REHOBOTH BEACH — The Board of Commissioners held a special meeting Thursday to discuss a proposal from Sussex County to procure a portion of the city’s excess ocean outfall capacity for treated wastewater.

The county has proposed to purchase two-fifths of the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control-permitted wasteload allocation to pump up to 2 million gallons/day of outfall capacity.

The county has proposed a one-time payment of $7.6 million, which could be used to minimize wastewater rate increases for city residents.

To pay for improvements underway at the city’s wastewater-treatment facility, those rates increased sharply in 2020 and are scheduled to increase another 60%, beginning in 2024.

In an effort to seek input from residents and continue discussion, the project is on the Board of Commissioners’ Monday workshop agenda. The meeting begins at 9 a.m.

“The city’s priorities are to protect our greatest natural resources — our beautiful beach and the Atlantic Ocean — and to provide services to our residents in a fiscally responsible manner,” Rehoboth Beach Mayor Stan Mills said when Thursday’s meeting was announced.
“It appears that the county’s proposal will not impact the quality of water being released into the ocean and that this partnership would bring a good deal of financial benefit to our wastewater customers.”

Under Rehoboth Beach’s current DNREC permit, scheduled to be renewed in the spring, the wasteload for biological oxygen demand and total suspended solids is 425 pounds/day each (at an average permitted concentration of 15 milligrams per liter), with a maximum of 625 pounds (and a 23 mg/L concentration) on any given day.

The city’s daily average is under 50 pounds. The county has proposed to purchase 40%, or 170 pounds, of the city’s permitted wasteload allocation. With the county’s participation, the average outfall wasteload is expected to remain below 250 pounds/day.

The county’s proposal calls for a direct connection between the outfall and the county treatment facility; treated effluent pumped by the county to the outfall would not be treated by the city’s facility.

The quality of effluent released by each facility would be tested at the respective facilities separately. The interconnection is proposed to be bidirectional, which provides a safety net that doesn’t currently exist for the city facility.

The city of Rehoboth Beach and Sussex County currently have a renewable 25-year agreement, approved in 2017, for the county to utilize 42% of the city’s wastewater-treatment facility and to cover an equal portion of capital improvement costs at the location.

The county has expressed interest in coming to an agreement about shared outfall capacity within the next few months, but the initiative would not be implemented for four to five years, while the county seeks the necessary permits and constructs a pipeline.