The USDA funded TAT Regional Wastewater Treatment Solutions project is a technical assistance and training pilot program for innovative rural wastewater treatment solutions in Alabama’s rural Black Belt. The Black Belt, originally named because of the region’s dark soil, is a 17-county region in Central Alabama characterized by its high African American population, rural character, lack of economic development (up to 40% of the population in some Black Belt counties lives below the U.S. poverty line), lower-than-average educational attainment, and lower-than-average access to health care. Exacerbating typical rural wastewater challenges in the Black Belt are the region’s poorly drained clay soils, which make traditional rural onsite wastewater systems, septic tanks and drain fields, ineffective. In sum, these conditions (lack of sewer infrastructure, clay soils, poor economic conditions, etc.) have resulted in the presence of raw sewage on the ground surface in approximately 50% of the rural homes of many Black Belt counties, a situation dubbed the “rural South’s invisible public health crisis” by the Montgomery Advertiser. Furthermore, infrastructure plays a key role in community well-being, both directly and indirectly, as communities with inadequate or deteriorating infrastructure struggle to attract businesses and industry, and poor communities lack the tax and economic base necessary to maintain and upgrade their infrastructure, which can lead to a vicious downward spiral.  

This project will address these interconnected public health-socioeconomic challenges by developing and piloting innovative and cost-effective wastewater technologies and strategic management models for the rural Black Belt region. This will include technical assistance guidance and training for rural communities in the region. 

To view our detailed project page, click here.