For most in Hampton Roads, flushing a toilet sends sewage into public pipes that flow to plants managed by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. Then the district cleans wastewater before releasing it into local waterways.
But many homeowners, especially in rural areas, use backyard septic systems, which don’t offer the same level of treatment. When they fail or flood, sewage can flow into streams and rivers that feed the Chesapeake Bay, said Ryan Radspinner, a business process engineer with HRSD.
Sewage contains nutrients, such as nitrogen, that pollute the bay by causing harmful blooms of algae that can suffocate marine life.
HRSD is launching a program to incentivize homeowners to abandon septic and move onto the public system.
“There definitely are septic tanks that are within reasonable distances of existing public sewer infrastructure and that is really the target of the program,” Radspinner said.
The sanitation district will reimburse homeowners up to $5,000 in construction costs for the switch, along with waiving one-time connection charges that usually cost at least $2,500.
Once hooked up, property owners will have to start paying monthly sewer fees.
The effort is part of Virginia’s new Pay-For-Outcomes program, which rewards landowners for cutting pollution in the bay.
HRSD received a $1.18 million state grant through the pilot program, which would cover at least 236 connections, particularly in Gloucester County.
The state’s money hinges on results: Property owners are only paid when they can prove their investment is cutting a certain amount of pollution.
“It’s basically a market-based approach” to restoration, Radspinner said.
HRSD’s program is estimated to stop about 71,200 pounds of nitrogen from reaching the bay, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Septic tanks are considered a non-point source of pollution, meaning the pollutants don’t come from a single point, such as a city drain or wastewater plant. Agricultural runoff is another non-point source.
Septic systems in low-lying rural areas of Virginia, including Gloucester, have begun to flood more frequently because of sinking land and rising groundwater levels tied to climate change.
State programs that help people with septic repair have been overwhelmed by demand. Repairing or replacing failing septic tanks, which is required by state law, can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Radspinner hopes HRSD’s program, which is voluntary, can reach homeowners experiencing septic failure or who want to avoid expensive maintenance.
“This is an incentive that we think is attractive to folks that maybe have considered making the connection before, but maybe the expense was too much,” he said.
Participating homes must be located within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which includes the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula; Portsmouth and Norfolk; the western side of the Eastern Shore; and northern parts of Suffolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Western Tidewater.
People interested in participating in the program can contact sewerconnect@hrsd.com.
