Miami-Dade: 10s Of Thousands Of Septic Tanks; Most Malfunctioning As Groundwater Keeps Rising

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Florida law requires that there be a two-foot separation between the bottom of the tank’s drain field and the top of the water table. That allows for dry soil in between to absorb and treat contaminants. But because the water table is rising in parts of the state, many septic tanks aren’t working properly. The overflow carries nitrogen, phosphorus, bacteria, viruses and pharmaceuticals into the groundwater and ultimately surface waters. The result is public health problems.

For example, last summer in Cape Coral the failure of septic tanks and old sewage collection systems fed toxic blue-green algae blooms that fouled the air. Some residents had to evacuate for a time.

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Earlier this year, Miami-Dade County issued a report saying that the county has tens of thousands of septic tanks and that most of them are malfunctioning. The report said it could cost as much as $3 billion to retire the tanks and connect customers to a sewer system. Rachel Silverstein, Miami Waterkeeper executive director, said that 56 percent of septic tanks are malfunctioning part of the year. "That's a huge deal for a developed country in 2019 to have half of the septic tanks not functioning for part of the year," she said.

In Broward County Jennifer Jurado, the county’s chief resiliency officer, said that leaky septic tanks are hurting water quality in the county. In Hollywood roughly 45 percent of the city’s water customers use septic tanks. The city is spending millions of dollars to expand its sewer system but the work is going to take a long time.

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https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-com-septic-tanks-20190422-story.html