Island Sewage Handbook for Shoreline Residents

Save The River’s Kingfisher Water Quality Program ran from 1984 to the early 2000s as a free, on-site sewage disposal survey that identified sewage disposal problems, helped devise cost-effective solutions for property owners, and eliminated direct discharge to the River. 

The program was free to riverfront property owners thanks to the support of Save The River members and several New York State Grants. The program has since been retired, but the handbook is still available online.

Below are some resources that remain helpful for property owners looking to reevaluate their septic.

View Updates to the Septic Handbook

View the Original Septic Handbook

Who Needs This Handbook?

Whether you are a long-time owner of an existing system or a prospective buyer of island or waterfront property, if you have any of these concerns, this handbook may offer ideas for possible solutions.

• Is your island or riverfront lot too small for a conventional septic system with secondary leach field?
• Is the land around your home too rocky or soggy for proper sewage effluent drainage?
• Do you have problems with high water around your home or leach field?
• Is your system nearing the end of its useful life and you need updated information?
• Are you unsure of where your system is located on your property? Are you contemplating a riverfront property purchase?
• Are you building or renovating a cottage or home? Do you have any direct pipes going into the water?
• Is your island or waterfront property lacking electricity, making a regular toilet difficult to use?
• Are you considering upgrading your sewage system for full-time summer or late fall/winter occupancy?
• Are you concerned that you are wasting water with a conventional toilet? Is there an odor of sewage around your home?
• Has your family experienced skin disorders or sickness related to river or lake water usage?

Why Worry about Sewage in Your Water? 

Household sewage is managed either by collection and treatment in a municipal wastewater treatment system, or by treatment in individual sewage treatment systems where municipal sewer systems are not accessible. Improperly treated sewage can cause health risks and create environmental problems.

Health risks may arise when patho- gens or pharmaceutical chemicals in human sewage enter the water supply. Environmental problems result when excess nutrients and high Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) associated with waste is added to the river ecosystem.

Health Risks: The waste of healthy humans may contain disease-causing bacteria or viruses, which can cause illnesses such as tuberculosis, dysentery, cholera and typhoid fever, or eye infections, diarrhea, and infectious hepatitis. Human sewage may also contain traces of prescription and non-prescription pharmaceuticals such as steroids and antibiotics, whose effects on human and aquatic health are still unknown.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand: Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) of sewage is associated with the amount of oxygen that microorganisms consume when breaking down the organic matter in the sewage. If large amounts of sewage are added to a body of water that does not rapidly flush itself—such as a bay—oxygen levels in the water will be significantly reduced as the microbes use the oxygen to break down the organic material.

If high BOD persists, game fish that are sensitive to lower levels of oxygen will leave the area, while fish tolerant of the low dissolved oxygen levels, such as carp and bullhead, move in. If the water goes anaerobic (dissolved oxygen is effectively zero), the methane and hydrogen sulfide gases produced by decomposition will cause a noxious smell.

Nutrient levels: Sewage that has not been properly treated can increase nutrient levels when entering the river system, especially in densely populated areas. Human waste and some household cleaners or detergents contain nitrogen and/or phosphorus, nutrients whose usually low levels control aquatic weed and algae growth in the river. The addition of these nutrients through sewage discharge can provide the conditions needed for increased growth of aquatic plants, algae and phytoplankton, especially in river areas that are not well flushed.

The weeds create a swimming and boating nuisance, and their de- composition and nighttime respiration can consume large amounts of oxygen, causing conditions similar to those described under “Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand.”

Site Conditions

The conventional septic tank/leach field system used for sewage treatment relies on primary settling, microbial digestion, and secondary treatment of effluent through a soil ‘filter.’ The following factors hinder the ability of this system to work properly, and can be common to the 1000 Islands region.

 Soil Conditions

• Dense soil with clay may prevent percolation, causing the leach field to back up into the septic tank
• Excessively wet soil (seasonal flooding or high water table) may allow septic tank effluent to flow directly to river or groundwater without secondary treatment
• Sand, gravel or cobble soil may drain too fast to purify the effluent, potentially contaminating adjoining water bodies or ground- water

Geology and Geography

• Shallow bedrock will cause problems in positioning the septic tank and leach field, or may cause the effluent to pool on the surface soil, leading to potential health risks
• Steep slopes can cause the effluent to run out and over the ground surface instead of percolating into the soil
• Lots that are too small may not meet minimum setback distance requirements of the state or provincial regulatory agencies (see diagrams, next pages), or have adequate area for an acceptable leach field. Generally, a leach field should allow 60-166 feet of trench length per bedroom depending on soil conditions and use; more specific information is available in local town requirements or from the New York State Department of Health.
• Lots that do not maintain the recommended separation distance between leach field and wells or the river may be contaminating the water, rendering its use for drinking, bathing and recreation questionable.

