Some systems falling short of county’s sanitary codes

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
About 35 to 40 percent of wastewater systems in rural Marion County do not conform to the county’s sanitary code, estimates David Brazil, Marion County planning and zoning director and public-health sanitarian.

“They may be working to some degree,” Brazil said. “But like a lagoon, if it isn’t fenced it doesn’t meet code.”

Generally speaking, those homeowners need not be concerned about such violations until problems arise that require Brazil’s on-site involvement.

“Our system is very similar to all other counties in Kansas-it’s complaint driven,” Brazil said. “If we have a complaint, we go out and review.”

Call with questions

Anytime a new system is put in, or an old system is updated, it must meet the sanitary code.

But Brazil encourages people to call his office if they have questions about their system.

“What I tell people is, if you do have questions about your system, call me and describe them,” he said. “Until I’m physically on site, I’m not coming after you.”

“Once I’ve been on site and have seen a failing system, I won’t walk away from it,” he added. “Even if it takes a considerable amount of time to get it into compliance, it’s going to happen.

“But I don’t want people to be fearful of calling and asking questions.”

Health is the issue

Brazil said having a wastewater system in good working order and in conformity with the sanitary code is in the best health interest of the resident.

“One of the factors in having high nitrates in wells is failing wastewater systems,” Brazil said.

“Believe it or not, running (wastewater) up on the ground, without the treatment does not work the same as when you go through the treatment process,” he added.

“That can include the nitrates. (The danger) may not be as great as having 500 head of livestock in one location next to a well, but it is a factor.”

Also, running wastewater into an adjacent creek can have a health impact, too, if enough residences are doing it.

“If we’re talking about one residence that doesn’t get treatment and just ran the wastewater on the ground or into the stream, Mother Nature could handle it,” Brazil said. “But if you pair neighbor with neighbor with neighbor, Mother Nature can’t accommodate it. You’ll have water-quality problems down stream.”

Brazil said he rarely finds a situation where a rural residence is running wastewater into a ditch or creek anymore.

“Most of them have had a system that at one time was working and are needing to replace it,” he said. “Once in a while I still come across one that still runs it into the creek. But the majority are old lateral fields that are failing and are either backing up or surfacing and just need to be replaced.”

Financial assistance

Brazil said funding assistance is available for homeowners who need to replace their systems through the Marion County Conservation District.

“They have a criteria for approval of the systems that are applied for,” he said. “They rank them.”

Funding assistance also is available for some residents through the Marion Reservoir Water Quality Protection Project.

“If you live in the reservoir watershed, the percentage is higher that they pay,” Brazil said. “The majority of the system can be paid for through those two programs.”

Information about both funding sources is available by calling the Marion County Conservation District office at 620-382-3520 and asking for Betty Richmond.

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