March 27, 2009

Tiny Township’s septic tank inspection program helps keep Georgian Bay clean

SAUL CHERNOS

correspondent

TINY TOWNSHIP

Swimmers in cottage country are enjoying a healthy dip in the water thanks to programs to inspect septic tanks and fix ones that aren’t up to par.

With approximately 18,000 full time and seasonal residents, Ontario’s Tiny Township has considerable waterfront space along southern Georgian Bay. The community also has a strong network of cottage associations, and in 2002 they convinced municipal politicians to approve regular mandatory check-ups of private sewage systems.

Mayor Peggy Breckenridge said more than 90 per cent of Tiny Township properties are residential and there is no central sewage system.

“This is cottage country,” said Breckenridge, who was first elected as councillor in 2003, when the program was getting underway.

“The cottage associations and the health unit were noticing increasingly high levels of E. coli on the beach,” Breckenridge says. “We have 20 miles of beautiful sandy beach, and the property owners were very concerned about the quality of the water.”

ONSITE SEPTIC SEWAGE SOLUTIONS

A contractor installs a replacement Waterloo Biofilter sewage system at a Georgian Bay waterfront property.

Ongoing, independent testing by the Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associations, which represents close to 30 cottage groups, and the Severn Sound Environmental Association, which Breckenridge said acts as an unofficial conservation authority, determined that bacteria levels were high.

“They did an investigation and found problems with many of the septic tanks. There were old tanks, roots going into the tanks, cracks, problems like that. It’s pretty scary because if they leach you’re just 25 to 50 feet from the water.”

Through the program, all unsafe sewage systems are brought into compliance with the Ontario Building Code. The cost is roughly $70 per property, and inspections are carried out from May through September by C.C. Tatham & Associates, a private consulting and engineering firm the township has subcontracted to handle sewage issues.

BILL GOODALE, C.C. TATHAM & ASSOCIATES

Above, leaching bed distribution pipes are clogged with roots and soil. Root intrusions into the leaching bed are the most common problem identified by the Tiny Township septic re-inspection program.

Bill Goodale, a sewage system inspector with C.C. Tatham who works from an office in the Tiny Township municipal building, has one assistant and a summer contingent of two students who certify as sewage inspectors and conduct tank visits.

Approximately 7,000 sewage systems have been inspected so far and once a further 300 are checked, every tank older than 10 years will have been visited.

“Sewage systems that are 10 years old or newer are considered low risk, so we don’t inspect those,” Goodale said, adding that they will get their turn when a new round of inspections begins later this summer.

Hundreds of deficient systems have been tagged so far, with remedy orders issued to property owners. Goodale said root intrusions and deteriorated tanks occur most frequently.

Sometimes, beds are located too close to high water tables, and parking lots and other structures built atop leaching beds can prevent tanks from breathing properly.

“We look for obvious things like sewage on the ground, soft spots in the septic bed area, excessive vegetation growth over the bed, and trees growing in the bed area,” Goodale said.

Owners are required to have their septic tanks pumped out regularly, and “honeywagon” pumpers provide the township with reports on how the systems are faring.

“The level of effluent or water inside the tank should always be at the invert of the outlet pipe to the bed,” Goodale said.

“If the water level is above the invert of the pipe, then there’s obviously some sort of problem beyond the tank – blockage or something.

“If the water level is below the invert pipe, there could be a problem with the tank such as a hole. If we get these kinds of reports we investigate further.”

In some cases, say when a driveway or garden shed needs to be moved, property owners might be able to do the work themselves.

Goodale said there are upwards of a dozen licensed sewage installers in the area who can repair or replace sewage equipment. Property owners are free to call anyone they wish so long as problems are remedied to the inspector’s satisfaction.

Tiny Township isn’t alone on the sewage inspection beat. Some other rural jurisdictions have similar programs. These include several Ottawa-area communities, the Township of the Archipelago near Parry Sound, and the Town of Gravenhurst.

“The objective of the program is to educate the public on sewage systems, collect field data concerning the type of sewage systems in the area, and to ensure that systems are up to the standards outlined in the Ontario Building Code,” says a statement on the Gravenhurst web site.

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