If someone tells you periodic mandatory septic system inspections are unnecessary, you might want to point them to statistics just released in Pennington County in South Dakota. The numbers published in this editorial in the Rapid City Journal make a good case for inspections by a qualified professional … and it’s good news for those of you who perform inspections and repair or replace onsite systems:

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/opinion/editorial-data-justifies-septic-ordinance/article_168cd094-0664-11e1-ac78-001cc4c03286.html

In a nutshell, the county began regulating septic systems, sending out letters notifying 750 of the 5,000 septic system users about required inspections. While the majority of inspections have shown systems operating properly, records indicated that so far 56 systems have been found in need of minor repairs, 105 systems needed major repairs and 10 systems had overflowing drainfields.

The new rules were met by complaints that there was no proof that failing systems were polluting groundwater and that homeowners were fully capable of maintaining their systems without inspections. In the editorial, the newspaper disagreed.

“We would be more understanding of the argument that the ordinance is an unnecessary and costly intrusion of private property if the inspections conducted so far had found that a higher percentage of systems were in good working order. But they did not,’’ the newspaper countered. The editorial included a positive note about the efficacy of septic systems: “When septic systems are properly installed and maintained, they are safe to use, and groundwater is protected from pollution from raw sewage.

I’d like to hear from you. Drop me a line at editor@pumper.com or respond directly to this blog post below.