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The 2017 Beaufort County Senior Leadership class recently spent a morning at the Port Royal Sound Foundation's Maritime Center.&nbsp;

After an introduction to the facilities and the Port Royal Sound, Jody Hayward, Rachel Jones and Kristen Mattson of the Lowcountry Institute talked about the high salinity, high tidal ranges, significant depth and low inflow of fresh water, all characteristics that make the Port Royal Sound so unique, biologically rich, diverse and productive.&nbsp;

Tony Mills, also of the Low Country Institute and of Coastal Kingdom fame, then entertained the class by showing some of the animals and reptiles that are found in the area.

The afternoon lectures took place at the Beaufort/Jasper Water and Sewer Authority. Rikki Parker of the Coastal Conservation League illustrated the issues of erosion on the coast. Eric Larson, storm water utility manager for Beaufort County, presented the unique storm water issues faced by our coastal communities and Jim Minor, Solid Waste manager for Beaufort County, talked about the solid waste facilities and volumes.&nbsp;

Tricia Kilgore, director of Treatment Operations for the Beaufort/Jasper Water and Sewer Authority described the steps carried out to treat drinking water and the day ended with a tour of the water treatment plant.&nbsp;

Doug Schuler, one of the students, said, "We take for granted our water quality and it was interesting to see how our drinking water is actually treated.”