Hampton Roads Sanitation Division has received the U.S. Water Prize from the U.S. Water Alliance for its SWIFT water recycling initiative.

The U.S. Water Prize, awarded to HRSD in the public sector category, celebrates “outstanding achievement in the advancement of sustainable, integrated, and inclusive solutions to water challenges,” a press release stated. 

SWIFT is a water treatment project that takes HRSD’s already highly treated water, traditionally discharged into the Elizabeth, James or York rivers, and puts it through additional rounds of advanced water treatment to produce drinking-quality water.

This water is then treated to match the existing groundwater chemistry and added to the Potomac Aquifer, the primary source of groundwater throughout eastern Virginia, HRSD said.

The program is designed to ensure a sustainable source of groundwater, said the release, while also addressing environmental challenges such as Chesapeake Bay restoration, sea level...