A recent newspaper article from Iowa pointed out that homeowners in Muscatine County who are served by septic systems covered under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permit No. 4 are required by federal and Iowa law to have treated effluent samples tested twice a year. Homeowners are required to provide the results of the effluent test to the county zoning office. Examples of discharging systems listed that require testing were sand filters, coco filters, peat filters, mechanical aerobic treatment units, constructed wetlands or other bio-media filters.The article stated effluent samples must be conducted only by a qualified sampler
