Overview

The original Town of Orange Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) was a 1.5 MGD Trickling Filter plant that was put on-line in 1990 which served the citizens and businesses of the Town and surrounding County.  The Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act was adopted by the Virginia General Assembly to enhance the water quality of tributaries and rivers leading to the Chesapeake Bay through lowered waste load allocations for total nitrogen and phosphorous.  In order to meet these new regulations the Town of Orange began construction on an upgrade and expansion of the WWTP in 2007.  In September 2010 the new 3.0 MGD WWTP with advanced nutrient removal technology was put on-line. The new Bardenpho system is significantly more effective at removing total nitrogen and phosphorous which decreases the amount of nutrients being released into tributaries and rivers which lead to the Chesapeake Bay.