our customers now and well into the future.

Sincerely,

Dean E. Dickey Dean E. Dickey General Manager, 2005 – Present General Manager Treated wastewater flows from the H. L. Mooney Water Reclamation Facility into Neabsco Creek. i n s i d e

4 Prince William County Service The Service Authority is created. Authority moves to UOSA begins operations with Prince William new headquarters County utilizing 4.75 million gallons per day The Service located in the Prince (MGD) of the new wastewater treatment Authority agrees to William County plant’s 15 MGD total capacity. purchase 1.5 MGD Government Center. The Service The Service of water capacity Authority purchases Authority Board Upper from the City of UOSA upgrades an additional 24 of Directors grows Occoquan Manassas. treatment capacity MGD of water from five to eight Sewage from 15 MGD to 27 capacity from members. Authority MGD (the Service Fairfax Water. (UOSA) is Authority’s share is The Service The Service created. 8.68 MGD). Occoquan- OWDT completes initial Authority The Service Authority Occoquan Woodbridge/ construction of H. L. Mooney Board of The Service Authority purchases an Greater Policy Dumfries- Wastewater Treatment Plant Directors Authority purchases Board of additional Manassas is adopted. Triangle with 12 MGD capacity. appoints an additional 2.7 Directors 3.5 MGD Sanitary Sanitary Raymond MGD of water appoints John of water District District OWDT buys 10.7 MGD L. Spittle capacity from W. Sloper capacity from (GMSD) is (OWDT) is of water capacity from as General Fairfax Water. as General the City of created. formed. Fairfax Water. Manager. Manager. Manassas.

1964 1971 1977 1978 1981 1982 1983 1984 1987 1988 1989 1992 1993 i n sTime Line i of Major Milestones d e 4

The Beginnings 6

Growth of the Service Area 10

Expansion of Capacity 12

Regional Cooperation 14

The Need for Environmental Stewardship 16 The Service Authority wins Association of Metropolitan Water Our Commitment to Community 18 Agencies Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance.

The Way Forward 20 The Service Authority obtains approval 5 from Virginia DEQ to receive $37 million Our Leadership 22 grant for Mooney Facility upgrade.

The Service Authority sells 1.4 The Service The Service MGD water capacity to the City of Authority completes Authority The Service Authority wins Manassas Park. its first upgrade agrees to pay a UOSA Water Public Communications The Service Authority celebrates of the Mooney proportionate Reclamation Facility Achievement Award from 25th Anniversary. Facility to 18 MGD share of the cost upgrades to 54 MGD AWWA. treatment capacity. to construct (the Service Authority’s a new water share is 15.8 MGD). The Service Authority treatment plant commences construction of The Service Authority on the Occoquan. Board of Directors Mooney Facility upgrade to 24 purchases an additional appoint Dean E. MGD with the first wastewater 2 MGD of water capacity The Service Dickey as General design/build contract in from Fairfax Water. Authority Manager. Virginia to meet Chesapeake upgrades Mooney The Service Bay requirements. The Service Authority Facility to 24 Authority The Service Authority spearheads the formation MGD and lowers introduces a new purchases an additional The Service Authority of the Northern Virginia nitrogen level in branding suite and 12 MGD of water purchases 2 MGD of UOSA Learning Center of effluent to meet logo design on its capacity from water reclamation capacity Excellence for Water and new Chesapeake 20th Anniversary. Fairfax Water. from Fairfax County. Wastewater Utilities. Bay requirements.

1997 1999 2003 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 The Beginnings

Change for Better Service

The Prince William County Service Authority (Service Authority) was created in 1983, but its story starts almost two decades earlier, when Prince William County began to experience the extraordinary changes that would transform it from a largely rural county into an integral suburb in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. region. Completion of two major interstate highways—I-95 in the eastern portion of the county and I-66 to the west—had recently cut commute time to the District of Columbia and increased population in counties to the north and east was making Prince William County an attractive choice for housing development, business and industry.

New residents and businesses found, however, that acquiring consistently safe, reliable 6 and affordable water and sewer services was not a straightforward pursuit. Availability of public water and sewer services was limited. Even if service was available, homeowners and business proprietors had to deal with one of 13 different providers—a confusing and often-frustrating hodgepodge of utilities that did not offer standardized quality, customer service or rate structures.

