Atlanta, like many major metropolitan areas, is experiencing a housing explosion. Almost overnight, the rolling hills surrounding the city are being transformed into up-scale sub divisions. Of course this type of growth is good for the economy, but far too often, the lure of fast money for the developers and additional tax revenue for the community leaders causes tunnel vision, all they can see is dollar signs. It’s a case of, "Lets get the cash today and we will deal with the problems later." And this style of doing business is already beginning to surface in the Atlanta area.

Developers make money by building as many houses in an area as possible, and naturally when they go to the city council and explain that by making each lot smaller, they can increase the number of housing units, which translates into more homeowners paying property taxes, which means more money for parks, roads, salaries, etc. A pretty attractive offer.

But these smaller lots present a problem. Many of these homes will be using septic systems to deal with their wastewater. Contrary to what most people think, septic systems are one of the most effective methods of treating wastewater, in fact, they will treat wastewater better than most sewage treatment facilities, at a fraction of the cost to the homeowners and have the potential to last indefinitely. But there is a catch, those systems have to be properly designed, installed and maintained by the homeowners and that is not happening.

One way developers increase their profit margins is to use the cheapest sub-contractors they can find. In some cases, these contractors are not qualified to design and install a system that will function properly and last. The RED GEORGIA CLAY takes special consideration when designing a system, and because many contractors lack this specialized training, they are installing systems that are destined to fail in a few years.

Another problem is the type of (graveless) systems contractors are using. The manufacturer claims a 50% reduction in drainfield size is possible with these systems. This may be true, but because these do not offer the pre-filtering effect that a gravel system does, they are prone to premature failure because they can not tolerate suspended solids like grease, lint, etc. These problems can be avoided if a few preventive steps are taken, but nothing is being done.

Of course you would think the building inspectors would catch these errors, but in many cases they don’t. Some are notoriously under-qualified and wouldn’t know a poorly designed system if they were standing in it. And those are qualified can’t keep up because there are so many new houses to inspect. They often get to the home after the septic system has been installed, frequently they have to take the contractors word that it was done properly.

But a septic system is not like a cracked wall or a bad coat of paint that the homeowner will notice right away and point out to the developer for repair. Even an improperly installed system will appear to function for a year, or two, or three. And when the problem does surface, literally, the developer is 30 miles away building another subdivision.

At that point it is very difficult to identify the cause of failure...was it improper installation, or was it abuse by the homeowner. A septic system is no different than anything else, if it is not used properly, it will break. And that is another problem, very little is being done to teach homeowners how to use those systems. Although one Health Dept. Official risked his job to bring in community education classes.

What this means is, many of these systems will fail in a few years, and with the limited lot size, there will be no room put in a replacement system. Consequently, by the turn of the century, the City of Atlanta will be surrounded by thousands of failing septic systems, or to put it bluntly, a sea of sewage. The problem of failing septic systems in the Atlanta area was illustrated on 20/20 earlier this spring.

The only alternative at that point is, every homeowner (and that means every home in the development, not just the ones with a failed system) will have to pay another $15,000, $30,000 or more to have the roads dug-up and sewer mains run into their neighborhoods and pump their sewage miles away to a treatment plant.

Make no mistake about it, this is not a trivial matter. Failing and inadequate septic systems are a leading source of pollution in this country today and a major health risk. But because of the subject matter, they have been largely ignored by the news agencies in favor of high impact (and more tasteful) environmental news stories. And because no one hears about the problem, they feel it does not exist.

But when these people that are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to build these homes find their backyards (where their children and pets play) transformed into a sewage swamp, then learn they will be forced to pay thousands of more dollars to deal with the problem, they will find out the hard way how serious a problem this is. The bitter irony...if those systems were properly designed in the first place, they would be cheaper for the homeowners and better for the environment.

The solution, call-in the experts to help the local contractors design and install these systems. For example, the University of Minnesota has an excellent 3 day training program and travels around the country educating contractors and inspectors on what a proper treatment system is and how to design them. Follow that up with homeowner education. Teach the people that use those systems how to use those systems.

If a few thousand dollars are spent now on preventative measures, the Atlanta area will avoid a major financial, environmental and health crisis. However, if this problem is ignored, as it often is, in a few years homeowners and government officials alike will be spending billions of dollars trying to clean-up the problem and saying, "Someone should have thought this through before jumping in with both feet." Ultimately, if this issue not addressed now, it will be the tax payers that will be picking up the tab and your children will be paying the price for the environmental damage to the backyards, lakes, rivers and streams that they play in.

James vonMeier- Environmental Educator   

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