In Charlotte County, Fla., on the Gulf Coast near Sarasota, residents recently complained about a plan to move 2,500 homes using septic systems to municipal sewer service. They argued that municipal sewer service would become an onerous expense as users would have to pay higher property taxes every year and higher monthly bills for handling household waste. In a news report, they said many homeowners are retired people on a fixed income for whom this would be a huge burden.

With their homes surrounding Spring Lake, members of the Save Our Septic group further argued onsite systems provide a sound solution to properly handling waste, going as far as to say that the decentralized systems are less of a threat to the environment than a leaking municipal sewer line would be.

However, this is the same state where homeowners have been doing everything in their power to stop laws that would require periodic inspections of septic systems in areas with sensitive environments. County after county – led by its elected representatives – has rejected efforts to identify aging systems that need replacing. Like the homeowners in Charlotte County fighting the new sewer line, many Florida residents have said they can’t afford to pay for septic system inspections and necessary repairs.

It's your decision

I have one thing to say: Make up your mind! If you want to keep using septic systems, support commonsense inspection standards and commit to repairing or replacing failing systems. This is the right thing to do to ensure onsite systems are seen as an environmentally sound disposal practice.

If you don’t want to ensure septic systems protect Florida’s fragile groundwater supply and ecosystem, agree to pony up the money for a municipal sewer service that will. Then stop complaining.

I find this debate exasperating, especially since periodic septic inspections are already accepted as the rule in many U.S. regions. So I called Ed Schwartz, who runs Septic Solutions, a system inspection, repair and replacement business in Charlotte County. He was quoted in a newspaper story I read about this issue and I wanted a local perspective.

Schwartz says he believes the residents fighting the sewer hookups around Spring Lake would agree to required inspections every five years. He notes that some homeowners in the most environmentally sensitive coastal areas in the county already have that requirement and pay $115 every five years to license their onsite systems.

“Most septic contractors would agree with it and most responsible homeowners who realize that preventive maintenance is beneficial to them would agree,’’ he says. “But the majority of the people are uneducated.’’ Schwartz doesn’t mean people are not smart, but they need to be shown the value of onsite system maintenance, especially those who have never lived with a septic system before.

Crunching numbers

Schwartz says plenty of people balk at the approximate $400 cost to pump and inspect their systems every five years – which amounts to $83 per year to maintain a conventional working system. And his specialty is maintaining ATU systems that require an approximate cost of $250 for twice-a-year inspections, a cost many homeowners also don’t understand.

But Schwartz says the costs to maintain these systems pales in comparison to the cost homeowners pay to hook up to the municipal sewer system and to convey waste away for treatment. In the Charlotte County situation, Schwartz said the hookup cost is expected to be about $10,000; then there are further costs for running a lateral to the home, about $2,000, and about $50 per month for service. He says residents could install a new conventional septic system for less than the hookup fee, and then save the $50 monthly fee.

“They have no idea what they’re wishing for,’’ Schwartz says of Floridians who would choose to hook up to the big pipe before accepting periodic inspections and necessary repairs to their onsite systems. “They should be embracing [inspections] as opposed to someone ramming a sewer system down our throats.’’

Schwartz says he sometimes finds tanks that are deteriorated and septage has been leaching straight into the ground for years in areas with a high water table.

“You show [the customer] this and he understands there is no concrete there anymore, but his next statement is, ‘My septic’s been working fine.’ But it’s not very environmentally friendly,’’ Schwartz says. It’s another case of customers equating a flushing toilet with a healthy onsite system.

Point of sale

Schwartz doesn’t want customers to ask him to cut corners on his inspections, either.

“If they don’t want to get the tank pumped, I say, ‘Call somebody else.’ A good inspection should cost $400 to $450 and include a pumping, and I should spend the time necessary to be satisfied that this system is going to work when a family of four shows up and is going to use it on a daily basis.’’

Schwartz advocates for a septic system inspection any time a house is sold in Florida, and that the fee should be added to the closing costs, just like a title fee. He also supports a statewide five-year inspection requirement, but with the counties setting fees.

“A five-year plan is a fair and economical choice for everybody to ensure you’re not polluting,’’ he says. But he’s not optimistic that the onsite industry can convince the public, the legislature and Realtors’ groups that inspections are necessary.

The bottom line

I have expressed dismay over Floridians who on one hand want to support clean water, but resist efforts to guarantee it through mandatory septic system inspections done at a reasonable interval.

These Charlotte County residents are right in saying onsite systems are a suitable wastewater solution in many cases. But you have to put a program in place that makes sure they are working properly. Failure to do so will result in a growing general belief that municipal sewer systems are the only environmentally sound answer.

The bottom line is that ensuring effective wastewater treatment costs money. It’s not free. Floridians currently using septic systems must decide whether they’d rather pay to maintain their own system or pay a public treatment facility to collect their waste on a monthly basis.