Surfrider Foundation

Stop the Rehoboth Beach Ocean Outfall

Should Rehoboth use an ocean outfall or Land Based Application (LBA) for waste water disposal?

The City of Rehoboth Beach Delaware has to make this decision and Surfrider enthusiastically supports LBA. LBA or spray irrigation is a universally accepted method for treating and reclaiming waste water into irrigation water for farmers, whereas an ocean outfall is a pipe leading out into the ocean which discharges treated effluent from a sewage treatment plant. Each year billions of gallons of fresh water are lost from effluent discharge into water bodies.

Please send this letter telling the City of Rehoboth that you support Land Based Application of waste water, not an ocean outfall. Visit Surfrider's Delaware Chapter for much more information.

Subject:

Your Letter:

As a beach goer and supporter of The Surfrider Foundation I thank you for considering land based application of waste water in the City of Rehoboth Beach. I strongly support LBA or spray irrigation for many reasons.  Spray irrigation will help Delaware agriculture, recharge groundwater aquifers, keep water in the watershed, not the ocean; create sustainable farming, maintain open space for farming & recreation, and is an economically proven and permissible technology. Spray irrigation helps replenish our diminishing ground water aquifers while an ocean outfall puts all waste water in the ocean and none goes to Delaware agriculture. An ocean outfall empties billions of gallons of freshwater into the ocean each year, which cannot be reclaimed or recycled into the ground water.  With the population growth causing an increasing demand on Delaware's water supply and waste water capacity, we need a system which will be able to process more waste water while preserving precious fresh water for the future.

I strongly urge you to reject the ocean outfall and support LBA for the City of Rehoboth Beach.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my comments on this important issue.

Dennis Barbour

Rehoboth Beach Commissioner

Greg Ferrese

Rehoboth Beach Commissioner

Kathy McGuiness

Rehoboth Beach Commissioner

Lorraine Zellers

Rehoboth Beach Commissioner

Pat Colluzzi

Rehoboth Beach Commissioner

Paul Kuhns

Rehoboth Beach Commissioner

Samuel Cooper

Rehoboth Beach Mayor

Stan Mills

Rehoboth Beach Commissioner