In January, South Riverkeeper Diana Muller took samples from the stream just below that spot. The results caused concern.

"The test showed high nitrogen and bacteria counts that can be associated with sewage problems," said Erik Michelsen, the federation's executive director.

The levels were very elevated, total nitrogen readings were .93 milligrams per liter and total coliform was 2,490 coliform forming units per milliliter.

"That was well above what we should have found," Muller said. The nitrogen was about twice the Environmental Protection Agency standard, but the coliform was nearly 25 times the EPA limit of 104 milligrams per liter.

Concerned, they notified the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works.

Within a couple of weeks the county checked area sewer lines. Crews using a small television camera that can snake down pipes found a sizable crack in a clay pipe.

County crews then relined the pipe with liquid plastic last month.

Riverkeeper Muller returned to the site and took new samples following the repair.

The results? Nitrogen was .01 mg/l and coliform was down to 16 cfu/l.

"It is good to see this kind of cooperation from the county, working with a nonprofit to address a problem," Michelsen said. "It helps the county government to have these groups on the ground to identify issues and the county working to correct them. It's a good model."

But Michelsen said the incident also raises questions. The federation found a similar problem along Almshouse Creek in Edgewater late last year. A similar odor led to the discovery of another broken sewer pipe.

"How many other similar breaks are there?" Michelsen asked. "Just because a community is on sewer it doesn't mean that it isn't contributing both nutrients and bacteria to our waterways."

He thinks such sewer line failures could be contributing more to bacteria problems than the wildlife or pet waste a recent study blamed for such pollution.

Most anything that seeps from a broken pipe eventually makes its way into some local waterway. What damage that might do is a matter of concentration and location, the heaviness of the flow and its proximity to a waterway.

This issue is separate from major failures, like the overflows at the Mayo water treatment plant that rendered Bear Neck Creek and downstream waters unusable, or the 3 million gallon spill from an Arnold pumping station in 2005 caused by a major pipe failure.

County public works spokesman Matt Diehl said that without further study it is hard to prove whether smaller leaks affect streams and waterways.

But "it certainly stands to reason" that the recently fixed pipe could have caused the high readings, he said. The problem is ongoing he noted.

"Pipes have a shelf life," Diehl said.

The county recognizes this is a constant issue and budgets money to attend to such breaks in the sewage infrastructure.

"There is $5.4 million budgeted for wastewater infrastructure improvement, lateral pipe replacements and inspections," Diehl said.

That includes using the television cameras that discovered the break off Riva Road.

Major planned repairs and infrastructure work are covered under separate capital budget items, Diehl noted.

A $7 million force-main pipe replacement over Furnace Creek is one example. It's related to an $8 million upgrade to the Cinder Cove pumping station currently under way, he said.

Without a very expensive and exhaustive survey of every sewer line in the county, there is no way for the county to know exactly where the worst smaller-scale sewer infrastructure problems lie.

But Diehl urges citizens to contact the county if they see, or smell, a problem.

Call 410-222-7582 or 410-222-8400 to report problems. In an emergency, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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