Facility Upgrades History

The Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) has served as the primary wastewater treatment system for the Roanoke Valley since 1952. The plant currently serves Botetourt County, the City of Roanoke, the County of Roanoke, the City of Salem and the Town of Vinton. The combination of services into one facility has allowed the Region to enjoy very high levels of treatment and water quality at some of the lowest cost to customers in the Commonwealth.


The WPCP has expanded several times since 1952 as the valley's needs increased. Approximately 30% of the plant's infrastructure is from the original 1952 facility, making these areas over 50 years old. About 60% of the facility was constructed from 1965 to 1975. The major expansion of 1975 was funded primarily through a $30 million dollar federal grant administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The federal grant allowed the region to enjoy a substantial upgrade to the facility's capacity and the level of treatment without a significant local investment. Federal grants for the funding of wastewater infrastructure were ended in the late 1970's.

Another expansion at the facility finished in late 1999. The elements of this expansion represented about 10% of the existing facility. This expansion was extremely aggressive in that it attempted to add a substantial amount of capacity at a fraction of the cost experienced for wastewater projects nationally. The original project intent, as envisioned in 1995, was to provide for a 10-year expansion of the plant.

Many communities face the need to renew and expand existing utility infrastructure due to increased regulations and a strong desire to protect our streams, rivers and lakes. Communities here in Virginia, such as Henrico, Richmond, Lynchburg, Alexandria and other communities throughout the United States, have initiated substantial investments in their wastewater infrastructure in recent years to meet these demands. The Roanoke Valley faces many of these same issues, and like these other communities, initiated projects to begin renewing and expanding our wastewater infrastructure.

The recently completed wet weather improvements project substantially upgraded much of the aging infrastructure at the facility and should position the Water Pollution Control Plant to meet our community's needs for years to come.