Section 319 Nonpoint Source Program Success Story Michigan Replacing Failing Septic Systems with Community-Based Wastewater Treatment Reduces Bacteria in a Pilgrim River Tributary


              Section 319
              NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
 Replacing Failing Septic Systems with Community-Based Wastewater

 Treatment Reduces Bacteria in a Pilgrim River Tributary
Wotprhnrlv Imnrnx/prl  Failing septic systems and illicit connections to surface water
                              contributed high levels of bacteria to an unnamed tributary
 of Michigan's Pilgrim River, causing the stream to violate water quality standards. As a
 result, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) added the stream to the
 state's 2006 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list for bacteria impairment. Failing
 septic systems and illicit connections were removed and  replaced with community-based
 wastewater treatment systems. Bacteria levels dropped, and the tributary now meets water
 quality standards. As a result, Michigan  DEQ removed the stream from its CWA section
 303(d) list in 2014.
 Problem
 The 15,600-acre Pilgrim River watershed is on
 northern Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula (Figure 1).
 The river empties into the Keweenaw Waterway,
 which connects to Lake Superior. Several small
 copper-mining communities were created in the
 watershed in the late 1800s. Sewage disposal for
 these communities consisted of open channels,
 some of which  persisted into the late 1900s.

 Water quality monitoring showed that a 4.47-mile
 reach of an unnamed tributary to the Pilgrim River,
 known locally as "the Baltic Sewer," contained high
 levels of Escherichia co//bacteria. The Michigan
 water quality standard for partial body contact is a
 daily geometric mean of 1,000 E. coli colonies per
 100 milliliters of water (colonies/100 ml), and the
 standard for total body contact is a daily geometric
 mean of 300 E.  coli colonies/100 ml and a 30-day
 geometric mean of 130  colonies/100 ml.

 Samples collected at the Laitila Road monitoring
 station in 2006  showed  a daily geometric mean of
 2,160 E. coli colonies/100 ml, which violated water
 quality standards for partial and total body contact
 recreation. As a result, Michigan DEQ added the
 tributary (assessment unit  040201030302-02)
 to the 2006 CWA section 303(d) list for bacteria
 impairment. DEQ suspected the source to be illicit
 connections to  the surface water and failing and
 inadequate septic systems from a population of
 about 1,000 people.
    Pilgrim River,
  Unnamed Tributary
Figure I.The Pilgrim River tributary is on
northeastern Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.
Project Highlights
In 1990 DEQ entered into a compliance agreement
with Adams Township to fund construction of a
sewer collection system in four small communities:
Atlantic Mine, Trimountain, Painsdale and Baltic.
Over the next 23 years,  sewer systems and lagoons
were constructed for each community. All raw sew-
age discharges were eliminated by 2013.

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In 2010 the Houghton Keeweenaw Conservation
District (HKCD) received a grant from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
to develop a Pilgrim River watershed management
plan. The plan addresses the hydrology, ecology,
water quality, and current and historical land uses.
Although not directly related to the community-
based wastewater treatment installation, this
planning work will be used to improve and further
protect water quality along the restored tributary
and the larger Pilgrim River watershed.
Partners and Funding
Results
Constructing community-based sewage collection
systems resulted in a 96 percent decline in the daily
geometric mean bacteria concentration between
2006 and 2013 (Table 1). The tributary now meets
both total body and partial body contact recreation
water quality standards. Consequently,  Michigan
DEQ removed this  tributary from Michigan's CWA
section 303(d) list in 2014.
Adams Township received Rural Development
funding ($2,953,000) from the U.S Department of
Agriculture (USDA) to pay for construction of the
sewage collection system. The pre- and post-
construction monitoring was performed by DEQ
and partially funded by CWA section 319 base funds.

HKCD received a Michigan Coastal Management
grant from NOAA to develop a Pilgrim  River
Watershed Management Plan. The funds included
$51,000 in NOAA grant funds and $51,000 match
from partners, including  Michigan Tech, Copper
County Trout Unlimited, the  Keweenaw Land Trust
and the USDA Natural  Resource Conservation
District. A Pilgrim River Watershed Advisory
Council, comprised of landowners, interested
citizens, business owners, and representatives
from local government, also participated in plan
development.
         Table 1. E. coli Concentrations in the Unnamed Tributary to the Pilgrim River
Location
Laitila Road
Monitoring Station
2006 Daily Geometric
Mean'M/lOOmL)
2,160
2013 Average Daily Geometric
Mean2 (col/100 ml)
89
2013 30-Day Geometric Mean
(col/100 ml)
60
         1 n = 1 day
         2 n = 5 weekly events
UJ
(9
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
     Office of Water
     Washington, DC

     EPA841-F-14-001JJJ
     October 2014
For additional information contact:
Joe Rathbun
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
517-284-5517
rathbunj@michigan.gov

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