{"id":64,"date":"2013-09-23T14:58:36","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T14:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/?p=64"},"modified":"2013-09-23T14:58:36","modified_gmt":"2013-09-23T14:58:36","slug":"epa-encourages-homeowners-to-care-for-their-septic-systems-during-septicsmart-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/2013\/09\/23\/epa-encourages-homeowners-to-care-for-their-septic-systems-during-septicsmart-week\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA encourages homeowners to care for their septic systems during SepticSmart Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Proper septic system care and maintenance is vital to protecting public health and preserving valuable water resources. During the first-ever SepticSmart Week, September 23-27, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is encouraging homeowners to take action to ensure their septic systems are functioning properly. Nearly one quarter of all American households\u2014more than 26 million homes\u2014depend on septic systems to treat their wastewater.<\/span><\/p>\n

Failure to maintain and service a home\u2019s septic system can lead to system back-ups and overflows, which can result in costly repairs, polluted local waterways and risks to public health and the environment. Many septic system failures occur during the winter holiday season, so EPA is encouraging homeowners to get their septic systems inspected and serviced now before licensed inspectors\u2019 schedules fill up around the holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy taking a few small, simple steps to care for their home\u2019s septic system, homeowners can help protect the health of their community and their local waterways, while preventing potentially costly repairs to their septic system that can occur if the system is not properly maintained,\u201d said EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Water Nancy Stoner.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Homeowners can do their part by following these SepticSmart tips:
<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span>Homeowners should have their system inspected every three years by a licensed contractor and have their tank pumped when necessary, generally every three to five years.<\/span>
\u00b7 <\/span>Avoid pouring fats, grease, and solids down the drain, which can clog a system\u2019s pipes and drainfield.<\/span>
\u00b7 <\/span>Ask guests to put only things in the drain or toilet that belong there. Coffee grounds, dental floss, disposable diapers and wipes, feminine hygiene products,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>cigarette butts and cat litter can all clog and potentially damage septic systems.\u00a0<\/span>
\u00b7 <\/span>Be water efficient and spread out water use. Consider fixing plumbing leaks and installing faucet aerators and water-efficient products that bear the EPA WaterSense label, and spread out laundry and dishwasher loads throughout the day. Too much water at once can overload a system if it hasn\u2019t been pumped recently. Remind guests not to park or drive on a system\u2019s drainfield, where the vehicle\u2019s weight could damage buried pipes or disrupt underground flow.
<\/span>EPA\u2019s SepticSmart program encourages proper septic system care and maintenance all year long, helping to educate homeowners about the need for periodic septic system maintenance and proper daily system use. In addition to helping educate homeowners, SepticSmart also serves as an online resource for industry practitioners, local governments, and community organizations, providing access to tools to help educate their clients and residents.<\/span><\/p>\n

More information on EPA\u2019s SepticSmart Awareness Week:\u00a0http:\/\/water.epa.gov\/infrastructure\/septic\/septic-smart-week-2013.cfm<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

More information on how to find WaterSense-labeled products in your area:http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/watersense\/products\/index.html<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2013\u00a0Proper septic system care and maintenance is vital to protecting public health and preserving valuable water resources. During the first-ever SepticSmart Week, September 23-27, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is encouraging homeowners to take action to ensure their septic systems are functioning properly. Nearly one quarter of all American households\u2014more than 26 million  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,13],"tags":[28,47],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clean-water-2","category-epa","category-outreach","tag-clean-water","tag-septics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}