Household Wastewater Treatment
Home*A*Syst Home Worksheet Intro Information Sheet (PDF) Glossary Go To The Worksheet
Household Wastewater Treatment Fact/Worksheet
How will these materials help me to protect my drinking water?
How do I complete the worksheet?
Why should I be concerned?
Most rural houses have a septic system. Generally they are economical and safe, but some household wastewater can cause drinking water problems for people and animals.
Contaminants in household wastewater include disease-causing bacteria, infectious viruses, household chemicals, and excess nutrients such as nitrate. Viruses can infect the liver and cause hepatitis. Some organisms can also infect the lining of the intestine, causing gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhea). Coliform bacteria found in your well water indicates that the water is potentially dangerous for drinking and food preparation. Your wastewater treatment system, animal facilities, or poor well construction may be potential problem sources.
The quantity of wastewater can also present an environmental concern. Too much water entering the home treatment system reduces the efficiency of the system and can cause the septic system to fail.
Your drinking water is least likely to be contaminated if you follow appropriate management procedures and dispose of wastewater as far away from your water supply well as possible. Even with large separation distances, proper disposal practices are essential to avoid risking contamination that could affect the water supplies and health of others.
What can I do?
- Make sure your septic system is large enough to meet your needs. Look for ways to reduce the amount of wastewater that enters the septic system.
- Protect your health and the quality of your drinking water by disposing of contaminants properly.
- Keep your septic system in good repair. Pump the septic tank out regularly.
- Use the worksheet to see if household wastewater is treated safely on your homestead.
The goal of Home*A*Syst is to help you protect the environment and your drinking water.
How will these materials help me to protect my drinking water?
- It will take you step-by-step through your household wastewater treatment practices.
- It will rank your activities according to how they might affect the groundwater that provides your drinking water supply.
- It will provide you with easy-to-understand rankings that will help you analyze the risk level of your household wastewater treatment practices.
- It will help you determine which of your practices are reasonably safe and effective, and which practices might require modification to better protect your drinking water.
How do I complete the worksheet?
After reviewing the information provided, select Go To The Worksheet in links at the left. It should take you about 15 to 30 minutes to complete the worksheet and summarize your risk rankings.
Information derived from Home*A*Syst worksheets is intended only to provide general information and recommendations to rural residents regarding their own homestead practices. It is not the intent of this educational program to keep records of individual results.