It’s a scenario you may encounter too frequently as you run a septic service route. The customer calls for a pumpout, and a system inspection turns up some devastating results. You discover a failed drainfield, a leaky and root-clogged septic tank or some other issue that calls for a major repair or replacement. 

The customer expected a bill for a few hundred dollars, but suddenly you are the bearer of terrible news — they’re looking at $5,000 for a new tank or $20,000 or more for a new septic system. The homeowners haven’t budgeted for this expense — heck, they might not even have enough money to their names to cover the cost. 

In many cases, the issues are serious enough that the homeowners can’t limp along with a poorly performing septic system while saving the cash for the fix. They are frightened and overwhelmed by the diagnosis, and they look to you for some answers. You probably don’t have any good advice for them — local pumping companies cannot be confused with a bank or a credit union. There is no payment plan for your services.

So what to do? Pumpers clearly don’t have a responsibility to help customers find a way to fund a major wastewater project. Your job technically starts and ends with a vacuum truck and an excavator to get private systems up and running safely and effectively. However, in the current U.S. economic environment, there is a way to extend your valued customer service beyond the shovel and into the area of finance.

MORE SUPPORT COMING

The past few years — since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — have seen an explosion of government assistance for infrastructure projects. And as it happens, infrastructure no longer just means rebuilding highways, airports and government buildings. In fact, the 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law directs $50 billion to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for updating drinking water and wastewater systems.

And that doesn’t just mean public treatment plants; a good amount of the funds are being earmarked for private septic systems. The EPA currently provides Clean Water State Revolving Fund grants to all 50 states and Puerto Rico that are used to support low-interest loans for decentralized wastewater systems. The agency says eligible wastewater treatment projects include:

Upgrade, repair or replacement of existing systems.

Construction/installation of new systems; costs associated with the establishment of a responsible management entity (e.g., permitting fees, legal fees, etc.).

Septic treatment works and pumper trucks to support the proper maintenance of decentralized systems.

The federal funds do not flow directly to the homeowner. State, regional and local governments create programs that receive these grants and then distribute the money to owners of septic systems. According to the EPA, “states are afforded extensive flexibility in administering their program, including defining project and applicant eligibilities, financing terms and loan forgiveness options for qualified borrowers.”

The CWSRF was established in 1987 by amendments to the Clean Water Act. Since then it has promised below-market interest rates, loan forgiveness options and extended-term financing and flexible repayment options. As of 2020, prior to the Infrastructure Law, it had provided more than $145 billion in financial assistance for water and wastewater projects.

CHECKING THE MAIL

Emerging localized funding programs for septic system upgrades come to my attention almost every day. For example, I just saw a press release from Polk County, Minnesota, announcing a cost-sharing grant program for homeowners with noncompliant septic systems. Through the Minnesota Clean Water Legacy Act, qualifying applicants receive a grant contributing 60% to 80% of septic installation costs up to $12,000.

Another press release this week announced $13 million in new funding for septic system upgrades in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, as part of the county’s AquiFund program. Financed through the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, the program has awarded $62.4 million in low-interest loans to 4,814 homeowners since 2006.

According to the EPA, the state programs offer low interest rates and long borrowing terms, up to 30 years or the life of a septic system, resulting in payments as low as $75 per month in some instances. And the programs are allowed to provide loan forgiveness, effectively converting the loans into grants, often based on poverty rates, the borrower’s existing debt, community population trends and median household income being lower than the statewide average.

The bottom line to me is that we’re in a period when an ever-increasing number of homeowners may qualify for assistance in paying for an unanticipated system repair or replacement. If you want to help your customers deal with the sticker shock, here are a few actions you can take:

Step one: Go to this helpful list of state septic system programs at the EPA website: epa.gov/septic/state-septic-system-program-contacts. This will give you the contact information for those who administer loan or grant programs in every state. You may also contact the local government regulators you deal with on septic issues, typically a county or municipal environmental health department. Get the program details to share with your customers or simply pass along the contacts so they can call on their own.

Step two: If you find there are no local or state programs linked to the EPA money, start networking with your legislators and health departments to push for a loan or grant program. Tell these officials about the financial burden a septic system repair or replacement can be for your clients. Many of the folks who have difficulty affording a new system are senior citizens and veterans, vulnerable folks political leaders will want to help out. Impress upon politicians that repairing private septic systems is crucial to protecting clean water supplies and the environment in general. Share with them that many septic systems in your service territory are well past their expected lifespan and fixing them removes a public health threat to the entire community.

Step three: If loan or grant programs are not a viable option in your customer’s situation, work with your state wastewater trade association to find a different solution. Over the years, Pumper has covered many instances where our wastewater associations have stepped in and provided components and labor to repair or install systems for homeowners in desperate need. I know of trade associations that are looking to provide more charity systems as a way to give back to organizations that could use a helping hand.

STEPPING UP

I have talked to many pumpers who are touched by the stories of elderly customers or others in difficult financial straits who cannot afford necessary work for their septic systems. Pumpers can feel just as helpless as the homeowner when they cannot offer to provide the service for free. Sometimes pumpers, frankly, do eat the cost of a repair in hardship cases because that’s the kind of caring folks we have working in this industry.

But it might not have to be this way — especially since so much money has been set aside for wastewater programs. Pumpers who take the step of familiarizing themselves with loan or grant programs — or even go the extra mile and advocate for more assistance options — are doing something good for their customers and their community.