Wastewater Challenges in the Rural Alabama Black Belt: Technology and Management Solutions for Underserved Communities

The Black Belt region in central Alabama is characterized by low overall population density, rural character, poverty, lack of economic development, low educational attainment, poor access to health care, a lack of access to managed sewer, and a prevalence of clay-soil conditions that prevent the function of traditional onsite wastewater systems (septic tanks and drain fields). Field surveys in three rural Alabama counties found that nearly 50% of rural residences had raw sewage on the ground surface and 13% used a "straight pipe" to discharge raw sewage from the home to the ground surface. Many of these characteristics leading to unacceptable sanitation conditions are shared by parts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Appalachia, and western Native American tribal lands. The Black Belt region of Alabama has received national and international attention for its lack of access to appropriate wastewater management. Common alternatives for onsite wastewater treatment in poor soil conditions (mounded drain fields and small treatment units costing $5000 or more) are financially unaffordable for most of the Black Belt's population. The geological, technical, regulatory, social, financial, management, and political challenges that have enabled this situation to develop and persist are diverse and complex. Collaborations are underway with state public health and environmental protection agencies, universities, congressional offices, federal agencies, professional organizations, and private companies to identify and develop approaches to address rural wastewater management in the Black Belt of Alabama and beyond: 1. Identify, cost, and prioritize specific wastewater needs for each Black Belt county; 2. Develop, test and catalog viable clustered and onsite wastewater technology options; 3. Explore and define viable funding mechanisms for both capital and O&M costs; 4. Develop cost-effective management strategies for rural wastewater; and 5. Develop guidance for local communities/counties to follow for obtaining funding and implementing sustainable rural wastewater infrastructure.