Charles County commissioners cut the ribbon Sept. 29 on the upgraded Cliffton Wastewater Treatment Plant, which serves the Cliffton on the Potomac community near Newburg. It’s a multimillion-dollar investment in one of the county’s smallest and oldest sewer systems.
The ceremony was held the morning of the commissioners’ regular meeting, with Department of Public Works staff on hand, according to the county’s meeting highlights.
“This investment represents what responsible infrastructure should be about, taking care of the residents who already call our community home while protecting our natural resources for future generations,” Commissioner Gilbert Bowling, whose District 1 includes Cliffton, wrote in a Facebook post after the event. “Modernizing our wastewater infrastructure means better service for our residents, cleaner waterways, and a healthier Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.”
What was built
The county put the job out to bid in early 2021. According to the bid notice, the work covered site preparation and demolition, plus construction of:
- A new package treatment plant
- A pumping station
- Administrative and electrical buildings
- A backup generator
- New piping, power distribution and control systems
Bids were due in April 2021, and the contractor was given 600 days to finish once work began. The plant sits about a mile west of the intersection of Crain Highway (U.S. 301) and Cliffton Drive.
Where the money goes
The project appears in the county’s Capital Improvement Program as Cliffton WWTP Improvements, project No. 185. When the Charles County Planning Commission reviewed the capital plan in February 2025, the project carried an estimated total cost of $17.69 million, with more funding requested for fiscal 2026. The commission found it consistent with the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
The county has not said publicly how the final bill was split among sewer user fees, borrowing and any state or federal grants. Charles County’s water and sewer systems are generally run as self-supporting utilities, paid for by customers and connection fees rather than property taxes. State money has gone into the plant before: in 2001, the Maryland Department of the Environment provided a $250,000 grant toward an $872,000 project that moved the plant’s outfall pipe about 1,100 feet farther into the Potomac to protect nearby shellfish beds. The county paid $372,000 of that work.
The sewer freeze
The upgrade could matter beyond cleaner water. Charles County’s sewer allocation rules have long said that “there is insufficient treatment capacity within the Cliffton treatment facility, and additional capacity is not available at this time.” As a result, the Cliffton service area has been under a sewer moratorium. Under the rules, it can be lifted only after the plant is expanded and the state Department of the Environment signs off. In the meantime, owners of lots recorded by Oct. 16, 2000, could install septic systems if their land passed percolation tests, on the condition that they hook up to public sewer once capacity became available.
County officials haven’t said whether the new plant adds enough capacity to lift the moratorium. That decision would affect whether lot owners in Cliffton can connect to public sewer or build.
Why the Potomac matters
Cliffton sits on the bluffs above the Potomac River, and the plant discharges treated wastewater into the river near shellfish harvesting areas. The river’s health has drawn attention this year. In January, a collapse of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line upstream near Washington released hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage, and state regulators closed a shellfish harvesting area in Charles County as a precaution.
The community gets its drinking water from two county wells drawing from the Patapsco aquifer, according to the county’s water quality report.
“Investing in our existing communities and protecting our environment go hand in hand,” Bowling wrote. “This is progress we can all be proud of.”
Residents with questions about service or sewer allocation in Cliffton can contact the Charles County Department of Public Works, Utilities Division, at 301-609-7400.
