A New Look at Septic Systems

Raun Norquist demonstrates Pirana septic system to officials earlier this year. Photo courtesy of danielgonzalezphotography.com.

By Stephen J. Kotz

To hear Raun Norquist tell it, we live in a flush and forget world and nobody wants to pay attention to the problem.

Ms. Norquist, who now lives in Noyac not far from Sag Harbor Cove, in a house with an aging brick septic system built in the 1930s, has been paying attention to that problemthe treatment of wastewaterfor the better part of two decades.

We need a paradigm shift in the way we think about treating our waste, she said. Most methods count on lots of water, and lots of space. And nobody is thinking about where were going to get it.

Ms. Norquist represents a company called Pirana that was started by a California entrepreneur and inventor, Jerry Fife. It offers, she said, a simple method to boost the efficiency of a standard home septic system so that it releases much cleaner wastewater into the drainage fieldthe area surrounding the cesspool rings.

If such systems were to gain a foothold on Long Island, with its hundreds of thousands of private septic systems, there would be large scale reduction in groundwater pollution and leaching of septic waste into nearby surface waters, she said.

There would also be benefits to homeowners and local governments that must treat sludge from traditional systems. This system is digesting what you have on site, Ms. Norquist said, noting that regular systems need to be pumped every few years. Pumping is expensive, it stinks, and then you are shipping it down the road to be treated at a wastewater treatment plant.

The secret to a cleaner system lies in introducing and cultivating a large number of voracious bacteriafar more than are found in a typical septic systemthat gorge themselves on the stuff we dont like to mention in polite company. The bacteria can survive aerobically (with oxygen) or anaerobically (without it). Because there are so many of the little critters, they flow with the wastewater into the drainage field. There, they help control the formation of biomat, a sort of sludge formed by conventional anaerobic bacteria released by a traditional septic system and a major cause of failure.

Originally posted here:
A New Look at Septic Systems