The EPA loaned $12 million to New Castle County for wastewater improvement projects as a part of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.
The funds will go toward the first phase of a program to build wastewater systems that supports the Christina River Force Sewer Main, which serves about 330 thousand people.
The current pipe dates to the 70s and 80s and needs maintenance. The new pipe will take on some of the load to allow that to happen without service interruptions or overflowing.
New Castle County Department of Public Works engineering manager Eric Laramore said those pipes run to the Wilmington wastewater treatment plant.
“Consider like the I-95… The criticality is, it is the aorta of our system, right?” Laramore said. “Everything goes through here – almost everything. So on a day like today, dry, no rain, anywhere from 50 to 60 million gallons a day.”
On a rainy day, that number can double or even triple, reaching 100 or 150 million gallons of wastewater processed in one day, according to Laramore.
New Castle County Department of Public Works senior manager Jason Zern said people don’t recognize the importance of a well-functioning sewer system.
“It really is one of the most critical public assets of any developed area,” Zern said. “It's certainly important for public health, environmental health, it's important to promote economic development.”
Zern added that New Castle County’s sewer system really does rely on this singular piping system, and it needs to be maintained.
Oftentimes, wastewater project teams struggle to find funding. While wastewater systems are a crucial piece of modern society, Zern said he thinks part of the reason these projects have a hard time getting off the ground is because they’re taboo.
“People don't want to talk about it,” Zern said. “I mean, who does want to talk about sewer? But the only time it really becomes important to people seems to be when it's not working properly.”
Zern is working on educating the public about how important this work is and advocating for preventive solutions as opposed to reactive solutions.