Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2007AL64B

An Integrated Dosing and Treatment System to Mitigate the Environmental and Health Threat From Conventional Onsite Septic Systems in the Alabama Black Belt Area

Institute: Alabama
Year Established: 2007 Start Date: 2007-03-01 End Date: 2008-02-29
Total Federal Funds: $22,772 Total Non-Federal Funds: $46,324

Principal Investigators: Mark Dougherty, John Fulton, C. Wood

Abstract: Onsite septic systems are midely used in areas where there is no access to centralized wastewater treatment facilities. It has been proven that onsite septic systems are a significant contributor to non-point source pollution of ground and surface water. Conventional onsite septic systems are widely used in Alabama Black Belt high clay soils although these soils are unsuitable for conventional systems. A series of GIS analyses indicate that more than 77% of the soils in the Alabama Black Belt area are poorly suited for conventional septic systems, and 99% of current onsite systems were at least 20 years old in year 2000. Consequently, there is a need to mitigate the threat to local and regional water resources from conventional onsite septic systems in the Alabama Black Belt area. In view of several shortcomings inherent in conventional onsite septic systems, an innovative small community based treatment and disposal system is being proposed to provide natural biotreatment for primary septic tank effluent.