One big step for cleaner water

Posted on March 2, 2017
Our municipality now has a septic re-inspection program. More important it overcomes the biggest obstacle – cost!

How did they do it?

Two of the biggest costs are driving time and gas to the site, as well as the effort to dig out the tank lids. If the inspection is done at the same time as a regular pump out then neither of these factor into the cost.

The Pumper / Hauler

Is already very knowlegable and has lots of experience – they are quite capable of identifying faulty systems. Give them some training, tell them what to look for and what to measure.

Why Septic Re-Inspection matters

A faulty septic system pollutes the water table. The water table extends beyond a person’s own property – everyone in the community depends on clean water for their wells and for their watershed be it a lake or river. Once a body of water is polluted you can’t just fix it. No-one has the right to pollute water that others depend on. If your septic system is faulty then it must be fixed, yes it can be expensive but it must be fixed.

Long road to get here

In the early 90s our lake association applied for a grant for summer students to conduct a septic re-inspection. We worked with the local health unit, the students were trained and visited every property. It was strictly visual, no digging up the tank lids, and they asked the residents a series of questions At the end of the summer they gave their report to the Health Unit who followed up on suspect systems. We noticed that several residents had work done on their systems when the project was announced.

Long road ahead

Ok it took us 20 plus years to get a re-inspection program. In the bigger picture, in our province, there is no mandatory re-inspection, no common process and no standard data capture. There are neighbouring municipalities that do have mandatory system but are using a different approach that doesn’t take advantage of using the pumpers / haulers. Many have paper forms and databases not connected to the internet so some data is manually typed by the septic team. Cost still is a deterent for widespread adoption.

It's a great start

Click Here to view the newspaper report on the adoption of our new re-inspection program. Yes there are concerns about how residents will pay for repairing or replacing their system if it is found to be faulty. Home ownership includes maintenance – if your roof is leaking it can often mean a new roof which is also expensive. The township is looking at options to assist residents – perhaps people with low incomes could get a low interest loan from the municipality with repayments added to their property taxes? Clean water is everyone’s right – no-one is allowed to pollute our water table.

Onward and forward

This is no longer about the ‘environmentalists’ on lake associations worrying about their water quality being ‘pristine’. Everyone depends on clean water for their wells. Climate change with its dramatic swings of floods and droughts are now placing more focus on our water table and wells. Other people on lakes and rivers are taking note of the ever increasing weeds and algae, not only from a water quality perspective but also for the impact on their property values. While climate change is causing more weed growth, faulty septic systems play a role as well. We can do something about the septic systems, climate change is a work in progress.

Further Cost Reduction

Central Frontenace got it right by using septic haulers / pumpers to reduce the cost of septic re-inspections. Click Here for more information on how Cloud Services can further reduce septic re-inspection costs.

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