Failing septic tanks forced billions in federal sewer subsidies

Evidence

Yet the widespread use of septic tanks in suburbia proved problematic. Because a substantial number of the backyard waste-disposal systems failed in the first two or three years, homebuyers were often faced with foul and unsanitary messes. Many were stuck with steep repair bills, and some lost everything they had invested in their homes. The high failure rate also cost the nation’s taxpayers, since the FHA and the Veteran’s Administration insured millions of homes with septic tanks. Eventually, the federal government provided billions in subsidies to enable local governments to replace septic systems with sewers. In many areas of the country, septic tank failures were responsible for outbreaks of infectious disease. The technology also had a considerable environmental cost, since poor design, siting, and maintenance of septic tanks often led to contamination of groundwater, pollution of streams, and eutrophication of lakes. — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 373

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Supports the infra/grafting essay’s thread on infrastructure as hidden, consequential systems — and an environmental cost built into the land-use pattern itself.
• XREF: connects to: Septic failure forced sprawl residents to pay twice for waste disposal — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 391; Septic-tank failures caused roughly forty percent of waterborne disease outbreaks — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 431

Broader Connections

• Septic-tank failures caused roughly forty percent of waterborne disease outbreaks #corroborates (0.82) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 431