Wastewater
Since 2014 the Council has been working to position the town to take advantage of potential funding opportunities in order to strengthen our infrastructure and better protect the town against coastal storm damage. The Town Council’s intent is that Sussex County explore those funding opportunities on our behalf, and establish a sewer district to construct and maintain a centralized system that serves the Town of Slaughter Beach.
SEWER PROJECT UPDATE: January 17, 2024:
Davis, Bowen and Friedel have placed stakes with small flags along all roads within the Town limits to signify location for vacuum valve pits. Once this was completed, the Sussex County Engineering Department are sending letters to individual property owners advising where the vacuum valve pit would be placed outside their home and request contract agreement.
Project Manager: Paul Mauser, P.E., Assistant County Engineer
If you have questions about this project you can email the County at: SlaughterBeachSewer@sussexcountyde.gov
Or via mail at: Sussex County Engineering Department, 2 The Circle, PO Box 589, Georgetown, DE 19947
All correspondence must include your Parcel ID Number so your location can easily be identified. Your Parcel ID Number is located on both your Sussex County and Slaughter Beach tax bill. Or you can do a web search at: https://property.sussexcountyde.gov/PT/maps/mapadv.aspx
Previously asked questions and answers can be found here: Questions and Answers in Red
Sewer Project Update – Rescheduled Date Meet the Sussex County EngineerSaturday, March 16, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.
The meeting will be held in person at the Memorial Fire Company – Dining Room andvia ZoomMeet the Sussex County Engineer working on the Slaughter Beach Sewer Project. A Q&A session will follow a presentation. This is a great opportunity to have your questions answered directly by those involved in the design and installation of the project.
Please note the deadline for the signed documents regarding the vacuum value pit placement on your property originally due to be returned in early March has been extended to March 30th.
Minutes from that meeting can be found here: 03-16-24 SB Sewer Mtg FINAL
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The Environmental report and Preliminary Engineering report can be found here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gwokh44rk5jn3r3/AADF8nmKumZ-bvMEAfSeOIHKa?dl=0
Presentations from the special Town Meeting
Slaughter Beach Public Presentation 06072021
DNREC Links
https://dnrec.alpha.delaware.gov/water/groundwater/septic-systems/
jULY 2012 – PREPARING FOR TOMORROW’S HIGH TIDE, SEA LEVEL RISE VULNERABIITY ASSESSMENT FOR THE STATE OF DELAWARE
http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/coastal/Documents/SeaLevelRise/FinalAdaptationPlanasPublished.pdf
2018 – TOWN OF SLAUGHTER BEACH, COASTAL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT AND ADAPTATION OPTIONS
Town of Slaughter Beach Coastal Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Options(1)
Frequently Asked Questions: 7-14-2012 Frequently asked questions
Establish a sewer system owned and operated by Sussex County to serve the Town of Slaughter Beach.
LEGAL AUTHORITY
Establishing a centralized sewer system requires the approval of both the Sussex County Council and the Town Council of the Town of Slaughter Beach. Pursuant to 9 Del. C. § 6501, the Sussex County Council is authorized to establish a sanitary sewer district to serve incorporated areas when it will be “conducive to the preservation of the public health.” If the Sussex County Council refuses to establish a sanitary sewer district to serve the Town, there’s nothing the Town will be able to do about that. However, if Sussex County is willing to establish a sanitary sewer district that will serve the Town of Slaughter Beach, that can only be done with the approval of the Slaughter Beach Town Council. As outlined in 9 Del. C. § 6703, no sewer system “shall be constructed or maintained within the boundaries of any city or town situated in the County without the consent of such city or town . . . . The consent shall be given only by an ordinance adopted by the council or other governing body of the city or town in question, but once given shall be irrevocable.”
Update January 1, 2025
The following is a rough outline of the planned sewer project for Slaughter Beach as outlined in the December 2024 Town Council meeting by Hans Medlarz.
Timing:
* Engineering completion is expected by year end 2024
* Bidding for construction at the end of 1st quarter of 2025
* Construction at end of 2nd quarter of 2025 (unless supplemental funding is required)
Estimated construction completion 15-18 months after construction begins, which would put it at approximately beginning of 2027.These (above) dates are estimates and may be updated/changed as the project proceeds towards completion. There is no guarantee that these dates will be correct. There are strong possibilities that they may be generous, and there are strong possibilities that delays may occur.
Overview of Pod & vent location in relation to homes & new info on “upstream” responsibility by County:
*· Pods – are “tanks” on private property close to the sewer vacuum main. The pod locations had been initially and staked throughout the Town. They were later refined through site visits. By this time, all property owners should have either signed off on the initial location or met with Sussex County engineering to discuss alternate locations. The County will be approaching owners who do not fit in either category.
*· These pods are buried and placement on the property depends primarily on distance from home (depth is dependent upon gravity feed from home). These pods will have a traffic bearing “lid” that is approximately 2-3 feet in diameter preferably located in a spot that is protected from vehicles driving over the lid.
o Shared pods – The majority of locations within the Town will have a shared pod with a neighbor. Pods can manage up to 4 individual properties, however all but one pod within the community have no more than 2 properties sharing the pod
o Individual pods – Some locations warrant an individual pod due to location constrain
o Both shared and individual serviced pods will have a cleanout location for each connected property “upstream” (towards the home) typically, some 10-25 feet from the pod. This will allow the County to assume maintenance responsibility for the 6-inch shared lateral service line up to cleanout location. This should mollify most concerns by property owners regarding shared pods and any potential for neighbors’ (shared) system backing up their system.
* There are a few properties within the Town that have a distance of over 200′ from home to pod location. In these few instances, the gravity feed to the pod would require the pod to have too much depth to be installed in conjunction with the main sewer line below the street. In these instances, the County will work with the property owner to either install the pods closer to the house or create a staging tank the owner can pump into
* Venting – attached are images of vents used in Lochwood (in Lewes) using a similar vacuum sewer system.
*Location of lines in SB roads:
– Bay Ave – under the center of the eastern (north bound) lane
·- Beach Plum – under the eastern ½ of the road
– Passwaters – under the eastern ½ of the road
·- Sawyer – under the northern ½ of the road
General notes:
*Permitting process has started
* Vacuum pump station (pulling waste from homes to pump) & building to be located at western end of Memorial Fire Co property adjacent to Slaughter Beach Road.
·* Pressure pump to be located in same building to push waste to next pump station west of Town.
* Homeowners responsible for plumbing to clean out upstream of pod.
* Upon completion of system implementation, homeowners are responsible for removing or simply filing in existing septic tanks and any voluntary drain field removal.
* Some homeowners are grouping together to find plumbing and excavation firms in order to reduce costs and have a higher degree of comfort level with the contractor(s).
Pit Installation
