By Greg Ellison

(Sept. 16, 2021) If the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors agree, the Worcester County Commissioners are prepared to invest over $3 million to update the Ocean Pines Golf Course irrigation system so it can spray treated wastewater instead of drawing from the freshwater supply.

Worcester County Public Works Director Dallas Baker and Deputy Director John Ross lead a town hall meeting on the topic last Thursday along with General Manager John Viola and Golf Superintendent Justin Hartshorne.

In January 2020, the Ocean Pines Service Area Water & Wastewater Advisory Board was authorized by the county to explore using highly treated effluent to irrigate greens and fairways.

“Highly treated effluent” is defined as water meeting current Maryland Department of the Environment Bay Restoration standards.

Viola said since the last town hall meeting on the subject in March 2020, Hartshorne has worked with county-hired consultants to assess the irrigation system setup.

Ross said consultants were hired to analyze the irrigation system to ascertain replacement needs and to sketch a plan for updates.

“The big difference here is we now know how many sprinklers heads we’re going to put out there,” he said. “We know how many feet of pipe go in the ground.”

Ross said building the irrigation infrastructure is estimated to cost roughly $2.8 million, with another $400,000 needed for piping to transport treated effluent to the golf course.

Additionally, Worcester has budgeted $3.5 million to replace a belt filter press at the Ocean Pines Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“We’re looking at a total of $6.8-$7 million,” he said.

In terms of impacts on water bills, Ross said the $6.8 million expenditure would add $16 per quarter for Ocean Pines ratepayers, which would be largely offset by upcoming savings.

“In 2002, we constructed a plant addition down there,” he said. “In 2022, that plant debt service will be paid off … saving approximately $12 a quarter.”

The tradeoff would mean quarterly bills increase about $5 to pay back the nearly $7 million project costs.

Outside of monetary considerations, Ross said spraying the wastewater on the course of instead of disposing of it elsewhere offers environmental benefits.

On average, 200,000 gallons of ground water are used daily to maintain conditions at the golf course during the summer.

Employing spray irrigation at the course would reduce demand on the five water supply wells that serve Ocean Pines, he said.

“Those wells are pulling water out of the same aquifer your drinking water comes from,” he said.

Spraying effluent at the golf course would also reduce the amount of nutrients released into the St. Martins River.

Ross said wastewater is treated through a multiphase process.

Primary treatment typically involves a screening process to purge organic and inorganic solids, while the secondary stage comprises biological processes that break down and metabolize complex organic matter for removal.

“It’s discharged out to the river and it’s very clean,” he said.

The Ocean Pines plant tests below maximum effluent concentrations of 3 mg/l of total nitrogen and 0.3 mg/l total phosphorous.

“If you don’t discharge it at all, there’s zero nutrients going out to the river,” he said.

Project costs would likely be paid for with the proceeds of a bond issue Worcester plans for 2022.

“Ultimately we would need a letter of support from the board,” he said. “If we get that, we would immediately look to do some interim financing because bond money wouldn’t be available until next year.”

Ross said the next steps would involve completing the irrigation system’s design and selecting a contractor.

“Ideally, we would do it over the winter because there is less traffic on the golf course,” he said.

Ross said design work could be completed by the end of the year with the project beginning next fall.

Ross said the merits of converting the course to use spray effluent are clear.

“The benefits we get are the nutrient reductions into the river, the conservation of water out of your aquifer and a new golf course irrigation system,” he said.