Welcome to One Water
The VISION of this focus group is healthy, resilient, and sustainable communities supported by optimized and integrate water management
The MISSION of the One Water Focus Group of the VWEA/VA AWWA Utility Management Committee is to promote holistic thinking, awareness, and collaboration to become a One Water resource for the VWEA/VA AWWA membership
Our goals are:
- Inspire holistic thinking about water as a resource
- Promote critical thinking and creativity to boost innovation
- Create learning opportunities for VA AWWA/VWEA members and provide a forum for them to share their experience in the implementation of One Water solutions.
- Provide valuable resources to the VA AWWA/VWEA member community that assist water and wastewater agencies in becoming One Water leaders in their communities.
- Research and communicate local and national One Water initiatives and programs with VA AWWA/VWEA membership
One Water Toolkit
The purpose of the One Water Toolkit is to provide a resource for VWEA/VA AWWA members to proactively stimulate interest in One Water and engage the Water/Wastewater community through learning and collaboration.
What is One Water
Water is our world’s most precious resource and essential to everything we do. No matter who we are, where we live, or what we do, water connects all of us. One Water is embracing the belief that water in all its forms has value—water in our lakes, seas, rivers, and streams, drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater—the full water life cycle can be optimized to build strong economies, vibrant communities, and healthy environments. All water has value and should be managed in a sustainable, inclusive, integrated way.
- One Water Overview Presentation - One Water Overview Presentation by VWEA/VA AWWA’s Utility Management Committee’s One Water Focus Group
- One Water Culture and Leadership - One Water Culture and Leadership Workshop presented by VWEA/VA AWWA’s Utility Management Committee’s One Water Focus Group
One Water In Action - Case Studies
- HRSD SWIFT Program – SWIFT is an innovative water treatment project in eastern Virginia designed to further protect the region’s environment, enhance the sustainability of the region’s long-term groundwater supply and help address environmental pressures such as Chesapeake Bay restoration, sea-level rise, and saltwater intrusion. SWIFT takes highly treated water that would otherwise be discharged into the Elizabeth, James, or York rivers and puts it through additional rounds of advanced water treatment to meet drinking water quality standards. The SWIFT Water is then added to the Potomac Aquifer, the primary source of groundwater throughout eastern Virginia.
- DC Water Green Infrastructure Plan – As part of the DC Clean Rivers Project, DC Water included a Green Infrastructure to help reduce the reliance on the traditional “gray” infrastructure approach to reducing combined sewer overflows.
- AlexRenew’s Reclaimed Water Program – AlexRenew has developed a reclaimed water program that makes quality water available for non-potable uses in the City of Alexandria.
- Fairfax County’s Water Reuse Project – Fairfax County’s treated wastewater is distributed from the Noman Cole Pollution Control Plant to nearby irrigation and industrial uses
- Loudoun Water Reclaimed Water Program and Reuse Exploration - Since 2010 Loudoun Water has been using reclaimed water to meet industry needs. Their reclaimed water distribution system consists of 20 miles of pipeline and serves more than 40 facilities. The program is designed to save precious potable water while reducing nutrients discharged to the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay.
- Anne Arundel County, Maryland’s Our Water Program – Anne Arundel County’s Clean Water program strengthens water resiliency by using an integrated approach to nutrient reduction, stormwater management, and groundwater supply sustainability
- Pittsburgh Region One Water Case Study - This case study focuses on the transition towards a One Water approach to water management at a regional scale of Pittsburgh and its surrounding 83 municipalities. The case study examined the drivers, institutional challenges, initiatives, and lessons learned from water and government institutions located in the Pittsburgh region
- Tualatin River Watershed One Water Approach - Learn about how water resources are protected in the Tualatin River Watershed together with cities, businesses, agriculture, and environmental partners. Explore the One Water Cycle and follow the many paths water can take. From rain to the river and from homes and businesses, through pipe systems, treatment facilities, and back to the environment to be used again, this is one water.
- Sydney Decentralized Water Master Plan - Sydney is a rapidly growing city with a high rate of urban consolidation. It has concerns about: Water supply security under climate change, River and harbor water quality, The high percentage of aging network infrastructure. Drivers for action include a commitment by the city to environmental leadership, recognition that climate change is likely to increase both water scarcity and flooding, and concerns about the city’s livability and economic vitality.
Other Resources
- US Water Alliance One Water Roadmap - The Sustainable Management of Life’s Most Essential Resource
- One Water Change Leadership for Utilities, Six Essential Capacities
- Institutional Issues for One Water Management, WRF Project #4487, 2015
- Blueprint for One Water, WRF Project #4660, 2017
- Pathways to One Water: A Guide for Institutional Innovation, WRF Project #1745, 2015
- One Water Cities: Development Guidance and Assessment Metric, WRF Project #4969, 2020
- Leveraging the Role of Pretreatment Programs in One Water Initiatives: Synthesis of Best Practices and Path Forward, WRF Project #4971, 2020
- Brave Blue World – Film and foundation that explores the technologies and innovations that have the potential to solve the world’s water crisis