RiverRenew
The oldest portions of Alexandria rely on a combined sewer system dating back to the 1800s. When they were built, these systems were considered innovative—using a single pipe to carry both sewage and stormwater away from cities and into nearby waterways.
Today, on dry days, those same pipes send sewage to AlexRenew for treatment. But when it rains, even as little as a quarter inch, the system becomes overwhelmed. Combined sewage is forced to overflow into four outfall locations across the city, sending roughly 140 million gallons of untreated combined sewage into local waterways each year.
RiverRenew was designed to change that. By capturing these overflows and conveying them to AlexRenew for treatment, the program will help protect our waterways and support a swimmable and fishable future.
This massive effort began taking shape in 2017, when a Virginia law required Alexandria to remediate its combined sewer system. Shortly afterward, AlexRenew assumed responsibility for the project—taking ownership of the City’s combined sewer outfalls in 2018 and launching the work that would become RiverRenew.
From the beginning, AlexRenew has made community involvement a cornerstone of this program. We’ve worked closely with the City, community partners, civic associations, and multiple stakeholder advisory groups throughout planning and construction. As crews reached major milestones — from welcoming Hazel, our tunnel boring machine, in 2022 to celebrating completion of the Waterfront Tunnel in 2024 — we invited residents and community stakeholders to join our staff in marking these achievements.
We’ve also invested in revitalizing the areas where we’ve worked. At African American Heritage Park, we planted 4,000 native trees and installed new wayfinding signage that highlights Alexandria’s rich African American history. Along Pendleton Street, we created a new waterfront promenade that provides an inviting public space for the community.
In the Spring 2026, RiverRenew entered the final phase of construction, and crews dedicated several months to installing and testing critical equipment throughout our new 12-story underground pumping station. 20 MGD tunnel dewatering pumps (shown above) were tested that will allow AlexRenew to lift water from the new Waterfront Tunnel over 130 feet to the surface. AlexRenew's wet weather pumps were also tested in the Spring — each one of these four enormous pumps is capable of carrying up to 45 million gallons of water each day. RiverRenew is on track to be operational by July 1, 2026.
Use the map below to locate each of the critical components of the RiverRenew tunnel system, and keep an eye out for updates in the RiverRenew Featured News section of this page.
