For most in Hampton Roads, flushing a toilet sends sewage into public pipes that flow to plants managed by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. Then the district cleans wastewater before releasing it into local waterways.
But many homeowners, especially in rural areas, use backyard septic systems, which don’t offer the same level of treatment. When they fail or flood, sewage can flow into streams and rivers that feed the Chesapeake Bay, said Ryan Radspinner, a business process engineer with HRSD.
Sewage contains nutrients, such as nitrogen, that pollute the bay by causing harmful blooms of algae that can suffocate marine life…