Rural Community Sewers

Before state wastewater standards went into effect in the 1960s, raw sewage could flow directly to a stream without treatment. Despite the standards, this continues in many areas today. In areas called "unsewered communities," outdated or poorly functioning septic systems still allow untreated wastewater into our waters. The Iowa DNR works with these communities to find funding sources and alternative treatment systems and to allow adequate time to upgrade the systems. As several Iowa communities have shown, there are affordable options for building a community wastewater treatment system to protect public health and water quality.

• Rural community sewers fact sheet
• Successful community projects
• Rural community sewers - Frequently asked questions

An unsewered community doesn't have to be an incorporated city. A "community" has 10 or more residential homes with one or more houses per acre. It's "unsewered" if it lacks a central sewage treatment system or if most of its septic systems don't meet state standards.

There's assistance and information available for unsewered communities. Please refer to the links below.

Getting Started - Technical Assistance

If your community needs to explore options for adequate wastewater treatment, contact your local DNR field office or a regional utility management organization in your area for help understanding the planning process.

• Iowa DNR Environmental Field Offices
• ADLM Counties Environmental Public Heath
• Iowa Regional Utilities Association
• Eastern Iowa Regional Utility Service Systems/East Central Intergovernmental Association
• Iowa Lakes Regional Water/ Regional Utility Solutions
• Regional Utility Service System
• Southern Iowa Rural Water Association
• Poweshiek Water Association
• Wapello Rural Water Association
• Iowa DNR Private Sewage Disposal and Septage Webpage

Community leaders will want to hire an engineer to evaluate the community's needs and propose solutions. Once an engineer has prepared a plan to address the wastewater needs of your community, residents will want to review the plan, evaluate options, discuss the affordability of each option and decide where to apply for funding. 

Wastewater Treatment Funding Options

While a utility management organization can help your community search and apply for funding to install a wastewater system, there are also other funding opportunities to consider.

• Iowa Economic Development - Community Infrastructure
• Iowa DNR and Iowa Finance Authority State Revolving Fund Water Quality Programs
• USDA Rural Development

Disadvantaged Community Status - Wastewater Compliance

Some communities, urban or rural, incorporated or unincorporated, may qualify as "disadvantaged" with regards to meeting federal and state wastewater regulations. The Iowa DNR's disadvantaged community rules implement Iowa Code 455B.199B, which establishes the criteria used when determining if ratepayers or a community will experience substantial and widespread economic and social impact and qualify as disadvantaged when complying with wastewater regulations.

Owners of wastewater disposal systems may apply for disadvantaged status when there are new requirements in their proposed or reissued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit or an Administrative Order from the Iowa DNR. These new requirements will most often be part of a compliance schedule in a proposed or reissued NPDES permit or Administrative Order. Unsewered communities may apply for disadvantaged status prior to the issuance or amendment of an Administrative Order with new requirements. Communities may also apply for disadvantaged status for for the purposes of a grant to install or upgrade wastewater facilities under the Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Financial Assistance Program (WTFAP).

Please see the following links for more information on how to qualify as a disadvantaged community with regards to meeting federal and state wastewater regulations.

• Analysis - to be submitted by communities who wish to qualify as disadvantaged (NOT FOR SRF LOANS):
  • Disadvantaged Community Analysis (for communities with NPDES permits; i.e. sewered communities)
  • Disadvantaged Unsewered Community Analysis (for communities without a permit)
• Matrix - to be used by DNR staff only to evaluate an Analysis (DO NOT SUBMIT TO DNR; NOT FOR SRF LOANS):
  • Disadvantaged Community Matrix (DNR Internal Use Only) (for communities with NPDES permits)
  • Disadvantaged Unsewered Community Matrix (DNR Internal Use Only) (for communities without a permit)
• Additional Information:
  • Description of Alternatives Report and Alternatives Implementation Compliance Plan for Sewered Communities (for those with an NPDES permit)
  • Description of Alternatives Report and Alternatives Implementation Compliance Plan for Unsewered Communities (for those without an NPDES permit)
  • Compliance Schedule Tables (for both)
  • Disadvantaged Community Flowchart - Sewered and Unsewered (for both)
  • Unemployment Rates from the Iowa Workforce Information Network
  • Median Household Income information from the  Iowa Data Center

Disadvantaged Community Status - CWSRF Loans

The Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (CWSRF) Program historically focused on income, unemployment data, population trends, and other data to identify borrowers that would experience a significant hardship raising the revenue necessary to finance a wastewater project. In 2023, the Iowa SRF Program began using a Socioeconomic Assessment (SA) Tool with a broad range of metrics to evaluate a community or service area’s underlying socioeconomic and demographic conditions in an effort to develop a more comprehensive definition of what it means to be a disadvantaged community. The SA Tool provides a comprehensive analysis of factors influencing whether a community is disadvantaged and can determine the affordability of wastewater infrastructure projects.  

More information on the affordability criteria and a discussion of the SA Tool can be found in Appendix A of the most recent CWSRF Intended Use Plan (IUP), available on the SRF IUP webpage.

The  Socioeconomic Assessment (SA) Tool is available on the SRF Documents and Guides webpage.

For more information on qualifying as disadvantaged for the purposes of CWSRF loan forgiveness eligibility, please email Water-infrastructure@dnr.iowa.gov.