Legislative Background: Surface Water Quality and Household Sewage Treatment Systems

Maryanne Rackoff

The cornerstone of the Clean Water Act is surface water quality.  The original focus of the Act was to control water pollution from “point sources,” such as discharges from municipal wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities.  The success of this system of federal laws and regulations is abundantly clear to those of us in northeast Ohio who remember the “burning” Cuyahoga River: 

On June 22, 1969 a river fire captured national attention. Time magazine described the Cuyahoga as the river that "oozes rather than flows" and in which a person "does not drown but decays." This event helped spur an avalanche of pollution control activities resulting in the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and the creation of the federal and state Environmental Protection Agencies.[1]

The water quality of the Cuyahoga River has dramatically improved due to combined efforts of the federal government, the State of Ohio, and regional authorities to implement the requirements of the Clean Water Act of 1972.  Fish and aquatic insect populations have improved; toxic effluent and oxygen demanding discharges have been reduced or eliminated; more than 12,391 linear feet of stream banks have been restored; concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria have decreased[2]; and people once again began to enjoy its aesthetic and recreational opportunities.

But the problem with maintaining clean waters was bigger than that. It became increasingly clear that more diffuse sources of water pollution, such as contaminated discharges from small storm water systems and household sewage treatment systems (“HSTS”), surface water runoff from construction sites, and surface water runoff that carries other pollutants, also impaired water quality.   Water moves downward through townships, villages, cities, and counties, carrying whatever it finds in its path.  In the effort to protect water quality from the effects of contaminated surface runoff, there has been a shift from a program-by-program, source-by-source, pollutant-by-pollutant approach, to a more holistic, watershed-based strategy. 

The Yellow Creek watershed is a subwatershed of the larger Cuyahoga River watershed that drains into Lake Erie. The primary threat to Yellow Creek is the sediment load and pollution from surface water runoff. Sediment is composed of fine dirt particles, which smother stream beds and reduce populations of sensitive sport fish.   Pollutants carried by storm water and snow melt include oil and grease from vehicles, salt and nutrients from highway maintenance programs, excess lawn chemicals, fecal coliform bacteria from faulty HSTS, and overflows from city sewage treatment systems, notably the Akron Wastewater Treatment Plant.  The primary cause of chemical pollution in the Yellow Creek watershed is insufficiently treated wastewater discharged from household sewage treatment systems. 

Every household in the watershed generates sewage through its use of bathrooms, kitchens, sinks and garbage disposals, dishwashers, washing machines, and other water-consuming products.[3]  In many rural areas public sewage treatment is not available, so those households must provide for the treatment of sewage through an on-lot HSTS. There are two types of HSTS:  (1)  most older systems, which treat and disperse household sewage, use a tank to hold solids and scum, and then disperse wastewater on-lot through a leaching field; and (2) systems, now prohibited, that treat and then dispose of household sewage off-lot.  Most HSTS in the Yellow Creek watershed fall into the former category and disperse wastewater on-lot. 

Although 80% of the land area in Summit County has soil conditions unsuitable for HSTS (our soil is dominated by clay), some 27,000 home systems are in use in the County. The Ohio Environmental Council recently reported that “[s]urveys by OSU and Ohio EPA indicate that an estimated 270,000 homes – or one in four – with on-site HSTS in Ohio fail to adequately treat wastewater . . . [resulting in ] nearly a million gallons of inadequately treated human sewage” flowing into the environment daily.  Homes with HSTS often have wells for drinking water on the same site.  The importance of a properly maintained and properly functioning system is evident.

In response to these serious threats to our water, an updated and environmentally sound series of state standards (standards do vary county by county) for the siting, design, installation and monitoring of HSTS went into effect January 1, 2007. The regulatory framework for these systems rose to new levels in an effort to protect public health . . . for six months. Then the Ohio legislature reversed itself in Amended Substitute House Bill 119 by suspending those rules until July 1, 2009. 

State and county laws provide the regulatory and administrative oversight for new HSTS, and for existing systems, to ensure that discharges from home systems do not endanger surface water quality (and indirectly, groundwater quality), or human health.[4]  Local health districts, such as the Summit County General Health District, regulate the existing HSTS and approve installation of new HSTS through local permitting programs.  Its staff evaluates new property to determine what type of HSTS can be installed, and whether that system will work effectively and efficiently for the size of the lot, its topographical features, and its soil conditions. Local health department staff is also available to help property owners evaluate the condition of their existing HSTS. 

The current Environmental Health Code for Summit County requires the    following: [5]

1.  Two 1000-gallon tanks for single-family residences of 1 to 4 bedrooms;

2.   Two 1500-gallon tanks for single-family residences with more than 4 bedrooms.

Summit County Board of Health Regulation 898.01, adopted pursuant to Ohio Revised Code, Section 3709.21, states that household disposal systems must be pumped every three years.  Failing septic systems are expensive to repair or replace, and poor maintenance is a common cause of system failures. The cost of the preventative maintenance that septic systems require is very little in comparison to the cost of replacement systems. It may cost $10,000 or more to replace a failing septic system with a new one. The cost of having the system pumped is only $100 to $200.

The homeowner is the “stakeholder” and remains responsible under the law for the safe and sanitary operation of his or her system.  [Please refer to our other web pages on signs of trouble with your HSTS, and for suggestions for the proper and continuing maintenance of your system.] Again, Summit County Ordinances require that household disposal systems be pumped every three years, but pumping should probably be done more often to ensure continuing safe operation, and to prevent the high cost of a replacement system.

Conclusion:

Homeowners have the primary responsibility to ensure the proper maintenance and functioning of HSTS.  Adequate and properly functioning systems will prevent the discharge of dangerous wastewater into water resources, both groundwater and surface water, contribute to the safety of our drinking water, and assist in maintaining overall public health and safety.  Clean water also translates into recreational opportunities, such as safe swimming and better fishing.  Clean water and good recreational opportunities increase property values for homeowners.

 

 

[1] US EPA, “Great Lakes Pollution Prevention and Toxics Reduction,” www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/cuyahoga.html.

[2] Cuy. R. RAP Coordinating Comm., Proc. of Oct. 25, 2001 Symposium, published in Jan. of 2002.

[3] “Fact Sheet:  Household Sewage Treatment Systems and an Ohio EPA General NPDES Permit for Discharges,” Div. Of Surface Water of Ohio EPA, Feb. 10, 2006.

[4]Governmental bodies, federal, state and local, as well as their agencies, are responsible for a regulatory and administrative network to ensure clean water resources for drinking, for recreation, and generally for good public health. For an excellent discussion of the overlapping responsibilities of these various agencies, refer to Chapter 4, pages 4-1 to 4-6 [display (pdf) pages 65-70] of NEFCO Clean Water Plan [for Portage and Summit Counties, OH], June 19, 2003.

[5]For the laws of Summit County regarding the permitting of waste haulers and new systems, as well as their regulatory powers, go to www.schd.org, “Environmental Health: Water Quality.”