1. Save Money
The cost of regular maintenance is a bargain compared to the cost of repairing or replacing a malfunctioning system. Maintenance fees will be between $250 and $500 every three to five years while repair or replacement can cost between $3,000 and $7,000 for a conventional system. Replacement of an alternative system can cost even more. The frequency of septic tank pumping required depends on how many people live in the home and the size of the system. Take the time to understand what you can and cannot put into your septic system.
2. Protect Property Values
An unusable septic system or one in disrepair will lower your property value, and can potentially pose a costly legal liability. If you are selling buyers will have a hard time getting a loan to purchase a property with a unusable septic system. Nobody wants to buy a home that has a failing or unusable septic system. Onsite wastewater treatment can lower your costs by not having to pay a monthly sewer bill. Monthly sewer bills have only increased and the average is over $50 per month. That is more than $600 per year!
3. Keeps you and your Neighbors Healthy
Household wastewater contains disease causing bacteria and viruses and high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. If a septic system is well-maintained and working properly, it will remove most of these pollutants. Insufficiently treated sewage from septic systems can cause groundwater contamination, which can spread disease in humans and animals. Improperly treated sewage poses the risk of contaminating nearby surface waters. This can threaten people and animals with various infectious diseases, from eye and ear infections to acute gastrointestinal illness and hepatitis.
4. Protects the Environment
More than four billion gallons of wastewater are dispersed below the ground’s surface every day. Groundwater contaminated by poorly or untreated household wastewater poses dangers to drinking water and to the environment. Malfunctioning septic systems release bacteria, viruses, and toxic chemicals to local waterways. When these pollutants are released into receiving waterways, they harm local ecosystems by killing native plants, fish, and shellfish. The introduction of excess nitrogen can cause aquatic plants to die from an oxygen depleted environment. The EPA’s website states that excessive nitrogen and phosphorus that washes into water bodies are often a direct result of human activities.