Wastewater Infrastructure Map

This project was completed in June of 2025, this repo is archived and will not be used for further data development, please reach out to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources about any updates.

• Explore the informational website https://verso-uvm.github.io/Wastewater-Infrastructure-Mapping/index.html
• Here is a link to the ANR webmap https://vtanr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=de7e8f0627b5482a851b379e29200a74
• Here is a link to the current water infrastrcture on the Geodata portal https://geodata.vermont.gov/maps/01210da4457d42a1bbcc43f7e54cbad6/about

The Wastewater Infrastructure Map is a collaborative effort led by the Vermont Research Open Source Program Office (VERSO) at the University of Vermont, supported by the Windham Regional Commission, Vermont state agencies, and funded by the Leahy Institute. The goal was to map and analyze wastewater infrastructure across every town in Vermont. Developed with 15 undergraduate interns (through UVM’s Open Research Community Accelerator (ORCA) student intership program from Fall 2024 to June 2025, this project delivers comprehensive geospatial datasets aimed at informing regional planning, economic development, and housing growth

Learn more about the project here

Objectives

• Thoroughly map sewer systems (pipes, manholes, outflows), treatment facilities, service areas, and onsite soil suitability.
• Fill in missing infrastructure data gaps left by existing Vermont GIS resources,
• Produce user-friendly, public-domain datasets that support infrastructure planning and align with broader Vermont Climate, Energy, and Transportation plans .

Project Timeline & Scope

Initiated: Fall 2024 under Chris Campany (Windham Regional Commission), funded by UVM’s Leahy Institute

Milestones:

• Exploratory research & cataloging — Nov 2024
• Outreach to local system managers — Feb 2025
• Data architecture development — Feb 2025
• Statewide dataset completion — June 2025

Map Layers

This project consists of 5 layers to paint a picture of wastewater infrastructure in Vermont towns:

• Wastewater Linear Features: Includes pipes from wastewater and combined systems
• Wastewater Point Features: Includes manholes and some catchbasin locations
• Sewer Service Area: Service area for wastewater treatment plants
• Wastewater Treatment Facilities: Includes all municipal, industrial, and pretreatment wastewater treatment facilities and their hydraulic capacity information
• Onsite Sewage Disposal Soil Ratings: Depicts onsite sewage disposal classification of Vermont soils

Learn more about the data here

Team

Summer 2024

• Team Lead: Emma Eash
• Adrien Monks
• Aleah Young
• Fernanda De Oliveira Girelli
• James Catanzaro
• Jane Bregenzer

Fall 2024

• Team Lead: Emma Eash
• Aleah Young
• Gabe Christiansen
• Louise Vaillancourt
• Matthew Premysler
• Sian Hernit
• Sophia Miller-Grande

Spring 2025

• Team Lead: Emma Eash
• Aleah Young
• Louise Vaillancourt
• Matthew Premysler
• Sian Hernit
• Sophie Miller-Grande

Summer 2025

• Gabe Christiansen (Lead)
• Andrew Chen
• Duncan Niess
• Harrison Taylor
• Julianna Elton
• Lily Fitzpatrick
• Louise Vaillancourt

Data Sources

Most data used is from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (see Existing GIS Data). Some new data has been digitized from town plans or documents provided by municipalities. The Onsite Sewage Disposal Soil Ratings map was prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Funding

This project was made possible with a grant from the Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships.

Partnerships

This project is in collaboration with:

• Windham Regional Commission
• Vermont Center for Geographic Information
• Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
• Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development