Clearly, one of the initial challenges facing the county as its population began to grow and change was to overcome a range of political and bureaucratic hurdles that slowed efforts to combine the many water and sewer providers into one. This change could not and did not, happen all at once. In 1964, the first of many important steps was taken when the Prince William

Raymond Spittle and Cecil Taylor, joined by (L-R) Durward Grubbs, Glen Tarsha, David Rutherford, William Young and John Jenkins, break ground on the Raymond Spittle Building on May 31, 1986. Raymond Spittle poses alongside the original sign marking the Service Authority’s headquarters on Jefferson Davis Highway in the mid-1980’s. Board members David Rutherford and Glen Tarsha congratulate new General Board of County Supervisors authorized the formation In 1971, Prince William County, Fairfax County, the City Manager John of the Greater Manassas Sanitary District (GMSD), which of Manassas and the City of Manassas Park partnered to Sloper in immediately created unified water and sewer service in create the Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority (UOSA). July 1989. the western portion of the county. Several private sewer The then-new entity was charged with constructing an systems were purchased and older treatment plants advanced wastewater treatment facility to meet rigorous were replaced by a new facility along Bull Run. This was new wastewater treatment standards. This effort to the first building block of what would become a total improve wastewater treatment was struck a temporary transformation of the county’s water and sewer utilities. blow in June 1972 when Hurricane Agnes deluged the region with 16 inches of rainfall in a 36-hour period. Likewise in the eastern end of the County, there were Water service was quickly restored, but flooding several small systems with differing capital structures, throughout the county rendered the older wastewater user rates, and treatment facilities. The Board of County treatment plants inoperable for months. Raw sewage 7 Supervisors hired Hubert Mooney, then also Mayor of flowing into the Occoquan Reservoir only reinforced Occoquan, to manage these entities and gradually merge the need for new infrastructure capable of meeting them into a single organization with uniform user rates, the most stringent treatment standards designed to fees, and policies. The final merger was completed in 1977, preserve the Occoquan Reservoir as a major source of One of John Sloper’s original business cards features the Service Authority’s drinking water. after Mr. Mooney’s untimely death, with the creation of original logo. In 2003, a new logo and branding suite were the Occoquan-Woodbridge/Dumfries-Triangle Sanitary developed for the Service Authority’s 20th Anniversary. District, named after the four original sanitary districts. Working Together for Increased Efficiency Over and above the desire for greater efficiency and better service, the driving concern behind these changes, east By the mid-70’s, construction of two major wastewater and west, was the need to drastically upgrade wastewater treatment plants was underway: the UOSA plant along treatment. As the area became more urban, the degradation Bull Run in the west and the H. L. Mooney Wastewater of the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers had become a Treatment Plant on the Potomac River in the east. These two major concern. Algae blooms occasionally blanketed the plants, operating independently, helped reduce pollution reservoir and drinking water could be unpalatable, albeit entering the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. The safe. Significant upgrades of both water and wastewater extraordinary capital cost of constructing these two plants, Construction of the Raymond treatment were necessary. Fortunately about this time, new while partially subsidized by the federal government, also Spittle building began in 1986 in the Prince William County federal grants became available to fight water pollution. created a necessary increase in sewer rates. Government Center. The Service Authority occupied the building in October 1987. So, by 1978, 13 independent water and sewer providers had Authority meant benefits for its customers, most noticeably combined to form the GMSD and the OWDT, two separate sharing an increased efficiency of service due to economies entities, each serving their respective area of Prince of scale and a badly-needed standardization of rates. But William County. Hindsight suggests that the next logical many serious challenges remained. A new headquarters was step was to merge these two districts, west and east, into required to support a new vision of the Authority as a single one county-wide authority. Indeed, such a consolidation entity not tied to one half of the county. Keeping up with was the future of water and sewer services in the county. the county’s growth would become 8 a full-time endeavor. Even The impetus for final consolidation originated with the as the Service Authority Board of County Supervisors. In addition to managing all began operating in 1983, other public matters in Prince William County, the Board its leadership was already was also charged with overseeing both sanitary districts. aware of the urgent Customers were faced with high sewer bills in the western requirement to double or Manual reading of flow meters at part of the county and high water bills in the eastern pump stations is no longer required part of the county. The Board of County Supervisors, since data is now automatically convinced that combining the two sanitary districts transmitted by the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition could save all customers money, decided that a fully (SCADA) system to headquarters. independent water and sewer authority was the answer.

Finally, on January 11, 1983—19 years after the creation of the GMSD started the county on the path to consolidation—the Prince William County Service Authority was formed. A five-member Board of Directors was appointed. Raymond Spittle, the Administrator of OWDT, was named General Manager, and the challenging process of combining administrative structures and personnel was under way. The formation of the Service even triple water capacity over the next 20 years. Finally, there was no guarantee of fiscal stability when the Service Authority set out to build up its own credit rating and raise the necessary capital for the Authority.

New Challenges for the Future 9 These challenges were formidable, to be sure, but the future would hold many others. An increasing population and heightened environmental awareness would create the need for new modes of regional cooperation, greater treatment and storage capacity, more stringent water quality and wastewater treatment standards and larger and more complex infrastructure projects. In 1983, with the initial task of consolidation complete, the Service Authority was on its way to becoming the largest combined water and wastewater authority in Virginia. But even then, a lasting commitment was already firm: to provide reliable, clean, safe, competitively-priced services to its rapidly-growing customer base.

The Potomac River is the source of supply for the Service Authority customers in the western half of the county and supports a diverse array of wildlife and flora. Growth of the Service Area

From Cow Pastures to Condominiums

The Prince William County Service Authority was created at an opportune time, as the county’s steady population growth during the 1960’s and 1970’s accelerated in the early 1980’s. The numbers tell a dramatic tale: from the end of World War II until 2010, Prince William County grew from 20,000 residents to nearly 400,000, a 2,000% increase in population, with a major surge occurring just after the Service Authority went into operation in 1983. During its first seven years of existence, in fact, the number of accounts served by the Service Authority grew by more than 50%, from 23,600 to 35,800, with a similar doubling in size occurring between 1999 and 2008.

Proximity to new transportation routes—including I-66, I-95 and Route 28—and relatively 10 inexpensive housing costs brought waves of people into the county. As with any large-scale change, this influx created new opportunities and tensions. Gone were the days when most of Prince William County thought of itself as an enclave of slow- paced peace and quiet. Similar growth occurred across the entire Washington Metropolitan Area, but what makes Prince William County unique is its three distinctive zones, each with its own personality and needs: a populous area in and surrounding the long-established City of Manassas; the explosive growth in and around Woodbridge along the I-95 corridor; and an area encompassing the northern and western borders made up of parks, farmland and high-end housing. Each of these zones has grown at different rates and at different times, working to coexist with a minimum of friction as the face of the entire region has

Manassas area farm: Photo Courtesy of the Manassas Museum, Howard Churchill Collection been transformed by its new residents.

Beginning in the late 1980’s, many farms in Prince William County were transformed into residential neighborhoods, which created a greater demand for water and sewer services. When it was completed in 1981, the Mooney Facility could treat 12 MGD of wastewater. After two major upgrades, the latest completed in 2010, its treatment capacity The Service Authority provides water to more than just homes; it supplies millions of gallons to the county’s schools, recreational doubled to 24 MGD. facilities and emergency services.

New housing represents only one part of the history The relationship between the county and the Service of Prince William County’s growth. An accompanying Authority changed as well. Customers brought their concerns increase of schools, hospitals and retail businesses— to the Service Authority, which was now directly responsible including Potomac Mills Mall, which for a time was the to its rate payers in the areas of customer service, reliability most popular tourist attraction in the state—supported and financial responsibility. Lines of communication were the rising population. The unification of water and made clearer and standardization of operations across the sewer services under the Service Authority umbrella also county created badly-needed, affordable uniform rates 11 created the need to put all administrative functions and for all customers. Soon, though, the Service Authority’s staff under one roof. Inadequate buildings in Woodbridge management would be tested when the nation entered a The Service Authority began installing radio read meters in August 2001 to make the reading process more efficient. and Manassas were closed. recession just after the Authority had committed to add to its infrastructure and purchased additional water capacity In October 1987, the Authority opened its new headquarters to serve future growth. If creating a unified water and sewer on the campus of the Prince William County Government authority was the Service Authority’s Center. Formerly independent organizations now had to first challenge, surviving and thriving learn to cooperate and focus on the welfare of the county during the tumultuous years of the and its customers as a whole. early 1990’s would be the next.

We’ve grown so fast that many things have happened in five years “ that I did not count on happening for ten or fifteen years. We’re like a volleyball team, trying not to let the ball hit the ground. Service Authority water tanks – Raymond L. Spittle, From the Washington Post, Dec. 10, 1987. store a combined total of 32 ” million gallons and are the most visible indicators of the utility’s presence in the county. Expansion of Capacity

Overcoming Adverse Economic Conditions

The recession of the early 1990’s hit the Service Authority at a particularly vulnerable moment, just after the Authority had committed to undertake a number of costly capital improvement projects. New water and sewer connections, which had surpassed 4,000 per year during the Service Authority’s first seven years of operation, suddenly dropped to just over 1,000. Those connections were vital to the Authority, as availability fees funded all growth-related infrastructure. In order to avoid draining its cash reserves, the Authority was forced to halt all construction and postpone the expansion of the H. L. Mooney Wastewater Treatment Plant.

12 During these difficult times, a highly resourceful approach to expanding infrastructure was the key. Developers had proposed new development in the Linton Hall Road corridor between routes 28 and 29. For this to happen, the area would need public sewer, which meant constructing a 36-inch, seven-mile-long sewer main. This $11.2 million project required funding that the Service Authority alone could not afford. Betting on the county’s future prosperity, a consortium of 11 developers came to an agreement with the Authority: if the utility would build and maintain the line, they would shoulder all but $1.2 million of the cost.

A lab specialist tests water samples at the Mooney Facility laboratory as part of the Service Authority’s water quality monitoring program. John Overend, Sr. oversees the upgrade of the H. L. Mooney Water Reclamation Facility. A work crew lays the Broad Run Sewer Interceptor, a 52" pipe of Capacity extending sewer service to the fast growing western parts of Prince William County in 1991.

The H. L. Mooney Water Reclamation Facility upgrade was the largest wastewater design/build project of its kind in Virginia history.

The resulting line helped to transform Gainesville into a 12 MGD to 18 MGD and providing the highest level regional hub and demonstrated the Authority’s creativity of wastewater treatment available at that time for the and adaptability. receiving waterways.

A similar innovation combined developer capital with By the end of its first 15 years, the Service Authority 13 Authority-obtained financing to construct a new gravity had boosted water capacity by 31.7 MGD, had increased sewer along Powell’s Creek. A local facilities charge was wastewater treatment capacity by 7.3 MGD and had Kathleen Seefeldt, then Chairman of the Prince William Board put in place to recover the Authority’s investment from created an affordable uniform rate structure for its of County Supervisors, joined Raymond Spittle, then Chairman future development. This solution not only made new customers. Five hundred thirty-four miles of water of the Board of Directors, at the May 1997 dedication ceremony growth possible when private financing was hard to find, mains and 504 miles of sewer mains were online, and celebrating the first upgrade of the Mooney Facility. but also helped the Authority close two smaller plants— the Authority’s credit and debt situation were strong. Oak Ridge and Forest Grove—and redirect the flow to Yet other challenges remained: growth was once again the more advanced H. L. Mooney Plant. accelerating, aging infrastructure needed replacement and the need for additional regional cooperation, In 1995, with prospects for growth gradually improving, enhanced environmental stewardship and community the Service Authority partnered in the expansion of the outreach were on the rise. The Authority had no time to Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority plant, which sought rest on its laurels if these challenges were to be met. to increase its wastewater treatment capacity from 27 to 54 MGD. This construction was essential to meet the needs of a growing Prince William County. In the eastern half of the county, the upgraded H. L. Mooney Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion went online in May 1997, increasing treatment capacity from The Service Authority Board of Directors and General Manager John Sloper broke ground for the expansion of the Raymond Spittle Building in January 2004. Regional Cooperation

Creating Efficiencies Through Alliances

The creation of the Service Authority as an independent agency allowed the organization to operate relatively free of outside political pressures. An equally-important result was the ability to seek out partnerships with other water and wastewater utilities throughout Northern Virginia, an option it exercised early and often as it created a set of mutually-beneficial relationships. This ensured the highest quality the highest quality and the most advanced treatment standards for drinking water and wastewater service.

Sharing the same sources of water was a natural impetus for regional cooperation. In 1982, just prior to the creation of the Authority, Prince William County entered into an agreement to purchase water capacity from Fairfax Water in order to secure ongoing rights to an essential source of drinking water. During its first decade 14 of operation, the Service Authority extended this arrangement, undertaking two agreements to purchase capacity from the City of Manassas totaling five MGD, while also buying an additional 26.7 MGD from Fairfax Water. Faced with escalating demand and the pressing need to carefully manage funds, these purchases provided the Authority with the needed capacity to serve new customers. The purchases also laid the foundation for a joint project to replace Fairfax Water’s aging treatment plant on the Occoquan River with a new state-of-the–art, advanced water treatment plant.

