Sewer, Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems & Total Maximum Daily Load

Sewer

All residents of New Garden have access to clean water. So, when we use it or pollute it where does it go? New Garden Township has three systems to reduce pollutants entering its streams. The most familiar is a local septic system that captures solid waste from a household or business and directs the associated liquid waste into a nearby drain field which in turn cleans it before entering into the underground water reservoir. Most houses built in the township before 1980 have this system. The Township requires the solids to be pumped once every three years, which are then deposited in a landfill or destined for other uses. Local septic systems effectively prevent polluted water from entering streams.

The second most common wastewater system is the municipal sewer system which captures and processes both solid and liquid sewer waste. Most houses built in the township after 1980 are connected to this system. New Garden utilizes three sewer systems, indicated by a green star on the map. The solids are collected, processed, and deposited in a landfill and the liquid waste is treated and then sprayed onto open space land. Municipal sewer systems effectively prevent polluted water from entering streams.

MS4

The third system is the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems, or "MS4". It is as big as the township itself because it handles stormwater. Its goal is to reduce and prevent ground pollutants carried by rainwater from entering the streams of New Garden's two watersheds, the Red Clay and White Clay, that drain into the Christina River and eventually the Delaware Bay. Its goal is to improve the nation's waterways starting from the smallest streams to the largest rivers, lakes, and bays.

Stormwater enters a stream in two ways: point sources and nonpoint sources. The point source is any stormwater exiting a pipe, ditch, or culvert. These sources, known as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) are annually reviewed and "permitted". New Garden Township receives its NPDES permit from Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection.

Nonpoint stormwater pollution is more challenging to control. It is caused by the daily activities of people everywhere. Whenever rainwater and snowmelt drain off from streets, lawns, farms, and construction and industrial sites it pick up fertilizers, dirt, pesticides, oil and grease, and many other pollutants on their way to creeks, ponds, and streams that drain into New Garden's two watersheds. Nonpoint stormwater runoff is the most common cause of water pollution in the township's watersheds. The best control for nonpoint sources is educating the Township's residents and businesses about the source of stormwater pollution.

TMDLs

The number of pollutants entering the township's stormwater system (MS4), and therefore its streams, has a threshold determined by its Total Maximum Daily Load or "TMDL". New Garden Township annually provides reports to the EPA on its efforts and progress to minimize stormwater pollutants (TMDLs) for all its waterways. Essentially these reports document and advocate New Garden's efforts to incorporate "Best Management Practice" or "BMP" by all of its residents, businesses, infrastructure, buildings, roads, agriculture, and everything else that can impact stormwater runoff into streams. To assist the Township's efforts to monitor and effect its clean water the EPA has six Minimum Control Measures "MCM" to be followed to a "maximum extent possible" or "MEP". When implemented in concert, they are expected to result in significant reductions of pollutants discharged into receiving waterbodies (streams, wetlands, rivers..). The six minimum control measures are:

• Public Education and Outreach
• Public Involvement and Participation
• Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
• Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control
• Post-Construction Storm Water Runoff Management
• Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations

Public Participation: The Clean Water Act provides for any individual or organization impacted by the development and implementation of the TMDLs to participate in the procedures. The public often contributes useful information about an impaired waterbody and offers insight into their community that might make pollution reduction strategies successful.