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Septic or sewer? UGA, A-C to flush out pros, cons: Waste study By Rebecca K. Quigley Friday, March 17, 2006 Athens Banner-Herald University of Georgia and Athens-Clarke County wastewater experts are developing a study that could result in a call for mandatory inspections to reduce septic-tank failures that pollute North Georgia's waterways. Dick Field, Athens-Clarke County environment coordinator, and other county officials have been tossing about the idea of mandatory septic-tank inspections, maintenance or pumping to help solve the problem before it starts. In addition, a fee schedule would help pay for those inspections and for clean-up costs when overflow pollutes the county's waterways, Field said. Septic systems provide better sewage treatment than sewer systems - "if it's done right," Field said - but if septic systems are old or not maintained, they can do more damage than good, he said. "(The county is) aware that some of them are not performing as they should," he said. So Field is working with researchers and policy analysts with UGA's River Basin Center to determine the environmental effects of septic and sewer systems. The county is responsible for regular inspections and maintenance of sewer lines and, in the case of a failure, the state Department of Natural Resources can fine the county, which is then responsible for any cleanup, Field said. However, once the Clarke County Health Department OK's a septic tank in Athens-Clarke County, there are no requirements for regular maintenance, inspections or pumping, Field said. The county has responded to a number of septic tank problems, "but the big thing triggering the study was whether or not to put a sewer line down Shoal Creek," he said. After opposition from Winterville residents and a local environmental group, the Athens-Clarke Commission last spring approved placing a proposed sewer line further away from the creek than originally planned. Field and others' interest in the UGA study follows concerns about installing a sewer line along Shoal Creek and whether it would damage the creek area more or less than potential septic tank leaks along the watershed, said Field and UGA hydrology researcher Todd Rasmussen. As part of the River Basin Center's Initiative for Watershed Excellence Upper Altamaha Project, a group of faculty and students from several campus departments will be compiling information on septic and sewer system issues and sharing that information with Field, said project leader Christine Rodick. "We are going to be writing a report on the pros and cons of septic and the pros and cons of sewer from a policy perspective and from a technical perspective," Rodick said. The project is in the beginning stages, so Rodick cannot provide more detail about what the septic and sewer report would encompass or when it might be finished, she said. Installing a sewer line, while less likely to have a pollution breach than a septic tank, has the potential for causing much greater damage to the stream bank, but in the absence of a sewer line, septic systems seem to need more oversight, Rasmussen said. "Regulatory authorities should be allowed to require routine maintenance and repair of on-site systems, including the ability to collect fees to perform these duties," Rasmussen wrote in an article on the environmental impacts of sewage. Such regulations are rare in Georgia, but not unheard of - septic tank owners in areas of Douglas and Gwinnett counties are required to pump the tanks every few years, according to state officials. Putting in sewer lines versus establishing septic tank regulations or fees "is not an easy question to answer," Field said. "It's been both a scientific and a philosophical debate." Sewer systems route wastewater to a treatment plant where it gets treated and discharged, either into a waterway or sprayed onto a field and allowed to filter through the ground. Septic systems allow wastewater to slowly and naturally filter through the ground, providing nutrients to the soil and eventually returning to the waterways in a much cleaner form than a sewer system would, Rasmussen said. If left unchecked, overflow from septic tank failures saturate the groundwater with waste faster than it can safely filter the water, he said. A sewer line failure, on the other hand, is "catastrophic" compared to a septic tank failure, he said. However, little data exists on the negative effects of sewer systems versus septic systems on the watershed, Rasmussen said. Once he receives a report from the Rodick's group, Field said plans to develop wastewater system policy options for county officials to consider. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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