Richmond, Virginia: water and wastewater capital improvement projects
12 line items · $1.6B · starting 2026 · 2 plans
Richmond's published capital plans list 12 water, sewer and wastewater line items with a combined planning budget of $1.6B, of which 6 items worth $1.1B sit in the wastewater and sewer departments. The largest single item is Sanitary Sewer Upgrade at $343M (2026–2030). The ten largest items are listed below; the full list with descriptions and page references is in Klarifi.
A capital improvement plan (CIP) is a city’s multi-year budget for building and replacing infrastructure. The water, sewer and wastewater sections list each project with its budget and the years it is funded, which makes them the earliest public signal that a plant, pump station or pipe network is about to be upgraded, usually two to four years before a contract is awarded.
The largest water and sewer projects in Richmond
| # | Project | Department | Type | Budget | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanitary Sewer Upgrade | Sewer | Sewer rehabilitation and I&I | $343M | 2026–2030 |
| 2 | Sanitary Sewers | Sewer | Sewer rehabilitation and I&I | $331M | 2025–2029 |
| 3 | Combined Sewer Overflow | Sewer | Sewer rehabilitation and I&I | $200M | 2026–2030 |
| 4 | Water Utility Distribution System Improvements | Water Distribution | Water mains and distribution | $162M | 2026–2030 |
| 5 | Wastewater Treatment | Wastewater | Wastewater treatment plant upgrades | $139M | 2025–2029 |
| 6 | Water Distribution System Improvements | Water Distribution | Water mains and distribution | $120M | 2025–2029 |
| 7 | Water Plant & Pumping Improvements | Water Distribution | Water treatment plants | $60M | 2026–2030 |
| 8 | Wastewater Treatment | Wastewater | Wastewater treatment plant upgrades | $53M | 2026–2030 |
| 9 | Combined Sewer Overflow | Sewer | Sewer rehabilitation and I&I | $50M | 2025–2029 |
| 10 | Water Transmission Main Improvements | Water Distribution | Water mains and distribution | $45M | 2026–2030 |
2 more line items in Richmond, with descriptions and contacts
Klarifi holds every Richmond line item with its description, the page it appears on and the source document, plus 1 verified contact at the city’s treatment plants. Track new plans as they are adopted and compare with similar projects in other cities.
Planned spend by start year
Before 2026
$687M
6 items
2026
$864M
6 items
By department
| Department | Line items | Budget | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wastewater | 2 | $192M | 12% |
| Sewer | 4 | $924M | 60% |
| Water Distribution | 6 | $435M | 28% |
Project types in Richmond's plan
Wastewater treatment plants in Richmond
2 publicly owned treatment plants in Richmond with 31 permit violations in the last three years. Each profile shows flow, permit, technology and compliance data.
| Plant | Avg flow (MGD) | NPDES | Violations (3y) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond WWTP | 63.4 | VAL063177 | 31 |
| Vdot I64 Rest Area - Alleghany | 0.0017 | VA0075574 | 0 |
Other Virginia cities with capital plans
Richmond capital plan questions
Sources and methodology
Budgets and years are as published in Richmond’s capital improvement plan or adopted budget. Klarifi extracts the water, sewer and wastewater line items from the published document, keeps the page reference for each one, and assigns a project type from the title and description with a keyword classifier. Figures are planning budgets, not awarded contracts, and can change when a plan is re-adopted.
Documents: CIP 2026–2030 (6 line items); Adopted Budget 2026 (6 line items).
Data refreshed September 11, 2026.