The willingness of Northern Virginia’s The Service Authority’s circle of collaboration has widened even further with its active participation in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), an independent “ water and wastewater utilities to non-profit organization of local governments working to foster region-wide consensus for action work together creates important on a wide range of issues, including the environment, public health, emergency preparedness, drought monitoring, public service announcements and mutual aid. Such inter-agency exchange economies of scale. We are able to of information resources is vital in an age with new and never-before-imagined challenges and opportunities, and the Service Authority’s participation with COG allows it to stay abreast of save money by sharing our knowledge, regional response protocols for a wide variety of water-related eventualities. successes and challenges. Fairfax Water’s state-of-the-art Frederick P. Griffith, Jr. Water Treatment Plant went online in May – Alex L .Vanegas, Vice” Chairman, 2006 and serves the Service Authority customers in the eastern half of the county. Service Authority Board of Directors (Inset) The James J. Corbalis, Jr. Water Treatment Plant features a viewing gallery where visitors can watch water quality specialists working in its large laboratory. The Upper Occoquan Service Authority treats wastewater from portions of Prince William and Fairfax counties as well as the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

The Service Authority has partnered with COG and other In 2009, the Service Authority was instrumental in forming water utilities in the region to implement a physical, chemical the Northern Virginia Learning Center of Excellence and biological monitoring system that can provide reliable for Water and Wastewater Utilities, partnering with 11 and timely data regarding the quality of the region’s water other area utilities: Fairfax Water, Alexandria Sanitation supply. Such a monitoring system is an essential element in Authority, Arlington County, the City of Falls Church, helping to insure that the region has sufficient warning time the City of Manassas, the City of Manassas Park, Fairfax for local action in the event of an accidental or deliberate County, Loudoun Water, the Town of Herndon, the Town of release of contaminants into the Potomac River or one of the Purcellville and the Upper Occoquan Service Authority. The Completed in 1971, the T. Nelson Elliot Dam restrains the 15 drinking water distribution systems in the region. idea was simple but far-reaching: instead of sending personnel five billion gallons of water in Lake Manassas, an 800-acre reservoir that provides nearly 5 MGD to customers in from the area’s many utilities to distant and sometimes western Prince William County. The Service Authority is also a member of the Metropolitan redundant trainings, the Center would bring experts from Washington Task Force on Regional Water Supply Issues, around the Commonwealth and the country to Northern which was created in 1999 in response to regional drought Virginia. The Center has already saved the Service Authority conditions and questions about the ability of the region’s and its customers thousands of dollars in training and water supply system to meet increased demands in future continuing education costs by hosting a wide array of classes years. The Task Force includes representatives of all the COG offered by universities, associations and companies on topics jurisdictions and has developed a regional drought plan that including pipe corrosion, groundwater regulations, pump consists of two interrelated components: a year-round plan station design and asset management, just to name a few. emphasizing wise water use as well as a water supply and drought awareness and response plan. The Service Authority Finally, Prince William County and the other jurisdictions has been working with COG and other utilities in the region in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region understand to improve resiliency against natural or man-made disasters, the pressing need to think and act as a single steward of the helping to guarantee continuity of service to its customers. region’s complex aquatic ecosystems. A deeper awareness of A major step in this effort was becoming a signatory to a what it means to share an intricately interdependent system voluntary network of utilities in the Washington region and of rivers, lakes and reservoirs has consistently driven a A UOSA valve opening ceremony in the 1970’s marks the first outflow of treated wastewater to its final the state of Virginia that have agreed to help other utilities to growing focus on regional cooperation. effluent reservoir. In 1978, Prince William County’s prepare for the next natural or human-caused emergency. allocation for wastewater treatment capacity was 4.75 MGD; it has since risen to 17.8 MGD. Image courtesy of USGS Chesapeake Image Bay Science courtesy of Program. The Need For Environmental Stewardship

Working Locally and Thinking Regionally

For the Service Authority, and for all large water providers, water quality is a global issue with a local personality. Demand for services has grown together with an increasing awareness of the monetary cost and environmental value of water. Customers can no longer take the availability of clean, reliable water for granted; as with any other natural resource, its supply, use and quality require careful monitoring and stewardship. Four water sources are of enormous importance to the Prince William County Service Authority: Lake Manassas, the Occoquan 16 Reservoir, the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. The Service Authority and its regional partners understand that every decision they make can affect the environmental health and wellbeing of residents across the region.

A focus on the environmental stewardship of water resources in Prince William County began in earnest 12 years before the Service Authority was created. The Virginia State Water Control Board, with input from the four jurisdictions it would most directly impact—Prince William The Service Authority is County, Fairfax County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park—created a new set of rules and requirements called the Occoquan Policy. This forward-looking document mandated “ committed to meeting the needs adoption of advanced wastewater treatment standards that exceeded the federal and state requirements for all treatment plants in the Occoquan Basin at that time. It also established an of the growing community independent group responsible for water quality surveillance and evaluation. and protecting the Chesapeake A view from space of 64,000 square miles of land, people and water. Bay Watershed. While still a commercially important ecosystem—home of some 3,600 plant and animal species—four centuries of population – Dean E. Dickey, growth has affected the health of the Chesapeake Bay. ” The Service Authority works diligently to meet strict Service Authority General Manager environmental regulations that help keep the Bay, and the species that inhabit it, healthy. Environmental Stewardship A Great Blue Heron gets a bird’s-eye view of the Potomac River in Great Falls, Virginia.

