PRINCE FREDERICK — Calvert County homeowners who paid to have a septic tank pumped this year, or who replaced an old system with a nitrogen-removing one, have until early January to turn that receipt into a shot at getting up to $500 of the cost back.
The Calvert County Environmental Commission is again running its Pump for the Bay contest, county government announced Nov. 12. The drawing is a prize, not a rebate program: one grand prize winner will be reimbursed up to $500, and other entrants can win gift certificates from local establishments and free passes to county recreational facilities.
The contest is the county’s long-running nudge to get septic owners to do routine maintenance that also keeps nitrogen out of local creeks, the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay. Most of Calvert outside its town centers relies on private septic systems rather than public sewer.
Who can enter and how
- Who: Calvert County residents.
- Qualifying work: Hiring a company to pump out a septic tank, or upgrading to a nitrogen-removing system, between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2026.
- How: Fill out the online form on the county’s Pump for the Bay page and upload a copy of the paid bill or receipt. Entrants must also consent to having their name released if they win.
- Deadline: Close of business Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2027. The entry page says submissions must reach the Department of Planning & Zoning by 4 p.m.
- Drawing: During the Environmental Commission’s Jan. 25 meeting. Winners will be notified by letter.
Because work done through Dec. 31 counts, residents who have been putting off a pump-out still have about seven weeks to schedule one and qualify.
Why the county cares about septic tanks
The county recommends pumping a tank every two to three years. Regular pumping helps prevent system failures and expensive repairs, according to the announcement, and it reduces the nitrogen that seeps toward the Bay watershed.
The state’s numbers show why that matters. Maryland has about 420,000 septic systems, roughly 52,000 of them within 1,000 feet of tidal water, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment. A conventional system sends about 23.2 pounds of nitrogen a year into groundwater, the agency says, and a nitrogen-removing unit cuts that load in half.
Those upgraded units are costly, which is where the state’s Bay Restoration Fund comes in. The fund provides grants for septic upgrades, and the county’s contest page directs residents interested in a grant-funded nitrogen-removing tank to call 410-535-3922. An upgrade paid for with a Bay Restoration Fund grant still qualifies for the drawing.
In Calvert’s Critical Area, the strip within 1,000 feet of tidal waters, new construction and replacements of older conventional systems must already use nitrogen-reducing technology, according to a county wastewater guide.
The contest itself is not new. The county’s Pump for the Bay brochure lists the Board of County Commissioners, the departments of Planning & Zoning and Parks & Recreation, the county Health Department’s Environmental Health Division and the Calvert Marine Museum among its sponsors, alongside the Environmental Commission. A Spanish-language brochure is also posted on the contest page.
The Chronicle recently reported on a related piece of the county’s wastewater picture, when the Planning Commission backed Calvert’s water and sewer plan with conditions on spills and PFAS.
Residents with questions about county services can reach Calvert County Government at 410-535-1600.
