Kind words for septic tank
Thirty-five percent of the household wastewater in the USA goes into septic systems. Twenty-five percent of US commercial wastewater and 85 percent of agricultural wastewater does the same. Ninth-eight percent of these septic tanks are doing just fine, safely returning water to the ground water system where it belongs.
The EPA likes this situation … and wants to improve it. They want more water to go into septic systems (Onsite Wastewater Disposal Systems) than into municipal facilities. Large municipal wastewater systems are expensive to build, hideously expensive to run and repair, they fail and for many months of each year they don’t work, pumping semi-treated sewage directly into some poor water body close by.
The greatest single user of fresh water in LA County is the Hyperion Treatment Plant. They add chlorine…and pump the effluent into the Santa Monica Bay. The EPA is quietly working to discourage this idea across the USA. They want wastewater put back into the ground, not into rivers, bays, estuaries, lakes or the ocean. But isn’t this water dirty? Why, yes, until about 66 feet. For the first 20 feet, the bacteria in the soil eat all the nutrients found in the water. By 40 feet the microbes are dying by the increased atmospheric pressure. At two atmospheres below ground (66 feet), the microbes, bacteria and viruses are toast. By 100 feet the water is clean, yes, clean enough to drink.
So our ‘O1 septic systems return water to the water table where it belongs, without electricity, chlorine or adding fresh water. The EPA says Onsite systems are better for us and they are right. See www.nsfc.wvu.edu – National Small Flows Clearinghouse. This is our tax dollars at work funded by the EPA. They publish (free), “Small Flows Quarterly,” everything you’d ever want to know about the care and feeding of your “Onsite System.”
Good news is coming our way. If your septic tank is not working well, (it stinks) or if you just like high performance and want a system that increases digestion fast, you can get an aerator for your tank. The EPA likes this idea. Aeration increases the action dramatically and gets cleaner water into the ground faster. Aeration systems come in all sizes and prices but like cars, they all basically do the same thing, get you down the road.
If you want super fast action, you can add aerobic bacteria. UC Davis is testing a system now for California called the Pirana (“Nature Called and We Answered”). It will cost under $2000 and retrofits into any existing septic tank. In the testing, it has increased biologic action by 100 percent.
Eventually these aeration systems will get cheaper; the septic tanks will be improved and Tapia won’t dump into Malibu Creek. And for those tanks whose owners don’t care if they fail? Welcome to DNA sampling. That’s right, folks. If you live on the beach and are saying, “That water is not mine,” The Dept. of Health will be able to sample the tanks in the area, and the spill, and come knocking on your door.
This is the one area where I suggest Malibu City can begin to think about getting involved (for a small fee) sometime soon. Not now, but soon. First we should encourage people to check out their tanks and call the Small Flows group 800-624-8301 (West Virginia). All the information is free. The septic tank is a good biological machine. With a little maintenance (pumping once per year), it will last for years and years of excellent service.
Of all the additives we’ve tested (most don’t work), we finally found one made in Washington state that actually works to clear up septic tanks and leach fields. TRI-ZYME ($10 for a year’s supply). It has been around for over 50 years and is used by farmers and ranchers.
Jim Glennon