In improperly designed systems, untreated sewage can move for hundreds of feet from a home before contaminating the environment or threatening the public health. The offending property owner may not even know that a problem exists. The purpose of a septic system is to remove pollutants from wastewater to protect the public health and the environment. Pollutants such as bacteria, viruses, and nitrate threaten the public health. To protect public health and the environment, discharge limits are set and used to evaluate systems to make sure they stay in compliance with those standards.
Systems can be out of compliance because they are malfunctioning or are failing.
These two reasons differ in the actions that must be taken to bring the system back into compliance. System Malfunctions A system malfunction is associated with improper maintenance or operation. These problems can be fixed to bring the septic system back into compliance. With proper care, oversight, repairs, and occasional upgrades the system should work for decades to protect the public health and the environment. Malfunctioning systems were initially properly designed and installed to match the soil and other conditions on the home lot.