Backed-up pipes, stinky yards: Climate change is wrecking septic tanks

[rebewranger]

Backed-up pipes, stinky yards: Climate change is wrecking septic tanks
By Jim Morrison
April 12, 2022 at 7:00 a.m. EDT

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10 min

This trench was dug to help alleviate rainwater issues in the yard of Roosevelt Jones, whose septic system has increasingly failed at his Suffolk, Va., home. (Kristen Zeis for The Washington Post)
 
Lewis Lawrence likes to refer to the coastal middle peninsula of Virginia as suffering from a “soggy socks” problem. Flooding is so persistent that people often can’t walk around without getting their feet wet.
 
Over two decades, Lawrence, the executive director of the Middle Peninsula Planning District, has watched the effects of that problem grow, as rising waters and intensifying rains that flood the backyard render underground septic systems ineffective. When that happens smelly, unhealthy wastewater backs up into homes.

Local companies, he said, call the Middle Peninsula the “septic repair capital of the East Coast.” “That’s all you need to know,” he added. “And it’s only going to get worse.”

As climate change intensifies, septic failures are emerging as a vexing issue for local governments. For decades, flushing a toilet and making wastewater disappear was a convenience that didn't warrant a second thought. No longer. From Miami to Minnesota, septic systems are failing, posing threats to clean water, ecosystems and public health.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/04/12/backed-up-pipes-stinky-yards-climate-change-is-wrecking-septic-tanks/

[Kamaji]

Time to switch to a municipal sewage system.  Get with the times!

[rebewranger]

Back when I was a kid, some 65 years ago, our home had a septic tank but I don't remember the problems like those mentioned in this article.  Maybe it was because Dad had the system cleaned regularly to avoid just those problems.  Of course, many modern "homeowners" who are financed by Uncle Sugar can't afford to clean their systems because they have to buy booze, drugs, and cigarettes with their money.

[roamer_1]

Back when I was a kid, some 65 years ago, our home had a septic tank but I don't remember the problems like those mentioned in this article.  Maybe it was because Dad had the system cleaned regularly to avoid just those problems.  Of course, many modern "homeowners" who are financed by Uncle Sugar can't afford to clean their systems because they have to buy booze, drugs, and cigarettes with their money.

I have been on septic systems most of my life, and what you say is true. Typically we have the tank pumped every presidential election year - sufficient and apropos.

As a rule failing is just what septic systems DO... But that is not in fact their fault - A properly installed and maintained septic system can last indefinitely. Often (and I would say the primary reason for failure) septic systems are installed into filled dirt, which later settles, rendering the system ineffective. Add to that the now myriad of engineered systems, which are largely over-engineered and reliant on moving parts, and failure becomes all the more likely.

So I would look at this article with a jaundiced eye.

[GtHawk]

Time to switch to a municipal sewage system.  Get with the times!

That's not always possible as many time municipal systems have not been run in areas. My parents lived in unincorporated Fallbrook, CA and the city despite collecting extra taxes and bonds for the purpose never ran the sewer lines in the thirty years they were there.

[roamer_1]

Actually, the most favorable method I have ever used is above-ground composting.

It can be a bit unsavory I suppose - In the thinking of it - The reality of it is not so bad using sawdust in the 'toilet'... It doesn't stink, either in the house or the pile... Processing the thunderbucket is by far the best possible way - The sawdust absorbs everything, so it is really just getting past the pitching part at the compost pile, and the odd blow-out where the bucket is actually nasty (which is not often).

No moving parts. Passive composting. in a year you have DIRT.

BY FAR the best system.

[Wingnut]

Space, the final frontier. Sewage, the final back-tier.
People sometimes call me a chump. They say I'm too small to handle a dump. But I can suck up any size lump. It's not the length of the hose, it's the strength of the pump.

-Rothschild's Sewage and Septic Sucking Services

[berdie]

I have been on septic systems most of my life, and what you say is true. Typically we have the tank pumped every presidential election year - sufficient and apropos.

