Nutrient removal: wastewater treatment plants in Virginia
19 plants · 8% of the state · 9 MGD combined
Klarifi identifies 19 publicly owned wastewater treatment plants with nutrient removal in Virginia, 8% of the 224 plants in the state (9 MGD combined). The largest is Richlands Regional WWTF in Richlands at 2.07 MGD.
Nutrient removal takes nitrogen and phosphorus out of the effluent, biologically in anoxic and anaerobic zones or chemically with metal salts. It is driven by permit limits and TMDLs on the receiving water and is the largest upgrade a plant can face, which makes these plants the best-documented market for process equipment and chemicals.
The largest plants with nutrient removal in Virginia
| # | Facility | City | Avg flow (MGD) | NPDES permit | Expires | Violations (3y) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richlands Regional WWTF | Richlands | 2.07 | VAL021199 | Dec 2030 | 1 |
| 2 | Big Stone Gap Regional WWTP | Big Stone Gap | 1.89 | VAL020940 | Dec 2030 | 7 |
| 3 | Wytheville WWTP | Wytheville | 1.71 | VA0020281 | Apr 2029 | 95 |
| 4 | Tazewell Wastewater Plant, Tow | Tazewell | 0.65 | VAL026298 | Dec 2030 | 1 |
| 5 | Pound WWTP | Pound | 0.44 | VA0061913 | Apr 2029 | 16 |
| 6 | Hillsville WWTP | Hillsville | 0.35 | VA0089443 | Oct 2030 | 5 |
| 7 | Fort Chiswell WWTP | Max Meadows | 0.31 | VA0074161 | May 2027 | 0 |
| 8 | Pennington Gap STP | Pennington Gap | 0.28 | VA0029599 | Aug 2030 | 1 |
| 9 | Lee County Psa - Hickory Flats WWTP | Jonesville | 0.26 | VA0089397 | Nov 2026 | 7 |
| 10 | Independence STP | Independence | 0.25 | VA0064424 | Jan 2027 | 1 |
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
Nutrient removal in other states
Nutrient removal 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: Biological nutrient removal · Tertiary treatment · Activated sludge · Significant industrial user · WWTP · all terms