The treat­ment and purifi­ca­tion of waste water from homes and busi­nesses is crit­i­cal to pro­tect­ing our health, our fish­eries, our wildlife and pro­vid­ing all of us with beau­ti­ful, rivers and streams that we can enjoy safely.

Waste­water Treat­ment
The Lit­tle Patux­ent Water Recla­ma­tion Plant is one of two waste­water treat­ment plants serv­ing Howard County. The plant is man­aged by the Bureau of Util­i­ties in the Depart­ment of Pub­lic Works.

The Pat­ap­sco Waste­water Treat­ment Plant also serves Howard County and is man­aged by the Bal­ti­more City Depart­ment of Pub­lic Works Bureau of Water and Wastewater.

Fats, Oils and Greases – Not a friend of Your Drain or Garbage Dis­posal
Learn more about the FOG Pro­gram and how to avoid clogged pipes that can lead to sewer back­ups in your home and com­mu­nity. By chang­ing our habits one per­son at a time, one meal at a time, and one house­hold at a time, we can sub­stan­tially improve the health of our streams, rivers and the Chesa­peake Bay and cre­ate a sus­tain­able, green Howard County.

Con­sider Com­post and Avoid the Garbage Dis­posal
Instead of using your garbage dis­posal for food scraps, try com­post­ing – it’s fun and easy and pro­vides you with fresh mulch for your plants!

Water Resources Ele­ment
Dur­ing the 2006 leg­isla­tive ses­sion, the Mary­land Gen­eral Assem­bly enacted House Bill 1141 Land Use – Local Gov­ern­ment Plan­ning. HB 1141 requires that local juris­dic­tions adopt a water resources ele­ment in their com­pre­hen­sive plans.

The Howard County Water Resources Ele­ment (WRE) is an amend­ment to Gen­eral Plan 2000 that adds Poli­cies and Actions intended to ensure that the County has ade­quate water resource capac­i­ties to meet future growth needs through 2030. In par­tic­u­lar, the WRE is to ensure a safe and ade­quate sup­ply of drink­ing water, and ade­quate land and water capac­ity for the treat­ment of waste­water and stormwa­ter. The WRE must reflect the oppor­tu­ni­ties and lim­i­ta­tions pre­sented by local and regional water resources. It is intended to improve pro­tec­tion of land and water resources and to address water resource goals within the con­text of local and State smart growth policies.

Learn more about the WRE and how it relates to waste­water on the WRE web­page.  Towards the bot­tom there links to reports on Growth Pro­jec­tions, Water and Waste­water, and Stormwa­ter Man­age­ment and Non­point Source Pollution.

What can I do to help pro­tect our water resources?
The WRE is, in part, intended to improve water qual­ity and habi­tat in our local streams, ponds, lakes and reser­voirs. This will in turn help improve water qual­ity and habi­tat in the Chesa­peake Bay. The major­ity of land in Howard County is pri­vately owned, so man­age­ment prac­tices at indi­vid­ual homes and busi­nesses are crit­i­cal to these efforts. The fol­low­ing links pro­vide more infor­ma­tion about local and regional water resources and ways for indi­vid­u­als and busi­nesses to help improve and pro­tect our water resources

Learn more about your local and regional water resources:
Water Resources Ele­ment
Colum­bia Asso­ci­a­tion Water­shed Man­age­ment
Mary­land Trib­u­tary Strate­gies
Mary­land Streams, Rivers, Water­sheds, Coastal Bays, and Chesa­peake Bay
Mary­land Bay­Stat
NOAA Chesa­peake Bay Office
EPA Mid-Atlantic Water Quick Finder

Dis­cover more ways to save water:
EPA Water Sense
Water Use It Wisely

Find ways to vol­un­teer your time help­ing our water­ways:
Howard County Con­ser­vancy
The Friends of Pat­ap­sco Val­ley Her­itage Green Way
Chesa­peake Bay Research Reserves
Alliance for the Chesa­peake Bay Cit­i­zen Mon­i­tor­ing Program

Apply for a grant to help your com­mu­nity pro­tect water resources:
Chesa­peake Bay Trust