Blog

Jan 25, 2024

Award

The Prince William County Service Authority’s H.L. Mooney Advanced Water

The Prince William County Service Authority's H.L. Mooney Advanced Water Reclamation Facility in Woodbridge has earned the 2022 Facility Maintenance Award from the Virginia Water Environment Association for its Oil Analysis Program. The award recognizes the facility for its outstanding performance in maintaining its wastewater treatment equipment and processes.

Through its Oil Analysis Program and working with a contractor, staff at the Woodbridge facility conduct an analysis of oil used in its machinery twice a year. This analysis helps determine the ideal time between oil changes for specialized equipment, which can be longer or shorter than manufacturers’ recommendations.

"The success of this program relies greatly upon the skill of the maintenance staff who are consistently taking these samples and maintaining the equipment," said Water Reclamation Maintenance Manager Aaron Weatherspoon. "We anticipate that this program will increase the life of our equipment and benefit both our customers and the environment."

Based on testing results, staff can lengthen the time between oil changes on some machines, saving money while reducing the strain on natural resources. To date, the Oil Analysis Program has reduced oil consumption at the Mooney AWRF facility by an estimated 2,500 gallons.

The testing also found that some equipment requires more frequent oil changes than recommended. Service Authority employees are now changing the oil in those machines more frequently, which is expected to extend the life of the equipment and reduce maintenance costs.

The H.L. Mooney Advanced Water Reclamation Facility, at 1861 Rippon Boulevard in Woodbridge, treats up to 24 million gallons of wastewater per day, meeting or exceeding federal and state standards. After treatment at Mooney, the reclaimed wastewater is released into Neabsco Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River.

The Prince William County Service Authority provides clean drinking water and reliable wastewater service to more than 380,000 residents and businesses in Prince William County, the second-largest locality in Virginia. Service Authority treats 9.8 billion gallons of wastewater annually and distributes 10.5 billion gallons of water annually.