Extension offering webinar on “Septic Systems: Insight into Your Onsite System”

This free, live statewide webinar will provide homeowners and businesses with important information to protect an important resource – their onsite waste water system

Water: It makes up 75 percent of the Earth’s surface; the human body is 60 percent water. We use water every day. And then we discard it down the drain to where?

Over 50 percent of Michigan residents are connected to a municipal sewer system that collects the dirty water in huge underground pipes, takes it to a treatment plant where it is cleaned, filtered and sanitized before being sent back into local water bodies for reuse.

That leaves over 40 percent of homes and businesses that use another system for waste water treatment. For these, septic systems are the only option because a municipal sewer system is not available or too costly to connect to.

What do you know about your waste water treatment?
  • Are you on a septic or municipal system?
  • Do you know where your septic tank and drain field are located?
  • When was the last time you had your septic system inspected?
  • What are some easy actions to protect your septic system from failure?

Many home and business owners don’t realize there is a problem with their septic system until it becomes a major one. A failed system can cost the owner thousands of dollars to repair, if it is even possible, or replace.

Michigan State University Extension is hosting a live webinar, “Septic Systems: Insight Into Your Onsite System” on Monday, Nov. 14 from 12 to 2 p.m.. This program will cover what a septic system is, how it works, best management practices to protect the system, how to identify trouble in the system, steps to take if a problem occurs and alternative system options.

The live webinar will include presentations by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), county Health Department Sanitarian Supervisor with 29 years of septic and well experience and MSU Professor Emeritus with expertise in septic systems. The presentations will be followed by a live question and answer session via the chat box.

To join this FREE webinar, you must pre-register at http://events.anr.msu.edu/septicinsight/. You will receive a confirmation email upon registration and log-in instruction at least 48 hours prior to the webinar.

Deadline to register is Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016. After this date, please contact Maureen at 586-469-6440 for information on late registration.

For more information on managing waste, special considerations for planting over a septic system drainfield, the safety of flushable wipes on a septic system, managing systems in sensitive shoreline areas, and alternatives to conventional septic systems, a number of MSU Extension news articles are available concerning these topics.

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