Many Broward County homeowners are still operating with septic tanks even though sewers are available near their homes — a situation that endangers both the environment and public health.
Maps from the Florida Department of Health, which oversees septic tanks in the state, show more than 50,000 parcels in the county that could still be on septic, with as many as half of those in areas where sewer service is available.
Countywide regulations require that property owners connect within six months once sewer lines are laid, but many people simply refuse. They would rather pay for a service they’re not getting than put out even more money to connect to the sewer lines — a cost that frequently runs between $5,000 and $10,000.
Given the state information, county officials say more needs to be done to make sure people connect if they can. They are proposing changes that would make it easier to go after people who don’t connect and also offer incentives to make the cost more manageable.
More than 50,000 parcels in Broward County either have a known septic tank, or likely have a septic tank, according to 2016 data from the Florida Department of Health.
Among the possibilities:
Giving city code enforcement the power to cite and fine property owners who don’t connect, streamlining the process.
Encouraging cities to offer interest-free loans paid back over five to 15 years through monthly sewer bills to cover the cost of the connection. Any government-imposed connection fees would be waived.
Removing an exemption that has allowed rural property owners not to connect even if sewer lines run past their properties. Those larger properties have been exempt because it would cost thousands of dollars more for longer lines between the sewer line and their homes.
Broward Commissioner Steve Geller, chairman of the county’s Water Advisory Board, said the proposed changes are a step in the right direction.
Septic tanks pose environmental and health risks as rising water levels increase the chance of bacterial contaminants and nutrients from the tanks getting into the groundwater or canal systems. The nutrients can contribute to algae blooms that have plagued other parts of the state.
How big is the problem?
Exactly how many people remain unconnected is difficult to say, however. The state figures may exaggerate the number of people using septic tanks where sewers are available, local officials say.
“Nobody really knows because nobody has gone out and surveyed all the septic tanks,” said Lenny Vialpando, the county’s deputy director of environmental protection and growth management.
For example, the state maps identify parts of Hollywood and western Parkland as “likely septic” — even in areas with sewers where local officials say they are aware of few if any active septic tanks.
“City records do not indicate any parcels that have the ability to hook up and have not done so,” Hollywood spokeswoman Joann Hussey said.
Ward Crowell, field manager for the North Springs Improvement District, which provides sewer service to western Parkland, said virtually all of the homes there are connected to the district’s sewer lines, despite what the state maps show.
“That could be a problem in older towns. We’re such a newer system, we don’t have that issue,” Crowell said.
Even bigger problems
State health department officials have not responded yet to questions about their maps. But either way, no one disputes that Broward needs to address the issue of septic tanks. And Broward’s new proposals don’t address an even larger septic tank issue — the lack of sewers in some areas.
Local government would need to spend billions of dollars to lay enough sewer lines to make it possible for all properties to come off septic tanks. In more rural places like Southwest Ranches, there are virtually no sewer lines.
Even in Hollywood, nearly half the city’s households are without sewer lines. City commissioners recently learned that their plan to borrow $320 million for the problem — and charge all city utility customers for the improvements — won’t pass legal muster. It’s illegal to charge residents who are already on sewers so that other residents can connect.
Many don’t like the idea of eliminating septic tanks anyway.
“Hundreds if not thousands of residents of Hollywood are upset that we are on a 100 percent septic-to-sewer conversion over the next nine to 10 years,” City Commissioner Kevin Biederman said at a recent Water Advisory Board meeting. “The district I represent is financially challenged.”
Biederman said many people have spent money on septic tank repairs and don’t want to pay to disconnect from a working system.