This entity, the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring In 2007, the Service Authority’s Environmental Stewardship Subcommittee, continues to operate today, conducting Team (EST) was formed to teach employees meaningful Inviting members of the community to actively participate in the Service Authority’s environmental ways they can help protect the environment in the studies of water quality and wastewater treatment plant stewardship programs creates lasting partnerships that discharge, while developing a comprehensive database that workplace and the community. The first EST initiative benefit county residents, visitors and the environment. has provided essential help in directing efforts and resources focused on improving the Service Authority’s solid waste to the places they are most needed. recycling practices. Since its inception, the recycling program has diverted 95,000 pounds of trash from the Making sure that the Authority’s wastewater treatment landfill. Another successful initiative organized by the EST, 17 technology meets the stringent standards necessary to provide in cooperation with the county Park Authority, is an annual advanced treatment has been a priority for decades and watershed clean-up event staffed by employees of both one that continues today. The Authority’s approximately authorities, as well as volunteers who live in and around $150 million upgrade of the H. L. Mooney Advanced Water Prince William County. Reclamation Facility in Woodbridge was spurred by state and federal mandates to protect the Chesapeake Bay. Completed Protecting the environment is a job that belongs to in late 2010, the project increased water reclamation capacity everyone—not just to scientists and engineers—and the by six MGD to a total treatment capacity of 24 MGD, helping Service Authority has concentrated its efforts to connect the Authority keep pace with the continuing expansion of with and teach all county residents how best to balance the county’s residential, business and industrial populations. the ever-present need for water with an increased The upgrade also implemented advanced treatment and environmental awareness. This commitment to disinfection technology while lowering the amount of nitrogen community requires that the Authority continue Service Authority environmental mascot in the effluent released from the plant to three parts per to cultivate the best possible methods of Captain Recycle joins million. Maintaining the lower nitrogen level is enforced by the communicating with its customers, including both volunteers at an annual Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and it is part new digital platforms and old-fashioned face-to- community clean-up of a large-scale, multi-state effort to restore the health of the face interaction. event at Veterans Park in Woodbridge. Bay. During warm-weather months, excess nitrogen can lead to expansive algae blooms that block the sunlight that underwater vegetation needs to produce vital oxygen and serve as habitat for a variety of aquatic life in the Chesapeake Bay. Our Commitment to Community

Building a Pipeline to the Future

The demands facing water providers in the 21st century are not only technological and environmental. The Service Authority understands that the digital age has also brought about fundamental changes in the ways it interacts with and engages its customers. The Authority has embraced two approaches—the personal and the digital—in response to the Board of Directors’ vision of the Authority as an open, approachable, customer-driven organization. The staff of the Service Authority know that the Authority’s reputation and continued success depends more than ever on connecting 18 with the community at large in every way possible and directly providing customers with the knowledge and tools they need to better manage their budgets, their operational needs and their own environmental priorities.

Since its inception, the Service Authority has taken a “show and tell” approach, speaking face-to-face with many different constituencies for a wide variety of purposes. Many residents of the county have experienced such a visit: at a Boy or Girl Scout troop meeting; at the county fair, summer camp or regional science fair; perhaps at a meeting of a Chamber of Commerce or Rotary Club or one of many other venues. The Authority also meets with associations of homeowners, businesses and developers as they work together to best provide for the county’s continuing growth and prosperity.

The cornerstone of the Authority’s community involvement has always been visits to the county’s elementary and secondary schools. As curriculums in environmental biology and stewardship have evolved, the Authority has been there to meet the challenge by visiting kindergartners, high school seniors and all ages in-between. Rather than dictating lesson plans,

