Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2007IN216B

Soil and Septic System Field Guide

Institute: Indiana
Year Established: 2007 Start Date: 2007-03-01 End Date: 2008-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $10,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $28,528

Principal Investigators: Brad Lee

Abstract: Septic system failure is a problem throughout the United States. About 1/3rd of Hoosiers utilize septic systems, and of these 800,000 systems, the Indiana State Department of Health estimates that about 25% are failing. Many of these failures have been attributed to problematic soil conditions that are prominent throughout the state. The governing law regarding residential septic systems (Rule 410 IAC 6-8.1) is administered at the local level by county health departments. County health departments issue septic system permits based on soils information submitted in a report by consulting soil scientists. Unfortunately, many Indiana health departments lack the expertise to make sound, unbiased interpretations based on these soil reports. Instead they rely on experience, advice from consulting soil scientists and rote analysis of reports. We propose to develop a soil report reference field manual for county health department staff. This manual will be the basic text for the annual Soils and Septic System Workshops.