Recent rain was a welcome sight for Delaware farmers, but Larry Jester isn’t just looking to the skies for help. He's benefitting from a pilot program this summer that recycles Middletown’s wastewater to irrigate crops. Jester says the new water source makes a huge difference.
“It could help save a crop. It could definitely help save a crop,” said Jester.
The program developed after the General Assembly passed a law in 2009 allowing farmers to accept reclaimed wastewater. A task force then brought together the farmers, the Town of Middletown, Artesian Water, and two state agencies, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the Department of Agriculture, to work out the regulatory and engineering details of the pilot program.
Under the system they designed, treated wastewater is pumped to Jester and to fellow participants in the program, Middletown farmers Dennis and Morgan Clay, to use for irrigation.
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“They pump it to the property line, and we take it from there and spray it on the crops,” Jester explained.
He estimates that the process cuts his cost of irrigation by more than half.
“You still have to buy the system. You still have to pay for the electricity to have around the farms. But you do not have to have the electricity to pump the water, and sometimes that can be as high as two-thirds the cost of irrigating,” Jester said.
And in periods without rain, Jester doesn’t have to wait for a good weather forecast.
"We are pumping with wells also. When you pump two and a half days, you can see your pressure drop, your water tables drop, and eventually you will have to stop,” Jester said. The new system doesn't provide unlimited water, he notes, "but it keeps coming, . . . and you’re not depleting your wells."
The program, launched in May, was well-timed.
“We ran into an incredibly dry time, so we could see the benefits already,” said Delaware Agriculture Secretary Edwin Kee. “It's another source of water. It’s recycling water, so we’re not diminishing our supply.”
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DNREC secretary Collin O’Mara adds recycling wastewater this way can also help replenish water supplies as the water used in irrigation returns to the environment.
“Thirty percent or more of the wastewater used for irrigation slowly filters back into the groundwater, and as it's doing that it's purified naturally in the land," noted O’Mara. “So it can contribute back to our local stream flows and our drinking water supplies. It also returns water back to the watershed for the crops themselves. It reduces the amount of withdraw we need and protects our reclaimed water."
Kee believes this pilot program can be reproduced across the state. He says farmers in Sussex County are looking at it.
"There are 60 public or private water utilities throughout the state," Kee said. "There are applications that can be figured out for virtually all of them, and I am optimistic about that. Some will be bigger than others,some will use more water, some will use less water. It’s all within the realm of possibility.”
But there are issues to be addressed, starting with the cost.
“The cost to get the water from the wastewater treatment plant to the farms is several hundred thousand dollars, and typically an irrigation system is $60,000 to $100,000 dollars for the farmers’ investment,” said Kee.
The cost of the pilot program to the Town of Middletown was folded into an overall capital improvement plan for its wastewater treatement plant. Mayor Kenneth Branner estimates that at approximately $8.5 million. The treatment plan will allow Middletown to treat up to 6 million gallons of wastewater a day, accommodating current needs and future needs, including wastewater treatment contracts with New Castle County and Odessa.
Jester wonders if other towns will be able to match Middletown’s effort.
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“The town has spent a lot of money to get here. And I don’t know that the other towns in Delaware can do that. They filtered it down very clean and it was relatively easy for us, but we went to a lot of meetings and did a lot of legwork,” said Jester.
Another consideration is the process of treating the wastewater. What works in Middletown won’t necessarily work elsewhere.
"The soil in Middletown is different than the sands in Sussex County, so that’s an example of things we have to work out,” observed Kee. “We have to be environmentally aware of the nutrient loading on those sandy soils.”
State officials believe finding solutions to these issues is worth it in the long term. O’Mara estimates using recycled wastewater for irrigation can save $20,000 per 100 acres of farmland and reduce the carbon footprint between 17 hundred and 43 hundred pounds, depending on how wet or dry the year is.
“In the state of Delaware, there are 60 private and municipal wastewater facilities. They produce about 10 billion gallons of reclaimed water annually. That’s enough to cover 33,000 acres of land. Assuming that we can save $20 to 40,000, depending on the conditions, for every 100 acres of land, it could be a $6 million savings to farmers,” said O’Mara. “That’s a great way to stay profitable in these tough economic times and make sure we have a vibrant agriculture community for generations to come."