Versions of it have been allowed for several years in less environmentally sensitive areas. It wasn't a septic tank and it wasn't a large treatment plant. In the end, he got first approval for a similar system because once again he agreed to install the system on his own properly and rip it all out and install a traditional system if his design didn't work properly. But it did work. And now permitters sing the system's praises.
Septic tanks provide very little cleansing of wastewater before discharging water into the ground.
The ground filters out most of the contaminants. But septic tanks can be failing without the homeowner even knowing it. In areas where their water table is high, like all along the Gulf Breeze peninsula, the nearby bay and sound can be polluted. Whereas traditional septic tanks simply separate solids from liquids, then let the liquid leach through the ground. Nassef's system is more akin to large-scale waste treatment plants.