Is Your Community Safe?
That's a really hard question to answer unless you have evidence that tells you otherwise. You may have seen notices or articles such as this excerpt from the December 1, 2004, Charleston Post and Courier newspaper:
State closes shellfish beds after heavy weekend rains
COLUMBIA--The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has closed the shellfish beds in Murrells Inlet because of the weekend rainfall and the potential for bacterial contamination.
The shellfish beds will remain closed until water samples show fecal coliform bacteria concentrations are acceptable for harvest of oysters and clams, said Charles Newell, manager of DHEC's shellfish sanitation program.
DHEC has water quality monitoring and shellfish monitoring programs that show which water bodies and shellfish harvesting waters are or are not meeting State water quality standards. Surface waters that are not meeting standards are put on the 303(d) list. For more information on the 303(d) list and the 305(b) report see Water Program Areas.
South Carolina's shellfishing waters are routinely monitored for fecal coliform bacteria. Shellfish beds can be temporarily closed to harvesting if bacteria levels are too high. Excessive levels of these bacteria may be an indicator of the presence of human disease causing organisms. As the above article inferred, the nonpoint source runoff associated with rainfall events can result in such closures. See Shellfish Sanitation Program for information.
Septic systems are considered a nonpoint source of pollution and are sometimes listed as one of the potential pollution sources for waters that do not meet bacterial standards. Centralized sewers are also a potential point and nonpoint source of water pollution. Unlike septic systems however, it's a common, accepted practice that sewer systems are operated, monitored, and maintained at the local level and that they must meet discharge standards to comply with state permit conditions. Just think what would happen if newly permitted sewer systems were left on their own with no oversight until a problem occurred! Someone would probably notice and something would get done quickly to correct it.
DHEC's Division of Onsite Wastewater Management controls the permitting and installation of septic systems. They have regional offices throughout the state and each county has DHEC staff that evaluate properties and issue permits for septic systems. In many other states, individual counties can set their own standards for permitting septic systems. In our state, DHEC has a strong, standardized program that strives to consistently address permitting issues statewide. The management of septic systems, however, is not regulated at the state level. DHEC responds to complaints and requests for assistance on problem septic systems, but the day to day operation and maintenance of a septic system is left up to the individual homeowner.
Although statewide regulatory and monitoring programs exist, it can be argued that local governments are ultimately responsible for protecting their communities from wastewater-related illnesses no matter what the method of treatment. Like most health and environmental concerns, prevention is the easiest cure. Preventative maintenance for both sewer systems and septic systems is also the cheapest option compared to repairing environmental degradation (including lost shellfish harvests) and the failed systems that caused it.