Here’s more evidence that private treatment will be trend in septic service

Georgia city bans septic trucks, suggest they drive miles down the road

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A news report this week out of Perry, Ga., shows why many septic waste haulers will need to consider building their own private treatment facilities moving forward.

Responding to what officials say were dumping rules violations by a local pumping contractor, the city council in Perry voted to ban septic trucks from the municipal treatment plant. The city manager seemed to dismiss the hardship this ban might place on haulers, saying they could go to other facilities 22 and 24 miles away to dump.

Have these city officials looked at diesel fuel prices lately? Or the other rising costs associated with operating a small business, like salaries and insurances? The additional transportation costs can be a major hardship on a small business.

I’m sure city officials have reasons to be upset with the pumper, who allegedly failed to observe the plants hours of operation and brought in waste from outside the city, which is not allowed. But I’ve heard other anecdotal stories about municipal plant operators who quickly cut off septic haulers rather than try to work out issues to allow continued dumping.

That’s the right of the city council, whether I think it’s fair or not.

As local municipal plants age and treatment capacities shrink, pumpers can be the first customer to be cut off. After all, these plants’ first commitments are to property owners dependent to the sewer lines.

Cases like this one underscore the importance of pumpers continuing to consider building their own pretreatment facilities. Start by weighing the volume of septage you haul every year against the cost of dewatering or other technologies that could allow you to dump cleaner effluent into the municipal system or dispose of in another way. See if operating your own system makes financial sense.

Do you have comments on this blog? Respond below or send me an email at editor@pumper.com.

 

 



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