Regular visits to schools throughout Prince William County help students understand how the Service Authority contributes to public health, fire protection, environmental stewardship and many everyday conveniences. Commitment to Community Then-Board Chairman Glen Tarsha poses with the winners of the 1991 Service Authority Poster Contest. Since 2001, the Service Authority has hosted the Water Art Invitational, which recognizes Prince Whether on the phone or in the field, Service Authority employees are always ready to provide excellent customer service. William County high school students for their outstanding artistic representations of drinking water in all its real and imagined uses. the Service Authority works together with teachers and The Service Authority has also emerged as a national leader administrators to make sure that presentations and activities in providing new opportunities for virtual interaction. The Service Authority Board members Durward conform to County policy and the Commonwealth’s Authority’s Web site provides customers convenient options Grubbs, Dr. K. Jack Standards of Learning guidelines. One of the most for paying and viewing bills, and also allows them to view Kooyoomjian, Janice popular educational outreach presentations the Authority and download historical water consumption data. The Carr and Paul Ruecker provides to young people is its EnviroScape®, a portable, Authority has taken the lead in social media, a new frontier announce the winners of the 2002 Water interactive model that demonstrates the processes involved for utilities, allowing customers to receive news and updates Science Invitational. in providing water and wastewater treatment services to a through Twitter, Facebook and a community outreach Web 19 typical community. page. Additionally, the Authority’s frequent use of video Children and grandchildren as a communication tool further increases the Service of Service Authority Another innovative Service Authority community outreach Authority’s visibility through the county’s government employees learn more program is the annual Water Art Invitational. The contest access television channel and YouTube. about what their parents and grandparents do for the began modestly in 2001, but has grown over the years community by participating into a popular student art contest and show that is fully The next step in the Service Authority’s long history of in the Kidz@Work program, funded by corporate sponsors. The Invitational offers community involvement is a new emphasis on helping which the Service Authority area high school students the opportunity to express their customers of every age understand the value of some of hosts every spring. understanding of and appreciation for reliable, convenient the most advanced water and wastewater treatment in access to clean water through the artistic mediums the world. Side-by-side with its customers, the Authority of painting, photography and computer graphics. is entering a new era, one in which water is less a Participating students and teachers are honored during the product to be packaged and sold than event’s awards ceremony, which is held every February and an irreplaceable natural resource that features more than 200 pieces of artwork that are displayed deserves our full and careful attention. in the main lobby of the Service Authority’s headquarters for a full month. The Way Forward

Meeting the Challenges of Tomorrow

The transformation that brought together a collection of small water and sewer providers to create the Prince William County Service Authority was driven by many factors, including affordable, uniform rates and the extremely high rate of population growth. Although punctuated by booms and busts in the economy, the astonishing rate of growth in Northern Virginia over the past three decades has meant much more to the Authority than just new customers. It has made carefully-managed expansion of services and infrastructure an absolute necessity, always with a close eye on reliability, cost containment and environmental stewardship.

The challenges facing the Service Authority over the next five, 10, 50 years and beyond all 20 grow out of one basic reality: Water is a finite resource. Demand for water will increase as more people, businesses and industry settle in Prince William County; however, the supply will not. Nature operates at its own pace, providing no more and no less water than it did thousands of years ago. Keeping that finite supply of this precious resource safe, clean and reliable is every water provider’s challenge and one that the Service Authority considers to be of the utmost importance.

As the Service Authority moves into the second decade of the 21st century, it is committed to a goal of complete engagement with its customers, providing them with ever more sophisticated tools and knowledge that will allow them to make environmentally-responsible and cost- effective decisions in their own homes and businesses. Maintaining, renovating and replacing aging pipes and treatment plants will always be the backbone of the Authority’s operation, but more than ever those physical assets will be supplemented by an emphasis on generating, storing and making precise real-time information public. The Service Authority bills for monthly usage, but in the not so distant future will no doubt see the implementation of The Occoquan Reservoir is not only sophisticated technology as customers and the Authority are able to monitor how much water a valuable source of drinking water they use in a single day, an hour, or even in a minute. The Authority currently installs smart for Prince William County, but also a meters, which can identify potential leaks by monitoring the ongoing flow of water through the popular recreational area for boating, hiking and family gatherings. meter. This proactively helps our customers keep their water bills down by identifying issues early and ensuring our valuable resource is used wisely. New software programs and advanced Our customers are able to enjoy the benefits of some of the most advanced Forward “ water and wastewater treatment facilities in the world. – Durward E. Grubbs, Founding and Current” Member, Service Authority Board of Directors

monitoring technology will also help the Authority better amount of power it demands from the electrical grid. manage all of its services and physical assets, tracking the Enlightened energy management will be an Authority performance and condition of assets, such as pipes, pump priority as it seeks the best methods to make the most out stations, treatment plants and storage tanks, which will of every kilowatt and use less energy-intensive ways to greatly reduce the costs related to unexpected replacement distribute drinking water and thoroughly treat wastewater. or repairs. Currently, the use of mobile computing by field As the Authority collects more sophisticated data, it will be employees greatly improves efficiency by putting a wealth of able to feed that information to industry research leaders information at their fingertips. as they refine treatment processes that can then be applied in the Service Authority’s own facilities. Water purification The Service Authority knows that it not only needs to and sewage treatment are fields with roots reaching back continue to improve its own efficiency and environmental centuries, but in some ways both are still in their infancy; 21 stewardship, but it must also find ways to reduce the many important advances and inventions are still to come,

