EPA to homeowners: be SepticSmart.

• Position: Water Pollution - Environmental Protection Agency - Brief article

Homeowners and communities are being encouraged to care for and maintain their septic systems by the Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. Nearly one-quarter of all U.S. households have septic systems to treat their wastewater.

Failure to maintain septic system can lead to back-ups and overflows that pollute local waterways, create dead zones, raise water treatment costs, and endanger human health. Pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus and fecal bacteria can enter ground and surface waters from septic systems and affect drinking water, lakes, rivers, and estuaries. The algal blooms they may generate can produce toxins harmful to human, animal, and marine life.

Data collected by states attribute septic systems and other onsite wastewater treatment methods to water quality impairments in 22,909 miles of rivers and streams...