QUESTION: What do you tell a first-time homeowner?

ANSWER: As I travel around the country conducting onsite workshops for professionals, one common theme I hear is that we need to educate homeowners about their systems. Sometimes I hear recounting of what service providers do to educate the homeowner. Other times, workshop participants say, “I wish someone would do something to educate customers. It would make my job so much easier.’’

In my role as an educator, I also field a lot of questions from homeowners. They ask what kind of toilet paper they should use or how often they should pump their septic tanks. As industry professionals, we all have an important role to play in consumer education. This issue is nothing new.

EARLY EDUCATION EFFORTS

When I first worked in the onsite program at the University of Minnesota, my colleague Roger Machmeier had developed a simple publication entitled Get To Know Your Septic Tank, which was handed out to installers, service providers and real estate agents to share with their customers. It included a couple of diagrams of a septic tank and drainfield configuration, along with detailed descriptions of each of the components.

There were also some tips about the proper use of septic systems, including not using the toilet as a wastebasket for cigarette butts and other products, spreading clothes washing duties out during the week, staying away from use of the garbage disposal, having the tank maintained regularly and making sure to fix leaky fixtures.

Over the years, technology advances and new components hit the industry, making it difficult to cover all the necessary consumer education tips in the small publication. This led to the development of The Homeowners Guide, which is available through the University of Minnesota Onsite Sewage Treatment Program and the Minnesota Extension Service. An excerpt can be viewed on the program’s website at septic.umn.edu.

The guide includes a handy table leading the homeowner through a series of questions to help determine how often they should have their septic tank maintained. While questions have been raised about just how accurate this estimator is for different areas of the country, it leads the homeowner through a logical process and heavier users will understand they need more maintenance than households with fewer people and lighter use of the septic system.

OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

As we are all aware, systems now are likely to have a lot more components than the septic tank to gravity drainfield. The homeowner also needs to be aware of maintenance frequency for pumps and pump tanks, pressure distribution laterals and any other pretreatment components, such as media filters and ATUs. This led to the development of management plans that can be customized for the specific components present in the systems homeowners have in their backyards. I like to think of this as equivalent to the operation manual homeowners have for their furnace, air conditioner and other major household appliances.

Other education materials provide similar types of information to service providers. For example, brochures are distributed through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the agency has made a concerted effort with homeowners the past two Septembers to promote its Septic Smart program. Fact sheets and materials explain what homeowners have for onsite systems. In addition, many state Extension Service offices and state and national onsite industry associations provide materials for homeowner education.

If your company already uses materials to help educate homeowners, that’s all well and good. But these additional sources may prompt you to revise or improve the materials you share when visiting with homeowners. If you don’t already provide such materials, I suggest you look to these sources for what you can use and adapt, and do your part in educating the homeowner. They control what happens in the system, day to day and in the long term. Being proactive in this regard is good for the homeowner, good for your business and good for the industry overall.

REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS

If your state doesn’t already require point-of-sale real estate inspections of onsite systems, this is another initiative service providers should consider getting involved with through state onsite associations. While this article focuses on information to share with homeowners after they’ve bought a property and moved in, education should extend to the potential homeowner. For people who have never lived with a septic system, the education needs to begin before they actually buy the property.

I have seen a few items over the years that focus on what a potential buyer should consider or be concerned about  but not a lot. There are more and more inspection requirements, but they are not consistent across the country. We will explore inspections in an upcoming column.