Millard Robbins was born and reared in Pennington Gap, a town in the southwest corner of Virginia. In the 1950s, he traveled to Virginia Tech to study general science and march with the Highty-Tighties regimental band.



After earning his bachelor's degree in 1956, Millard worked at the Virginia Tech Engineering Experiment Station on a project sponsored by the pulp and paper industry. The project entailed research on the biological treatment of pulp and paper wastewaters, color reduction in pulp wastewaters, and development and improvement of analytical techniques for pollutant measurement. Millard also provided consulting services on wastewater treatment, in-plant process control for pollution abatement and receiving stream evaluations to pulp and paper mills in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.



Mr. Robbins joined the Virginia State Water Control Board (SWCB) in 1961 and opened the agency's first Blacksburg regional office. He once again became a Virginia Tech student and completed his M.S. in environmental science and engineering in 1965, at the same time managing SWCB activities in southwestern Virginia. In 1969, "after 17 wonderful years in Blacksburg," he moved to Richmond to become Director of the agency's Pollution Abatement Division. This division was responsible for insuring the development and proper operation of all domestic and industrial wastewater treatment systems in the Commonwealth.



In 1974 Mr. Robbins was appointed Executive Director of the newly formed Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority (UOSA), which was created to provide state-of-the-art wastewater reclamation to preserve the Occoquan Reservoir as a major public water supply in northern Virginia. Millard oversaw the design, construction, start-up, operation and expansion of the wastewater reclamation facilities (WRF) over the next 26 years.



At start-up, UOSA was a unique full-scale application of advanced treatment technology for reclaiming wastewater in order to protect water quality and supplement the yield of a critical surface water resource. UOSA's original treatment capacity of 10 million-gallons-per-day (mgd) has been incrementally expanded to a current capacity of 54 mgd. In the process, the facility has increased the safe water supply yield of the Occoquan Reservoir from 60 mgd to more than 100 mgd.



Under Mr. Robbins' leadership, the UOSA WRF has become an international model for excellence and a demonstration of the potential for water reclamation. As an illustration of the worldwide recognition of the pre-eminence of the facility in water reclamation practice, UOSA has hosted scientists and government officials from every state in the U.S. and more than 70 foreign countries. UOSA and Water Factory 21 in California have served as the models for most of the 20th century development of water reclamation practice in the nation. The Republic of Singapore recently used UOSA and Water Factory 21 as models for development of a full-scale reclamation system called NeWater.



Mr. Robbins also has been active in key professional societies concerned with water reclamation, including the American Waterworks Association (AWWA) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF). He has authored and co-authored numerous professional papers and was a co-author of the 1998 Special Publication, Using Reclaimed Water to Augment Potable Water Resources, published by AWWA and WEF.



On his retirement in 2000, Millard was honored by the UOSA Board of Directors, which renamed the WRF the Millard H. Robbins, Jr. Regional Water Reclamation Plant.



Throughout his career, Millard has maintained close ties with the Via Department and has employed many of its graduates. He also is a devoted follower of Virginia Tech sports, a long-time football season ticket holder and a Golden Hokie.



Millard and his wife Rachel reside in Manassas, Virginia, and have two children-Karen and Richard-and four grandchildren-Brice, Alexandra, Carter and Rachel Haley. Karen and her husband Clark Coe are Virginia Tech graduates and their son Brice entered the university this fall semester.