More stringent state regulations have taken the H. L. Mooney Plant’s wastewater treatment process to the current limits of modern technology to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous in the water that is returned to the environment in order to help improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay. In all of my experience, I’ve never dealt with the level of dedication that the employees of the Service Authority “ demonstrate year after year. They feel a responsibility toward protecting public health thereby preserving the public trust. They understand what it takes to offer the highest quality service at the best value. Their commitment to the customers ensures that the Authority is more than a utility; it is a dedicated partner to the community. – Paul E. Ruecker, Chairman,” Service Authority Board of Directors

a wellspring of innovation that excellence in financial reporting, will further protect the health of safety, public communication and A Legacy of Leadership customers and the environment. environmental stewardship. More than half of its water and sewer Past and Present Members of the Service One of the Service Authority’s systems, which comprise 1,170 Authority Board of Directors miles of water lines and 1,213 miles most immediate goals is to apply Current Board Members new technologies to as many of sewer lines, are less than 10 William J. Becker 1998-Present of its operations as possible. In years old. But these achievements, Janice R. Carr 2001-Present this way, information can be while substantial, are only the Joyce P. Eagles 1990-Present integrated across the Authority, beginning. The continued success 22 Durward E. Grubbs 1983-1993, 1995-Present allowing it to operate more of the Service Authority will require Dr. K. Jack Kooyoomjian 1995-Present efficiently and effectively that it focus more than ever on Paul E. Ruecker 2000-2004, 2005-Present while never forgetting that the flexibility, technological savvy, the David A. Rutherford 1983-1995, 2008-Present human resources that support best possible training and constant Alexander I. Vanegas 2004-Present the Authority’s mission are its communication with its most important asset. Meeting customers, all the while continuing a growing slate of state and federal environmental to provide its customers the highest quality of water and Former Board Members regulations will also require that the Authority remain wastewater service at the best value. Steve Danziger 2004-2008 innovative and forward-looking in its training and Deloris C. Hampton 1992-2001 planning, acting as a fully-involved participant in The Authority views residents of Prince William County Michael R. Higgins 1992-2005 the development of these regulations by providing as partners devoted to ensuring that a sufficient, clean, James G. Kyser III 1983-1984 information for new studies and offering insight into safe and reliable supply of water is available to all today Donald M. Longava 1992-1996 ongoing policy decisions. and far into the future. That goal is what drives every Joseph E. Martin 1992-1992 environmental initiative, every building project and every Raymond Spittle 1993-1998 The list of the Authority’s successes is long. The Service community outreach effort undertaken by the Service Glen S. Tarsha 1983-1995 Authority is Virginia’s largest combined water and Authority. The Authority is proud of its place in the Cecil C. Taylor Jr. 1984-1989 wastewater entity, serving approximately 250,000 residents. history and day-to-day life of Prince William County and Dr. Lindsey K. Thomas Jr. 1996-2004 The Authority enjoys excellent bond ratings from Moody’s is committed to moving forward in its role of maintaining Marion M. Wall 1989-2000 and Standard & Poor’s, and it has received a trophy case the county’s sterling reputation as a desirable place to William E. Young 1983-1990 worth of prestigious awards for business operations, work, play, visit and live. By the Numbers

3 – New regulatory limit of milligrams per liter of nitrogen the H. L. Mooney Wastewater Treatment Plant must meet in order to comply with Virginia Department of Environmental Quality regulations.

25 – Number of water storage tanks.

338 – Square miles of chartered service area.

1983 – Year the Service Authority was formed.

2,300 – Total miles of water and wastewater pipelines.

81,000 – Total number of active accounts.

250,000 – Estimated population served.

42,000,000 – Gallons of daily wastewater treatment capacity.

57,000,000 – Gallons of daily water capacity.

582,000,000 – Total dollar value of planned capital improvements.

1,200,000,000 – Total dollar value of assets.

The sun rises over a quiet corner of Lake Manassas, one of the Service Authority’s sources of water. Families of all types rely on the Service Authority for water of the highest quality.

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A family of Canada geese on the Occoquan Reservoir.

Contacting the Service Authority

Headquarters Address Customer Service Department After Hours Emergencies 4 County Complex Court P.O. Box 2266 703.335.7990 Woodbridge, Virginia 22192 Woodbridge, Virginia 22195 703.335.7900 703.335.7950 Online 24/7 www.pwcsa.org