- LOWNDES COUNTY UNINCORPORATED WASTEWATER PROGRAM
LCUWP
“Working to improve quality of life in Lowndes County, Alabama through community collaboration and intervention.”
Meet LCUWP Members

(From left to right)
Mr. LaRue Smith, Ms. Perman Hardy, and Mr. Michael Dansby
The LCUWP Sewer Board is a nonprofit community development NGO. LCUWP is comprised of community leaders working in collaboration with Alabama State Department of Environmental Services, the Federal Government, the business community, and community experts to provide education and critically needed onsite wastewater disposal systems.
As a community-wide regional effort, LCUWP also provides program support through educational outreach and system monitoring, which benefits low-income families unable to connect to municipal wastewater management systems in rural Lowndes County Alabama.
Our Project
With a focus on community health, housing, education, and economic development, LCUWP works to inspire hope and empower people in the Lowndes County Community by first addressing the bare necessity of proper onsite wastewater disposal.
Today, approximately 80% of all rural households in Lowndes County and other counties of the Black Belt Region of Alabama have failing or nonexistent wastewater systems.
Challenged with stubborn high poverty levels and poor soil conditions, rural families are left with few alternatives and resort to a hazardous practice known as straight piping to remove household wastewater.
Straight piping is a gateway to disease-causing pathogens and damaging nitrates generated from exposure to raw sewage.
These harmful conditions negatively impact human health, rural water supplies, animal and plant life, the environment, and the community as a whole where straight piping is practiced.
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Recently, the EPA and the CDC has determined COVID-19 is detectable in raw sewage. Click to access the CDC report.
Thus, the availability and use of proper onsite wastewater treatment methods is critical to the health and well-being of every child, family, and senior citizen impacted by failing or nonexistent wastewater disposal.
Intervention to improve these conditions require the harnessing of multiple resources to reach the many households in need.
LCUWP welcomes the support of local and national business, private individuals and organizations. Learn how you can help.
Our Mission
Community Health
With a focus on community health, housing, education, and economic development, LCUWP works to inspire hope and empower people in the Lowndes County Community by first addressing the bare necessity of proper onsite wastewater disposal.
$2,389,496.00
Raised in the initial stages of the project
501(c) 3
As an organization, our strengths reside in our purpose and are exercised through activities that stimulate positive community change.


Our Impact
What We Do
Program Components
This community-wide regional project is funded by government and nongovernment source partners to satisfy 4 core project components:
- Site Assessment
- Installation of New Onsite Wastewater system
- Educational Outreach
- System Maintenance & Monitoring
Educational Outreach
Essential to Program Success
As a key component to the success of any community program, LCUWP Educational Outreach covers:
- Understanding Wastewater
- What does & does not go down the drain
- What is scheduled maintenance
- Wastewater & the Environment
- What are the signs of septic problems
Program Enrollment
The LCUWP is designed to help low income families afford proper wastewater and works on a sliding scale. Applicants will need:
- Proof of Income
- Valid ID
- Proof of Homeownership
- Proof of Past Water Usage
"Together we can improve lives"
Special thanks to Sherry Bradley, MPA, Alabama Dept. of Public Health Bureau of Environmental Services for her dedication, commitment, action, and empowerment in working with the Lowndes County Community to help create this community-wide effort, that led to the development of LCUWP.
Along with our program partners and supporters, we also thank Dr. Scott Harris, State Health Officer for the Department of Public Health for supporting the development of LCUWP.

OUR PROGRAM PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS















