Appomattox River Water Authority
About ARWA

Appomattox River Water Authority
The Appomattox River Water Authority was formed in the 1960s to own/operate a regional water supply and sell drinking water to the cities of Colonial Heights and Petersburg as well as Chesterfield, Dinwiddie and Prince George counties. The Authority completed construction of the reservoir, treatment plant and pipelines in late 1967 and began delivering water to the customers in January 1968.

The original treatment plant had a rated capacity of 22 million gallons per day (mgd) and two expansions have increased the capacity first to 46 mgd in the early 1980s and then to 96 mgd in 2007.

The Authority participates in the Partnership For Safe Water program which is sponsored by the American Water Works Association, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Association of Water Companies, and the Water Research Foundation. The drinking water quality standards for participation in this program are stricter than the regular standards of either the EPA or the Virginia Department of Health. ARWA is one of only two water plants in Virginia that has received the Directors Award for compliance with these standards for ten or more consecutive years.


Service Area

Service Area Map

Key Chesterfield County

City of Colonial Heights

Dinwiddie County

City of Petersburg

Prince George County


Board of Directors
Chairman Thomas L. Mattis, City Manager, Colonial Heights
Vice-Chairman William E. Johnson, III, City Manager, Petersburg
Secretary/Treasurer Percy C. Ashcraft, County Administrator, Prince George County
Assistant Secretary/Treasurer W. Kevin Massengill, County Administrator, Dinwiddie County
Other Members James J. L. Stegmaier, County Administrator, Chesterfield County


Management Staff
Robert C. Wichser, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, Executive Director, Appomattox River Water Authority and South Central Wastewater Authority
James C. Gordon, Assistant Executive Director, Appomattox River Water Authority and South Central Wastewater Authority
Melissa B. Wilkins Accounting/Office Manager
Michael Callen, Operations Manager
Raymond J. Burpoe, Maintenance Manager, Appomattox River Water Authority and South Central Wastewater Authority
Gerald L. Martin, Chief of Maintenance, Appomattox River Water Authority and South Central Wastewater Authority
Novelle C. Wilkerson, Laboratory Manager, Appomattox River Water Authority and South Central Wastewater Authority


Appomattox River Water Authority
21300 Chesdin Road Petersburg, Virginia 23803
Phone: (804) 590-1145 | FAX: (804) 590-9285
Contact: info@arwava.org
© 2010 by The Appomattox River Water Authority  |  Web design by IIr Associates, Inc.
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