Lake Herman Sanitary District

All the water you use -- for washing clothes and dishes, flushing the toilet, showering and bathing -- has to go somewhere. In town, it flows into the municipal sewer system, a network of pipes that carry youa dn your neighbors' wastewater to a central processing plant. At Lake Herman, your wastewater flows into your own do-it-yourself wastewater treatment plant. Every run of your faucets and flush of your toilets (and all the chunky, gunky stuff you put in it) runs down to a main pipe and out to an underground tank a few yards from your house. The water level rises until it reaches the level of the outflow, on the opposite side of the tank. Since the solids settle out, the water at the top is relatively clean. That top water seeps out of the release into your drainfield, which consists of perforated pipe (old units have ceramic pipe; now it's usually plastic) snaking out underneath your yard. This pipe, or drain tile, disperses the water across the lot. This dispersal allows your soil to naturally absorb and dispose of the contaminants (remember, I said relatively clean) in your wastewater.

What if my septic tank gets full?

Well, your septic tank probably is full right now -- of water! At normal water usage rates, that's not a problem. The water seeps out into your drainfield, and Mother Nature recycles it. (That's where that extra-green grass in yourbackyard comes from.)

But when your septic tank gets full of solids -- food waste from doing dishes, dirt from showering and washing clothes, human feces, and anything other crud that goes down your pipes -- things get messy. A lot of those solids will biodegrade to smaller volumes than their original volume, but eventually (in three years or less of normal use), all that waste piles up, and you need to empty your septic tank.

You call "the honey wagon" -- basically, a giant Shop-Vac on wheels. The SD Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources maintains a list of certified septic tank installers; the businesses on that list can either pump out your tank or hook you up with someone who does. You make an appointment, the truck comes, sucks your tank clean, you pay $100-$150, and you can flush away for another couple-three years.

What if I don't get my tank pumped out?

You'll flush you toilet or start your shower or run your washer one morning (likely a morning when you've got to hurry up and get to work), and the water won't drain. That's if you're lucky. It's possible you'll get some backflow, complete with fragrant black crud. You don't want that. Pump out your tank, sooner than later.

Can anything else go wrong with my septic system?

Your septic system has no moving parts. That's a good thing. About the only thing that can go wrong with the system itself is natural deterioration. A properly built and installed septic system should last 20 years. There are a number of external (and, for the most part, perfectly preventable) factors that can also cause problems:

• Material poured down the drains clogs the pipes (be careful what you flush!)
• Tree and shrub roots clog the drain field (avoid planting large plants near the drain field)
• System is overloaded (e.g., family of five moves into a house designed for a wastewater load of a family of three; check the specs and upgrade if your water usage increases beyond original plan)
• Surface water/run-off flows into the drainfield or tank (if the ground is saturated, it can't absorb the water from the tank outlet; landscape your lot to minimize run-off toward the drainfield)

Sounds like a hassle -- wouldn't a centralized sewer system be better?

That depends on your perspective. At this time, the Lake Herman Sanitary District doesn't have the population or tax base to tilt the cost-benefit analysis in favor of a centralized project.

First, just compare the dollars involved. It costs $3000-$4000 to install a standard septic system. A homeowner will then spend maybe $150 every three years to get that system pumped out. The system will last for 20 years or so.

A 1998 feasibility study estimated that a centralized sewer system for Lake Herman, with five pump stations forcing all the waste down a big pipe to the Madison wastewater treatment plant, would costa little more than two million dollars to build. In 1998 dollars, depending on how the debt was structured, every homeowner on Lake Herman would have paid up to a $5000 hookup fee. (According to the July 2, 2007, meeting minutes of the Brant Lake Sanitary District, hook-up fees for that lake's new centralized sewer system will be $1500 for guest/vacation homes, $3000 for regular residences, and $5000 for commercial sites. Homeowners face a $5000 fee if second notice is required.) Then homeowners would face monthly bills, with minimum charges just for the privilege of being hooked up. Total monthly bills could be as much as $70.

So, doing some really sloppy math and ignoring inflation and disasters, over 40 years, a homeowner can pay $10,000 for an onsite septic system (including full replacement after 20 years) or $26,000 to $39,000 to hook into a centralized system.

In terms of performance, a properly maintained septic system processes wastewater as effectively and safely as a centralized system, and uses less energy in the process. Remember, your septic system runs on gravity. No electricity, no added chemicals (no, you don't need to pour any Rid-X or other chemicals down your system if its properly maintained), nothing! The only fuel burned is the gas/diesel for the honey wagon that comes to your house once every couple-three years. And your onsite system uses the same natural processes -- settling, biodegradation, percolation -- that the big collection ponds at the municipal wastewater treatment plant use.

Beyond dollars and technical details, you can look at it as a question of responsibility. Onsite septic systems require individual responsibility. Centralized sewer systems still require individual responsibility (you still don't want to flush cooking grease down the drain) but also create a collective responsibility.