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Rising Sun explores grants, low-pressure sewer systems to address aging water lines and septic complaints
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Summary
Commissioner Pauline Braun’s submitted report, read at the meeting, said the town is receiving septic- and well-related inquiries from outside the town and will pursue grants to replace undersized water lines; the planning commission has reviewed low-pressure sewer systems as an alternative to costly pump stations.
Town Administrator Bonhamberger read a report submitted by Commissioner Pauline Braun on March 25 saying the town has received about 10 inquiries in the past three months from county residents experiencing problems with septic systems and wells and that the town will pursue grant funding to replace undersized water lines in older parts of town.
Bonhamberger, reading Commissioner Braun’s report, said the town will “begin looking into revisiting some grants that we tried to secure many, many years ago regarding the undersized water lines” and recalled by memory that the prior grant application covered “upwards of about 10,000 lineal feet” of undersized pipe. The report identified the Maryland Department of the Environment as a likely grant source for the next round of applications.
The report also summarized recent planning commission discussion of low-pressure sewer systems, which use small grinder pumps at individual properties to move sewage into a pressurized collection system rather than relying on large municipal pump stations. Bonhamberger said low-pressure systems can reduce up-front town infrastructure costs because they can avoid construction and long-term maintenance of pump stations. The town’s current wastewater infrastructure is gravity-based and, she said, “the town has a benefit of not having any pump stations.”
Why it matters: if the town obtains grant funding and adopts low-pressure solutions where feasible, residents in older neighborhoods could see fewer water-main breaks and reduced need for large municipal pump stations and the ongoing costs and maintenance those stations require.
Details and caveats: the 10,000 lineal feet figure was described in the meeting as recalled “by memory” from an earlier grant application; the precise scope will be verified during grant preparation. Commissioners and staff noted that installing and maintaining pump stations would add long-term electrical and maintenance costs for the town.
Next steps: staff and commissioners said they will pursue state grant opportunities and continue evaluating low-pressure systems as a potential solution for areas where gravity service or full municipal sewer would be costly or impractical.