As a rule failing is just what septic systems DO... But that is not in fact their fault - A properly installed and maintained septic system can last indefinitely. Often (and I would say the primary reason for failure) septic systems are installed into filled dirt, which later settles, rendering the system ineffective. Add to that the now myriad of engineered systems, which are largely over-engineered and reliant on moving parts, and failure becomes all the more likely.

So I would look at this article with a jaundiced eye.

I have been on a septic system for the last 30 plus years. It has served me well. The only "climate change" event that had an effect happened last year during the "great freeze". Either the tank, lateral lines or drain lines froze. Of course, I had no water for a week so it was a moot point.

So...I call bs on climate change blame.

Your alternate method sounds pretty reliable as well.

[berdie]

That's not always possible as many time municipal systems have not been run in areas. My parents lived in unincorporated Fallbrook, CA and the city despite collecting extra taxes and bonds for the purpose never ran the sewer lines in the thirty years they were there.

I live in an unincorporated area as well. There has never even been talk of running sewer lines in my neck of the woods. I'd fall over in shock if it was even suggested.

[roamer_1]

I have been on a septic system for the last 30 plus years. It has served me well. The only "climate change" event that had an effect happened last year during the "great freeze". Either the tank, lateral lines or drain lines froze. Of course, I had no water for a week so it was a moot point.

So...I call bs on climate change blame.

I don't know how that could be... Generally, poop makes enough heat in the decay process to keep it all well above freezing...  Even here, where the frost line is somewhere near 4 ft down, drain fields continue to work, albeit just through ground saturation (no evaporation taking place). Even the drain field itself - You can often see the snow melt away from drain fields first (literally see where they are under the ground), and septic repair, even on drain fields can happen most of the year. maybe the input line from the house had a belly in it, and froze with washing machine waste in it, or something like that. But you'd be hard put to freeze the tank and drains.

Your alternate method sounds pretty reliable as well.

There are folks that say you should not put the dirt from it in your garden (human prions, supposedly), but spreading it on fields or around fruit trees... It is like all of God's creation - Taking sh*t and turning it into bounty... Something a farm girl would understand - And probably why I like it. It comes the closest to mimicking natural, bountiful processes. 

Suddenly it's not waste, or a problem, ever... but rather, a bounty and a solution. 

[rustynail]

Time to switch to a municipal sewage system.  Get with the times!

That's how 'they' plan to empty out fly over country by banning occupation of any dwelling not served by a municipal sewage system.

[berdie]

I don't know how that could be... Generally, poop makes enough heat in the decay process to keep it all well above freezing...  Even here, where the frost line is somewhere near 4 ft down, drain fields continue to work, albeit just through ground saturation (no evaporation taking place). Even the drain field itself - You can often see the snow melt away from drain fields first (literally see where they are under the ground), and septic repair, even on drain fields can happen most of the year. maybe the input line from the house had a belly in it, and froze with washing machine waste in it, or something like that. But you'd be hard put to freeze the tank and drains.

There are folks that say you should not put the dirt from it in your garden (human prions, supposedly), but spreading it on fields or around fruit trees... It is like all of God's creation - Taking sh*t and turning it into bounty... Something a farm girl would understand - And probably why I like it. It comes the closest to mimicking natural, bountiful processes. 

Suddenly it's not waste, or a problem, ever... but rather, a bounty and a solution. 

Like I said...I don't know what froze before the water went kaput and it became a moot point.

Surely the lateral lines are buried deeper there than they are here (since it's generally not an issue) but I've never seen those lines "show". It doesn't really matter anyway. By the time I had water again...everything was melted and working. I'm just hoping it was a one time event in my lifetime.   

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Seems Mayor Pete could be assigned to tackle this job of blocked pipes. He is the Roto Rooter Man

[Wingnut]

Seems Mayor Pete could be assigned to tackle this job of blocked pipes. He is the Roto Rooter Man

He seems more like a Catcher in the Rye.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

He seems more like a Catcher in the Rye.

Here's the Catcher with the Catched.  You feel giddy yet?