The Charles County Commissioners and the Charles County Department of Health are pleased to announce that grant funding will be available to homeowners wishing to upgrade their on-site sewage disposal system with nitrogen removal capability. The grant funding will also pay for the first five years of maintenance. These funds are made available through the fees paid to the Bay Restoration Fund by owners of on-site sewage disposal systems.

Why upgrade your on-site sewage disposal system? Traditional on-site sewage disposal systems, as installed in Charles County over the past 100 years, protect human health by disposing of wastewater effluent below the ground surface, thereby limiting human and animal contact. These systems do not remove nitrogen. Nitrogen is discharged with the effluent into the soil and then migrates with groundwater into nearby stream channels, as well as local estuaries, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay, causing the over enrichment of unwanted nutrients.

Many waterways in Charles County are experiencing a decline in water quality due to over enrichment of unwanted nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. This over enrichment affects the health of shellfish and fin fish, and limits recreational use of the waterways. The major contributors to nutrient discharge into local waterways are wastewater effluent, and urban and agricultural run-off.

Upgrading your on-site sewage disposal system with nitrogen removal capability will help Charles County take an important step towards improving local water quality and providing a healthier environment for shellfish, fin-fish, and recreational users of the waterways.

Please consider doing your part to help protect our waterways by letting us know you would like to be considered for the grant funds by submitting a pre-application form. This form is available at the Charles County Department of Health, 4545 Crain Highway, White Plains, or on the Charles County Department of Health*s web site at www.charlescountyhealth.org.

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact the Charles County Department of Health at 301-609-6751.

February 20, 2007