[MCN] Real estate, lakes, rivers, home water: Septic tanks don't work as promised

Lance Olsen lance at wildrockies.org
Wed Aug 5 11:25:20 EDT 2015


"The notion that septic tanks prevent fecal 
bacteria from seeping into rivers and lakes 
simply doesn't hold water, says a new Michigan 
State University study.

"Water expert Joan Rose and her team of water 
detectives have discovered freshwater 
contamination stemming from septic systems. 
Appearing in the Proceedings of the National 
Academy of Sciences, the study is the largest 
watershed study of its kind to date, and provides 
a basis for evaluating water quality and health 
implications and the impact of septic systems on 
watersheds.

"'All along, we have presumed that on-site 
wastewater disposal systems, such as septic 
tanks, were working,' said Rose, Homer Nowlin 
Chair in water research. 'But in this study, 
sample after sample, bacterial concentrations 
were highest where there were higher numbers of 
septic systems in the watershed area.'"

"Until now, it was assumed that the soil could 
filter human sewage, and that it works as a 
natural treatment system. Discharge-to-soil 
methods, a simple hole dug in the ground under an 
outhouse, for example, have been used for many 
years. Unfortunately, these systems do not keep 
E. coli and other pathogens from water supplies, 
Rose said."

Full press release here:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/msu-sta072915.php

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences -
Published online before print August 3, 2015
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1415836112
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/07/28/1415836112.abstract
-- 
====================================================================================
"Climate change is not a new topic in biologyŠ 
Observations of range shifts in parallel with 
climate change Š date back to the mid-1700s."

"A surprising result is the high proportion of 
species responding to recent, relatively mild 
climate change (global average warming of 0.6C). 
The proportion of wild species impacted by 
climate change was estimated at 41% of all 
species (655 of 1598)."

Parmesan, Camille. Ecological and Evolutionary 
Responses to Recent Climate Change. The Annual 
Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 
2006. 37:637-69. First published online as a 
Review in Advance on August 24, 2006

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