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What is an “Adequate” Septic System? Part 2
by Mark Williams, Water
Quality Program Coordinator
Boulder County Public Health
Part 2 of 2
In July 2005 I opened up the discussion
on the adequacy of septic systems by pointing out a number of
factors that help in the determination of “adequacy.” These
factors included the number of bedrooms in the home; whether
the system is documented through the permitting process; the
age of the system; how well it’s been maintained; and the
number of septic systems that are in close proximity to each
other, or in other words, the density of dwellings served by
onsite wastewater systems/septic systems in that particular
area.
In this article I will continue that
discussion and address some of the program procedures that are
used at Boulder County Public Health to protect water
resources.
An onsite wastewater system (OWS), or
septic system, is really a miniature wastewater treatment
plant, with the homeowner serving as the operator. Whether
homeowners acknowledge the responsibility or not, they are
flushing and then treating the waste before it’s introduced
into the ground. There is no such thing as flushing waste
“away.”
Even though the system they operate is
out of sight, it’s an integral part of approximately 14,100
homes in Boulder County and represents a significant
investment that should be well-maintained. Management of
our household waste and septic systems can impact other
aspects of our quality of life – like our drinking water.
Many of those same homes are dependent on
private wells for their water supply – since waste isn’t going
away, it’s going somewhere, and that “somewhere” is often the
same water that supplies our wells. In some locales septic
systems can be a critical component in recharging local
aquifers. If an OWS is well-designed and well-maintained, it
can serve to clean wastewater fairly well.
As I discussed in the July article, there
are several criteria that help us define the relative risk
that OWS pose to public health (See "Adequate
Septic Systems: Part 1). Another factor is the depth to
groundwater. How close OWS are to groundwater or how many OWS
are clustered in an area are indicators of potential impacts
to groundwater from OWS. Since OWS are installed just below
the ground surface, groundwater close to the surface can be
impacted more readily. There are numerous localities
throughout the county where this occurs.
Just as a prudent home shopper would have
a roof inspected or a furnace checked, so should they be
assured that their OWS has been properly maintained. A
greater level of confidence is gained for the consumer by the
maintenance records of an OWS. An “adequate” OWS, as we
discussed in the previous article, provides assurance that
local water supplies are also being protected to the maximum
extent practicable. If the house is served by a private well
it would also be a good idea to have the water tested. An
inadequate OWS may eventually lead to insistence by Boulder
County Public Health that the property’s wastewater treatment
be improved, probably sooner than later.
There are several ways that a realtor or
prospective purchaser can find information on a property’s
septic system. We keep hard copies of the original files at
Boulder County Public Health (BCPH), 3450 Broadway in Boulder. This
web site also has a search function for
OWS property records.
In addition, there are a number of local
septic system inspectors that have taken a nationally
acclaimed training and become licensed in conducting a very
thorough system inspection.
That brings up another topic – those
criteria that trigger the enforcement of public health
regulations for particular onsite wastewater systems. A
failing septic system is evident when the liquid effluent
begins to “pond” on the surface of the ground. Either the
volume of wastewater generated is too great for the area of
the leach field, or the soil in the leach field can no longer
accept the volume of water for which it was originally
designed. In any event, it’s a situation that calls for
immediate repair, and if the homeowner doesn’t take care of
that immediately, then in order to protect our groundwater,
BCPH will take enforcement action to ensure the system is
adequately repaired. Other triggers for enforcement include
referrals from other county agencies when a building permit
application is made, or a site plan review is requested, or
any type of Land Use review is requested. If an unapproved
septic system is associated with a property that is seeking
improvements or adjustments through one of those mechanisms,
the owner will be asked by Boulder County Public Health to
install a new OWS that meets current standards.
One might question whether these are
appropriate means for disclosing unapproved OWS. Unapproved
OWS are ranked fairly high on our list of risk factors. We
believe that an applicant for a building permit or property
improvement has a public health obligation to prioritize their
septic system improvements before, say, installing marble
countertops. The Boulder County Land Use Department Building
Division has similar legal obligations to ensure adequate
waste treatment as a priority; therefore, a pretty thorough
referral process has been developed between the two county
agencies.
These referral processes and triggers for
OWS review are tools for getting some of the 6,000 unapproved
OWS in the county repaired. Those tools are also in place for
triggering the review of an approved OWS. While that may
sound a bit intrusive, our experience has indicated that it’s
warranted in many situations. For example, we recently
received a Building Division referral for a dwelling that was
served by a permitted onsite wastewater system. It turned out
that the home had six bedrooms on an OWS permitted in the
1960’s for a one-bedroom home. The house had been extensively
remodeled prior to our having established the referral process
with Land Use. So even though there was an approved OWS on
record for this home, it was significantly undersized for the
potential waste load that its aging components would receive.
How would you feel if you had purchased this home assuming
that its septic system permit status was current?
There is one other tool that we’re
considering adding in 2007 that would trigger the review of a
property’s onsite wastewater system. It is a “property
transfer” program requiring that properties undergoing
ownership changes must have permitted OWS adequate for the
size of the dwellings.
What do you think? We’re always
interested in your opinions and thoughts. Please complete our
online survey at
www.BoulderCountyWater.org or feel free to contact me
anytime at
mwilliams@co.boulder.co.us or 303.441.1143.
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