This project will pilot a new approach to wastewater treatment in rural Alabama and demonstrate that improved wastewater treatment technologies and management models can yield health, economic and environmental benefits for rural communities in the United States and around the world.  

In 2017, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the United States a D+ grade for its national wastewater infrastructure. Across the country, wastewater and sanitation systems are failing, contaminating water supplies, causing parasitic infections and harming ecosystems. These challenges are particularly acute in low-income rural areas such as the Black Belt region of Alabama, where many households do not have access to the sewers and centralized wastewater treatment offered in most U.S. urban areas through public utilities. Alternatives like septic tanks are often incompatible with local soil and are frequently too costly for low-income households to install or maintain. Many instead opt for what is locally known as a “straight pipe” discharge – sending untreated wastewater from toilets to a nearby pit, ditch, stream or ground surface. 

This project aims to provide alternative wastewater treatment solutions for underserved, low-income communities that can be implemented in a manner that is equitable, technically feasible and financially sustainable. At select pilot sites, the project will install and test new wastewater treatment systems that are clustered and decentralized, connecting neighboring homes or businesses in a single system that collects, treats and re-uses water, reducing the cost of upkeep. Data on how to adopt and manage such treatment systems will be collected and published on an open-source platform, so that governments and rural communities worldwide that are affected by this problem can benefit from what is learned. The project will also seek to provide further evidence of the negative health impacts of using “straight pipe” discharge. 

The project includes a diverse set of collaborators including communities in the Black Belt region of Alabama; the Consortium for Alabama Rural Water & Wastewater Management; the University of Alabama; the University of California, Irvine; the University of North Carolina; the University of South Alabama; and state and federal officials.

This project aims to provide immediate benefits to households at its pilot sites, including demonstrable improvements in public health and a reduction in toxic discharges to the environment. It will also provide a model for transitioning to a more resilient and sustainable wastewater infrastructure, which could be deployed throughout Alabama, the United States and the world. Ultimately, this project endeavors to provide historically disenfranchised communities access to a basic resource: safely treated wastewater.