Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant

 
Located at 8900 Greenwood Place, in Savage, the plant serves the central part of Howard County, which contains 56% of the County's population. This includes the towns of Columbia, Savage, and North Laurel. There are 820 miles of gravity and force main sewer pipe that carries wastewater to the plant.

Most of the western part of Howard County is rural. Waste from septic tanks in this area is transported to the plant by truck. The eastern portion of the County, including Ellicott City, Elkridge, and Jessup is served by the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant in Baltimore City.

To download an illustration of the water treatment process at the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant, please click the following link -

Plant Process Schematic ( 1.2 Mb PDF, updated April 2008 )

Enforcement Response Plan

The document describes Howard County’s procedures for industrial monitoring, compliance evaluation, and enforcement actions to control the introduction of wastewaters from non-domestic sources into the Public Sewerage System.

• Enforcement Response Plan
  ( 223 Kb PDF - Revised December 31, 2008 )

Sewer Surcharge Methodology Study

All recipients of US EPA Construction Grants are required, as a condition of grant acceptance, to implement a User Charge system, which can incorporate surcharges to be applied to high strength non-domestic wastewater discharges that are greater than residential strength wastes.

• Phase I - 2006 Report - ( 161 Kb PDF )
  Method used for calculating the cost of treating
  • BOD – Biochemical Oxygen Demand
  • TSS – Total Suspended Solids
  • TP –   Total Phosphorous
  at the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant.
• Phase II - 2007 Report - ( 145 Kb PDF )
  Method used for categorizing Food Service Establishments based on strengths of wastewater discharges.