Thanks for lid security reminder
Dear Editor:
Great article! (“A Wake-Up Call,’’ April Reading Between the Lines) It is important that we continue to “hammer home” this message! I have to continue to admonish people with regard to the safety hazard of an unsecured lid.
Unfortunately, I have had to write a letter to a county health department about an inspection protocol, whereby the regulator required that the lids to the tank be left unsecured until they could inspect it, simply because the person did not want to carry the tools necessary to unscrew the lid. We have had our share of completely unnecessary and preventable deaths of children in Michigan due to open access to septic tanks. This is simply unacceptable negligence to safety!
We have made it our company policy to never, never, never leave a site without securing the lid and making it child-proof. When no other means were available, I have often rolled the largest rock I could find on top of a makeshift cover until I could return with an appropriate and safe lid. Even though the homeowner may not have small children, the neighbors certainly may. Like it was mentioned in the column, we fence around a swimming pool to protect the neighbor’s kids, too.
We will certainly incorporate this message into the newsletter of our state association, the Michigan Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association, to drive home the importance of this danger.
Thanks for your diligence.
Mike Stephens
Stephens Consulting Services
Haslett, Mich.