Percolation Requirements A minimum of four feet of soil above groundwater, bedrock or other impermeable substrate is required for effluent percolation, two feet minimum from the bottom of the leach trench to bedrock, seasonally high groundwater or impermeable layer (clay). The soil percolation rate is the time in minutes needed for the soil to absorb one inch of water. The preferred “percrate” is between one and 60 minutes, but more specific information is available from the New York State Department of Health or local health or zoning officer. If these requirements are not met by the site’s natural conditions, septic tank and leach field installation may involve considerable costs.

New York State Minimum Distance Requirements

* Your sewage system must be a minimum of 100’ from any bordering neighbor’s well

In collaboration with:

Eric E. Murdock, P.E.

Onsite Engineering, PLLC.

More Resouces

Detailed descriptions of Sewage Treatment Systems, Effluent Disposal Systems, Alternative Toilets, and Greywater Disposal Systems are available in the Original Septic Handbook.

Glossary

• Aerobic: Any chemical process requiring high amounts of oxygen (ex.: composting toilets and aerobic tanks).
• Anaerobic: In the absence of oxygen (ex. septic).
• Bedrock: Solid rock exposed or close to the surface of the ground
• Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): Amount of oxygen microorganisms removed from water during decomposition of organic matter
• Blackwater: Wastewater containing only toilet wastes
• Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A gaseous end product of the aerobic process
• Compost: Organic material that is the end product of complete decomposition of animal and vegetable waste by microorganisms
• Composting: The process of turning wastes into compost
• Decomposition: To break down wastes into compost
• Distribution Box: Separates effluent into separate trenches or leach fields
• Dosing: Periodic discharge of effluent to a distribution system
• Effluent: Here “effluent” is regularly used to refer to the outflow from sewage treatment devices such as septic or aerobic tanks
• Flush Toilet: A device that uses water and gravity to remove human waste
• Greywater: Water containing household wastes from tubs, sinks, washing machines, etc. (everything except blackwater).
• Groundwater: Water contained in the ground below the water table
• Humus: See COMPOST
• Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S): A gaseous by-produce of anaerobic processes; it smells like rotten eggs
• Impervious: Any material which will not allow water to pass through (impermeable)
• Methane (CH4): A gaseous combustible by-product of anaerobic processes
• Microorganism: Here it is used to describe microscopic organisms (either plant or animal) present in the air, soil or water, which help break down wastes. Some microorganisms do this by consuming oxygen and are therefore part of an aerobic decomposition process; others use no oxygen and are therefore part of anaerobic waste breakdown
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation: The agency responsible for water pollution control laws in New York State. There is an office in the Dulles Sstate Office Building, Watertown
• New York State Department of Health: The agency responsible for enforcement of public health law in New York State. There is an office in the Dulles State Office Building, Watertown
• Pathogenic: Disease Causing organisms such as certain viruses and bacteria
• Percolation: Movement of liquid downward through a porous medium such as soil, gravel or sand
• Reverse Osmosis: Concentration of a contaminant on one side of a membrane, holding clean water on the other. This process requires use of a mechanical devise
• Scum: Matter suspended in liquid which is less dense than that liquid and which therefore floats to the surface
• Sewage: Human wastes discharged from the home. Greywater is also considered sewage under the law
• Sludge: Matter which is denser than the liquid containing it and which sinks below the liquid
• SPDES: State Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, required to discharge to surface waters
• Surface Water Discharge: Discharge into lakes, streams, rivers, ponds or wetlands

In collaboration with:

Eric E. Murdock, P.E.

Onsite Engineering, PLLC.

Acknowledgements

Originally published in 1984 as a revision of the Alternative On-Site Systems Handbook, prepared by the Madison County Planning Department in 1978. Revised and reprinted in 1989, 1995 and 2004 by Save The River, Inc. This handbook was prepared for the New York State Department of State, Division of Coastal Resources and Waterfront Revitalization, with financial assistance from the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, provided under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, November 1989. Federal Grant No. NA-82-AA-D- CZ068. Save The River would like to thank Hilary Grimes-Casey, Bill Grater, Tom Boxberger, Ryan Palmer, Ann Rice, Shirley Carpenter, Mark Green, and Brian Wohnsiedler, who spent many hours reviewing this booklet prior to publication; Joyce Cattelane for desktop publishing, and Susie Wood for graphic design help.

Funded in part by the Jefferson County Water Quality Coordinating Committee.