A number jumped out at me while reading a report this morning about a proposed septic system disclosure rule for real estate transactions through the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health in Indiana. Buried well below the lead paragraph about point-of-sale disclosures was a statistic that shows the critical importance of onsite system installers: Of the 15,000 to 16,000 septic systems in Allen County, up to 70 percent “aren’t operating up to today’s standards or have failed.’’

The report was published at www.journalgazette.net. See it right here: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130416/LOCAL/304169935/1002/local

The county’s board of health is considering mandatory disclosure forms aimed at identifying failing septic systems when homes are sold, and the committee this week put off a decision on such a rule for a year. If their own statistics show a major failure rate right now, I have to wonder why they’re waiting to pin down some of the failing systems and make sure they get fixed.

This story is just another local government anecdote pointing to the growing problem of the aging decentralized wastewater infrastructure across the U.S. Many systems are outlasting their expected lifespan, but replacement of millions of older systems is inevitable. And thousands of qualified system installers are prepared to play a vital role in these necessary upgrades.

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