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Your septic system plays the vital role of receiving and eliminating
wastes from your home. A properly designed and installed system
will give decades of quality service. Proper maintenance is essential
to get the most out of your septic system. Having the septic
tank pumped every two or three years is the most important step
to keep things working smoothly.
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Household Wastewater Handling Systems
Despite efforts to regulate design, placement and use, septic
systems are still the largest reported cause of groundwater contamination
resulting in disease outbreaks in the U.S. Property owners must
remember that they are responsible for their septic systems,
and for any contamination a poorly functioning system may cause.
Conventional septic systems are designed to prevent surface
ponding of wastewater, and to provide an adequate treatment filter
between the bottom of absorption fields and groundwater or bedrock.
When these systems are properly designed, installed, operated,
and maintained, potentially harmful contaminants in wastewater
are adequately treated before reaching groundwater. It is important
to realize that septic systems are designed to treat domestic
sewage, and will not treat all contaminants that may be placed
in the system. Therefore, care must be taken not to dispose of
chemicals by pouring them down drains leading to septic systems.
Improperly designed septic system leach fields can be a source
of nitrate contamination. Nitrate is a form of nitrogen combined
with oxygen. Nitrate contamination in groundwater can cause a
blood disorder known as methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome),
which primarily affects infants. Elderly persons may also be
affected but nitrates can be harmful to adults of any age if
consumed in excessive amounts.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established
a level of 10 milligrams per liter (mg/L) (1 mg/L is equal to
1 part per million) as the drinking water standard for nitrate
for public water systems. Nitrate levels in private water supplies
also should be below 10 mg/L.
Various illnesses and diseases have been attributed to bacteria
and viruses associated with water contaminated by septic systems,
with gastrointestinal illnesses being the most common.
The bacteriological quality of a water supply is most often
determined by sampling and analyzing for coliform bacteria. Current
standards specify that drinking water must not contain more than
one coliform colony in 100 milliliters of water after undergoing
a standardized laboratory procedure. If one or more coliform
colonies are measured, a second sample should be tested to verify
the results. To have your water well tested for total coliform
contact the Wyoming Department of Agriculture Analytical Services
Laboratory, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, WY 82070, (307) 742-2984.
Finally, to prevent health problems and prevent solids from
overflowing septic tanks and clogging leach fields, septic tanks
should be pumped at regular intervals, at least every two to
three years.
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