Activated sludge and clarifiers: wastewater treatment plants in Virginia
75 plants · 33% of the state · 186 MGD reported by 72 plants
Klarifi identifies 75 publicly owned wastewater treatment plants with activated sludge and clarifiers in Virginia, 33% of the 224 plants in the state (186 MGD reported by 72 plants). The largest is Richmond WWTP in Richmond at 60.7 MGD.
Activated sludge is the standard mechanical process for cities: aeration basins where bacteria consume organic matter, followed by clarifiers that settle the biomass out. These plants are identified by their circular or rectangular clarifiers and by the suspended-growth process code, and they are the main market for blowers, diffusers, clarifier mechanisms and instrumentation.
The largest activated sludge plants in Virginia
| # | Facility | City | Avg flow (MGD) | NPDES permit | Expires | Violations (3y) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond WWTP | Richmond | 60.7 | VAL063177 | Dec 2030 | 31 |
| 2 | Noman M Cole Jr Pollution Control Plant | Lorton | 34.89 | VAL025364 | Dec 2030 | 0 |
| 3 | Arlington County Water Pollution Control Plant | Arlington | 20.89 | VA0025143 | Nov 2024 | 4 |
| 4 | Falling Creek Sewage Treatment Plant Chesterfied County Board | Richmond | 9.61 | VAL024996 | Dec 2030 | 2 |
| 5 | City Of Danville Northside WWTP | Danville | 4.7 | VAL060593 | Dec 2030 | 5 |
| 6 | Front Royal WWTP | Front Royal | 3.82 | VA0062812 | Oct 2028 | 2 |
| 7 | Martinsville STP | Ridgeway | 3.75 | VAL025305 | Dec 2030 | 26 |
| 8 | Peppers Ferry Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant | Radford | 3.67 | VAL062685 | Dec 2030 | 0 |
| 9 | Culpeper Wastewater Treatment Plant | Culpeper | 3.12 | VAL061590 | Dec 2030 | 0 |
| 10 | Middle River Regional WWTP | Verona | 2.99 | VA0064793 | Feb 2031 | 0 |
Contacts and project signals for every plant on this list
Klarifi adds verified decision-maker contacts, permit limits, discharge monitoring data and the capital projects planned in each city, filterable by technology, size and compliance record.
Other technologies in Virginia
Activated sludge and clarifiers in other states
Activated sludge and clarifiers in Virginia: questions
Sources and methodology
Flow, permit and violation figures come from the EPA's ICIS-NPDES discharge monitoring records. Population served comes from the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey 2022. Treatment structures are identified by Klarifi's review of aerial imagery, and capital improvement projects are extracted from published municipal budget documents. Violations are counted over the last three years of monitoring reports.
Data refreshed October 26, 2026.
Wastewater terms: Activated sludge · Biological nutrient removal · Equalization tank · POTW · MGD · all terms