It’s such a different concept, they had to make up a name for it. They called it the Aquiary, an interpretive educational center aimed at children and families, at Broad Run Water Reclamation Facility in Ashburn, Va. The Aquiary introduces water awareness and the value of treatment and conservation with interactive exhibits and displays. It’s just one of the educational and public amenities at the plant, which serves eastern Loudoun County.
Built on the shores of Broad Run, a Potomac River tributary, the 11 mgd (design) plant began operations in May 2008. Loudoun Water moved its headquarters there from Leesburg to be in the heart of the service area and encourage public visits.
Big ideas
The new plant was designed with a campus-like setting. “It creates a welcoming place that invites people to come find out how much water is a part of our daily lives,” says Samantha Villegas, Loudoun Water communications manager. “Knowing what’s coming in the future and in the outlook globally, we want people to start thinking about water as a top-of-mind subject.”
Work began with a citizen advisory board of about 20 people of diverse backgrounds, to plan a multi-use facility. An outdoor trail system links the treatment plant to the administrative offices. The philosophy was to demystify the science behind the process and create a supportive community.
“We thought the trail system was the perfect way to invite the public in,” says Villegas. “We learned there was an active adult community across the street, and we couldn’t have been happier. Our trails provide an ideal place for recreation and fitness walking, and a reflective space for their use. We’ve had visitor groups from there, including residents who are retired engineers. They saw the potential for how we could interact with them and have become a real resource.”
Loudoun Water created the Aquiary (the name came from one of the citizen advisors) for a direct presentation of the scientific concepts behind wastewater treatment.
Making it happen
The trails mirrored the project’s public message. They are paved with fine, packed gravel to remain pervious to rainfall while being ADA accessible. They run a figure-8 around intermittent streams that flow to on-site ponds. The outside trails are open to the public around the clock.
The plant entrance and trailhead lie uphill from the plant outfall, so some effluent is pumped to that point to create a series of runnels coming out of a wall. The water flows into a stone pool surrounded by vegetation. From there, it flows in an intermittent stream throughout the campus, winding among tall grasses and trees. A bridge over the stream interprets the role of intermittent streams in ecology.
Interpretive stations developed by The Design Minds of Alexandria, Va., support messages presented inside the Aquiary. One station is a bioretention basin that shows how nature slows rainfall runoff and cleanses it of pollutants. It contains trees, bushes and smaller plants, which flower in different seasons.
Interpretive signage, an Eagle Scout project, describes the types of plants and mulch used so that visitors can build such basins at home. A station at the engineered outflow discusses water turbidity, clarity and odor in the treatment process. The first station, at the visitor parking lot, offers trail maps and printed guides.
Broad Run staff members with landscaping backgrounds did much of the trail construction, with help from contractors. The total project cost, including exhibit design and fabrication, is about $2 million to date.
Catching on
The property attracts abundant wildlife, some less than welcome. A guano abatement program helps keep the trails clean of Canada goose droppings. Poisonous copperhead snakes swim in the water and ticks live in the tall grass. Tour guides stay informed about such problems to make sure everyone stays safe.
The general public hasn’t yet caught on to the site’s appeal. “We really want to go after the busy family that doesn’t think twice about buying a case of bottled water every week and aren’t environmentally aware,” Villegas says. Her department is creating a video tour of Broad Run to send to area schools, hoping they’ll send students for field trips. They’re even setting aside funds to help get visitors onto the trails at their unique, green haven just off the busy, urban Potomac.
