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Sullivan Septic in the News
The Boulder Daily Camera
www.dailycamera.com
Published Tuesday, May 15, 2007
By John Aguilar
The Septic Drain
Paul Aiken|Camera
Kevin Sullivan, of Sullivan Septic, cleans out a septic tank in Jamestown last week. Boulder County is launching a new Web site that will inform homeowners whether their septic systems are up to code and what it'll take to fix them if they're not.
New county Web site will tell homeowners whether costly sewage upgrades are due
Starting this month, homeowners running off any of the 14,300 septic systems in Boulder County will have the ability to assess the condition of their underground equipment and find out whether they're due for costly upgrades without ever having to turn over a shovelful of dirt.
By entering their address into a new Web site www.septicsmart.org being launched by Boulder County Public Health, residents will get an instant readout concerning their septic system's status and whether it complies with county health and environmental regulations.
For homeowners with systems that fall short, the burden of bringing them up to code falls squarely on their shoulders. The county estimates the costs of a fix at anywhere from $2,000 to $35,000 per homeowner, depending on the severity of the problem, the soil type and the level of the water table.
The launch of the Web site, which is part of the Boulder County's larger SepticSmart initiative, has been delayed a week or two as technical issues continue to be resolved by the county.
A diagram of a septic system. The pipe carries wastewater to an underground tank where solids settle to the bottom and grease and oils float to the top. The resulting liquid effluent drains out of the septic tank into a leach field, where it percolates through the soil and is purified by microorganisms.
| By the numbers | |
|
Boulder County septic systems 14,300 septic systems in the county 4,700 or 33 percent are unapproved by the county 31 years average age of a septic system in Boulder County 30 years maximum elapsed time before a septic system needs repair |
$2,100 to $3,920 cost range to make a minor repair to a septic system $4,860 to $21,800 cost range to make a major repair to a septic system $7,790 to $35,000 cost range to replace system $700 to $1,500 cost range to hire an engineer, in addition to above costs Source: Boulder County Public Health |
SepticSmart is an outreach program designed to educate people about properly maintaining and updating their septic systems so that they aren't polluting groundwater, wells or nearby streams.
Mass mailings about the program have been scheduled for later this month and the county plans to hold its first SepticSmart open house June 14 in Nederland.
Once www.septicsmart.org goes live later this month, the data-rich site will give residents all they ever needed to know about wastewater and how to treat it.
"We wanted to find out who in the county has septic systems and what condition they are in," said Lane Drager, environmental health panner with Boulder County Pubic Health. "We want to make sure into the future that we have a sustainable water supply."
Upgrades
For nearly onethird of Boulder County residents who run off septic which translates to about 4,700 systems out of a total of 14,300 countywide the news will not be good. That's the estimated number of septic systems in Boulder County that currently are unapproved.
Health officials fear systems that haven't been inspected in recent years are at risk for leaking and failure.
Drager said a septic system could lack approval if it was built before the county started permitting such systems in 1958, if it was installed on the sly or if modfications and additions made to a a home render the original septic system inadequate for higher wastewater output.
And, of course, a septic system would fail the county's regulations if it is in disrepair and leaking sewage into the ground.
"If the system is failing, it must be repaired immediately." Drager said, "We've got bacteria, viruses and other pathogens in our wastewater. If these aren't treated and they get into the groundwater, then we've got exposure to the public."
To make matters worse, Drager said the average age of a septic system in the county is 31 years, and most systems need repair by their 30th year, meaning that many older systems already need or will soon need attention.
He said most SepticSmart assessments in the county will be made when a property is sold and goes through inspection, rather than targeting residences at random.
 A screen shot of Boulder County's new SepticSmart Web site, which will allow homeowners to enter their addresses and find out whether their septic systems are in compliance with county regulations. |
| Tips for a healthy septic system | |
|
Pump out system every two to four years. Plant grass over leach field, not asphat and concrete. Get a county permit for septic system. Note location of tank and leach field for service and maintenance. Don't place dental floss, feminine hygiene products, condoms, diapers, cotton swabs, cigarette butts, coffee grounds, cat litter, paper towels, latex |
paint or pesticides in system. Don't use caustic drain openers for clogs. Instead, use boiling water or a drain snake. Don't allow vehicles, livestock or pedestrians on septic system. Don't plant trees or bushes on or near leach field. Roots can damage pipes. Don't make repairs to system without a permit. |
Passing the test
Septic systems treat sewage produced by residents who aren't connected to a municipal sewer system. Typically, a pipe carries wasterwater out of a home to an underground septic tank, in which solids settle to the bottom and grease and oils float to the top.
The resulting liquid effluent drains out of the septic tank into a leach field, where it percolates through the soil and is purified by microorganisms.
Homeowners must pump th solids and grease out of their septic tanks every three to five years to avoid a backup or leach field failure.
Scott Reuman, who lives about seven miles up Magnolia Road, said he isn't certain whether his 21yearold septic system passes the county's test.
"If the county finds it's not good, I would be financially dismayed, but I don't want to be polluting my well either," he said. "And I don't want to do anything to my neighbors or to the riparian areas."
While a quick look at a test version of the SepticSmart Web site shows that Reuman's system is in compliance, the 57-year-old artist said he is aware of a lot of old, leaky septic tanks and saturated leach fields at other mountain properties in the county.
Drager characterizes some of those high country locations Ward, Eldora, Eldorado Springs as "high-risk areas" the county will target for compliance.
And problems aren't limited to the foothills, Drager said. The county also is concerned about noncompliant septic systems in the Raymond and Riverside, Brownsville, and Gapter Road neighborhoods out east.
Cliff Grassmick|Camera
Scott Reuman talks about his septic system at his mountain home on Magnolia Road. The stone in the foreground marks the location of his underground septic tank. Reuman's system is in compliance with county regulations, but an estimated 4,700 other septic systems in Boulder County are listed as unapproved.
Not playing 'Gotcha'
Jay Beyer, a resident of Gapter Road, said his neighborhood near the intersection of Cherryvale and Baseline roads was built primarily in the 1950s. As a result, many of the homes' septic systems were installed before the county came up with a permitting system.
Beyer doesn't have an issue with the goals of the SepticSmart program, but said he thinks the sudden focus by the county on th issue could put some of his neighbors with older, and now unapproved, systems in a difficult position even if they regularly serviced their systems and pumped the sludge out of their tanks.
"The county hasn't done its job in the last 20 to 30 years by doing any kind of inspection," Beyer said. "It's unfair to a property owner to be considered to have a non-permitted system just because the county hasn't been inspecting over the life of the system."
Drager said the purpose of SepticSmart is not to play gotcha with residents who own aging septic tanks, but rather, to bring systems countywide up to code gradually, like during property transactions or in response to cataclysmic failures.
"We're not going to be able to improve everything overnight," Drager said. "It's going to take years, probably 15 years."
Contact Camera Staff Writer
John Aguilar at 303-473-1389 or
aguilarj@dailycamera.com
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