The new HRSD sewage pump station on Main Street in Mathews went online last month, serving 180 residential connections and 120 business connections.

Leila Rice, director of communications for the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, said that some of the residential connections serve more than one residence, and that the district has ensured that the new station can accommodate future projected flows from every parcel within the sanitary district, based on the current zoning. In addition, she said, there is some room for expansion if the county were to decide to expand the sanitary district.

According to the project plan provided by Rice, the new station contains an upgraded computer system that allows for remotely gathering and analyzing data and providing operational control in real time.

Asked whether the new station would increase rates for customers, Rice said that regional wastewater rates are assessed annually by the HRSD Commission, and that the commission chose not to increase rates for the current fiscal year, which began on July 1.

The new station replaces a vacuum pump station located off Buckley Hall Road on property adjacent to Hands Across Mathews. Rice said that station was built in 1969 and had reached the end of its useful life. Preplanning for its replacement began in January 2016, and construction on the new station began last year.

While the old station will be demolished, said Rice, the property it is on will still be encumbered by vacuum lines and a force main.