Stories of Progress in Achieving Healthy Waters

U.S. EPA Region 3 Water Protection Division

Dover, Delaware • July 21, 2016

Three mobile home communities in Dover, Delaware, now have a sewer line financed through EPA after their failing septic systems had triggered public health concerns and state enforcement action.

The new gravity wastewater collection system has eliminated the equivalent of 117 septic systems and provided significantly higher levels of wastewater treatment prior to discharge.

The former on-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems at the Oak Grove Estates, Grandview Mobile Home Park and M&S Mobile Home Park in East Dover were in need of constant maintenance and repair.

The parks border an unnamed tributary of Morgan Branch, which drains to the St. Jones River and into the Delaware Bay.

The faulty systems had created sewer backups and overflows and had prompted an enforcement order from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) requiring the parks to be connected to central sewer service.

The faulty systems had created sewer backups and overflows and had prompted an enforcement order from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) requiring the parks to be connected to central sewer service.

The systems were in such bad shape that prior to the new construction Kent County had to pump out and haul sewage from the systems on a weekly basis.

Kent County received $1.4 million through DNREC from EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund to construct the sewer project. The bulk of those funds - $1 million – were essentially a grant, while the remainder were provided in the form of a low-interest loan.

The work consisted of 9,000 feet of sewer pipe, the upgrade of an existing pumping station acquired from the City of Dover, and other repairs. The wastewater is now conveyed from the mobile home parks and nearby lots to the Kent County Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility for advanced treatment that includes nutrient removal.

The project, initiated by Kent County, is “providing a cleaner and safer environment” for the residents of the mobile home parks, according to Andy Riggi, engineering project manager for the Kent County Public Works Department.

• Sewer Connection Solves Mobile Home Health Threats (PDF)(1 pg, 371 K, 07/21/2016)
  Three mobile home communities in Dover, Delaware, now have a sewer line financed through EPA after their failing septic systems had triggered public health concerns and state enforcement action