If we want clean water, there are choices to be made

On Saturday, July 9, the residents living in the communities around Herring Creek and Guinea Creek will have the opportunity to vote for cleaner water flowing into Rehoboth Bay.

There are not many places I've paddled my kayak where I am leery of jumping into the water, but Herring Creek is one of them. These creeks are dirty. They are polluted. Water quality monitoring data from DNREC and the University of Delaware Citizen Monitoring Program indicate bacteria levels in Herring and Guinea creeks consistently exceed safe swimming standards. Nitrogen pollution is also very high, so the water is murky and full of algae.

One source of the pollutants are the septic tanks of the 713 homes in Herring Creek Estates, Brandywood, Pinewater Farm and Winding Creek Village - all located off Route 24 in the Angola area. Each year these homes discharge an estimated 16,400 pounds of nitrogen to ground water on its way to the creeks and bay. Hooking up to the proposed Herring Creek Sanitary Sewer District will reduce this pollution by 75 percent or 10,000 pounds per year.

Even a well-maintained conventional septic system cannot match the level of treatment that can be done by a wastewater treatment plant.

Removing these septic systems will immediately contribute cleaner, clearer water to our creeks and bays. It will help reduce algae in the water so that light can once again reach the bottom and allow bay grasses to return, providing habitat for fish and crabs.

Time is running out for many of the septic systems in these communities. Every septic system has a limited lifespan. Of the 713 homes in the proposed sewer district, over 40 percent of the septic systems were installed more than 25 years ago and may be past or approaching their functioning lifespan. When a home is sold, the septic system must be inspected. If it fails inspection, it must be repaired or replaced with an enhanced pollution-removal septic system.

Another point to consider is the impact of sea level rise on septic systems. Sea level rise is accelerating and with the local ground water table is rising. This will impair the function of low-lying septic systems to remove pollutants.

While there are costs to hooking up to sewer, the life-cycle expenses of hooking up now are about equal to or slightly less than eventually replacing failed septic systems with enhanced pollution-removal systems.

This issue is bigger than restoring clean water to Herring Creek, Guinea Creek and Rehoboth Bay. This is a public health and quality of life issue for this place we call home. If we want clean water, there are choices to be made.

The people around Herring Creek get to make their choice when Sussex County holds a referendum on the proposed Herring Creek Sewer District July 9.

Chris Bason is executive director of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays.