Wintergreen Mountain STP - Nelson County, Virginia Wastewater Treatment Plant

Wintergreen Mountain STP is a wastewater treatment facility located on Headwaters Lane in Nelson County, Virginia, within the Blue Ridge Mountains. The plant serves a population of about 3,000, primarily supporting the Wintergreen Resort community and surrounding residential areas. As a secondary treatment plant, it provides biological treatment to reduce organic matter and suspended solids before discharge. The plant has a designed capacity of 1,135.62 cubic meters per day and currently treats an average daily flow of 946.35 cubic meters, operating below its capacity. Under the U.S. Clean Water Act, the facility operates under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which sets effluent limits to protect water quality. The treated effluent is discharged into a small stream that flows into the Rockfish River, a tributary of the James River, which ultimately drains into the Chesapeake Bay. The plant's location in a mountainous, forested area means its discharge affects sensitive headwater streams that support diverse aquatic life, including native brook trout. Proper treatment is essential to prevent nutrient enrichment and sedimentation downstream.

The plant discharges into a headwater stream within the Rockfish River watershed, part of the larger James River basin that empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The receiving waters are ecologically sensitive, supporting cold-water fisheries and diverse macroinvertebrate communities. The Chesapeake Bay is a major estuary facing nutrient pollution challenges, so the plant's secondary treatment helps reduce nitrogen and phosphorus loads that could contribute to algal blooms and hypoxia.