New rules, higher prices?

When it comes to the way state agencies regulate septic tanks, it is safe to say Marion County pays close attention.

The county is home to more than 90,500 septic systems, according to the Florida Department of Health, which is currently undertaking a county-by-county inventory. At some 54 tanks per square mile, that is a concentration that ranks Marion among the highest of the state's 67 counties. The county tops at least 45 others, with up-to-date numbers not yet available for the remaining counties.

It is a concentration that, in part, sustains small business owners like Ronnie Sheffield, of Marion Pumpers, and Raymond Brown, of Brown’s Septic Tank Service. They are among those who have been carefully weighing their options in anticipation of a shift, coming from Tallahassee, that is set to affect a common practice in their line of business.

A ban on land application, or the practice of treating septage (the waste or sewage in a septic tank) with lime and then spreading it over fields, is expected to affect the way companies like theirs handle the material they pump — and the amount their customers pay for that service.

“It will affect us quite a bit,” Sheffield said.

Marion Pumpers and others have a few options to adapt to the shift, which is set to take effect next summer, according to Sheffield and others. But each option likely will come with a price tag that customers could see reflected in their bills.

Quentin Samuel, owner of A-1 Payless Septic Service, said he is still considering the most economical path forward for his company. He will likely seek regulation through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which would allow him to continue the practice under a new regulating agency, he said. Arranging to haul the material his trucks pump to a different facility remains another possibility.

In either situation, Samuel said, the bottom line for his customers is likely to go up.

“Some of that cost will have to be passed on,” he said.

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The changes local companies are anticipating is from the Florida Legislature, which in 2010 passed a bill to prohibit land application of septage. That regulation was set to take effect in 2016, but companies have since been given a one-year extension to comply with the new terms.

The ban specifically affects the relatively small-scale operations that, prior to the ban, fall under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Health. The agency has for years regulated facilities that treat up to 10,000 gallons of septage a day; the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which will continue to regulate land application sites, has regulated larger facilities.

Because land application is a common practice in the industry, the ban is forcing a significant shakeup. A 2011 report through the Florida Department of Health indicates that approximately 40 percent of septage pumped from systems is treated and spread over 92 land application sites. The rest, according to the report, is treated at a wastewater treatment facility.

The impetus for the ban is largely environmental, according to Roxanne Groover, executive director of the Florida Onsite Wastewater Association. But the effect of the practice on public health or the environment is up for debate: An ongoing study through the Florida Onsite Wastewater Association, the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has yet to provide any definitive conclusions and is expected to continue at least through the end of 2016.

So, in Groover’s eyes, the ban reflects perception more than science. While she said there is no science to back the claims that land application negatively affects the environment when conducted correctly, she is quick to acknowledge that the public is not quick to embrace the topic of septage treatment.

“People aren’t excited to have it in their backyard,” she said. “A lot of times, the perception is that it’s not regulated.”

She said a current priority of the Florida Onsite Wastewater Association is finding a way to address the public’s and the legislature’s concerns without losing sight of on-the-ground realities for small businesses and their customers.

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The ban essentially leaves local companies with two options: They can seek regulation through the Department of Environmental Protection, as Brown said he is already pursuing and as Samuel said he is likely to try; or they can hook up with another facility that is willing to accept their septage, as Sheffield is currently considering.

It not yet clear how expensive obtaining permits through the Department of Environmental Protection or transitioning to comply with that agency’s regulation might be, according to Dee Ann Miller, a department spokeswoman. She said any costs associated with modifications would be site-specific.

Samuel estimated that his customers could see the cost of a pump go up 40 percent to 60 percent as a result. Currently, he said, a typical customer would pay $185 to $250 to pump a residential tank.

The alternative, to make arrangements with another facility, poses a challenge in Marion County in part because there is just one facility that is permitted to accept this type of septage. That is American Pipe and Tank, in Ocala, where an employee declined to comment for this article.

Hauling septage to another facility, and especially if a company is forced to look outside of the county, would tack on significant costs associated with transportation, according to Sheffield. And, once at a facility that agrees to accept a company’s septage, there is also a price per gallon the companies would be expected to pay to use that facility.

Sheffield estimated his customers could be paying 6 cents to 8 cents more per gallon, should he be forced into that option. That could almost double the price of a pump, adding around $110 to a price currently set around $180.

He is hoping to lessen that price hike by installing a septic de-watering facility in the county along County Road 484 in Belleview. The facility, which met strong criticism during a County Commission meeting last month, would separate liquid waste from solid waste. He would then haul the liquid waste to a wastewater treatment center in Belleview, where Public Works Director Bruce Phillips said the city could accept it for a price, and haul the solid waste to a dump.

Belleview would not accept septage as-is, according to Phillips. Neither would Marion County-run facilities.

The cost to the customer would still go up with a de-watering facility, but not as drastically. Sheffield said he is looking into a new location for the facility, after the county denied him the necessary zoning in Belleview.

“The closer the facility I can find,” he said, “the cheaper I can do it.”

Mary Wrye, who lives in the Coventry subdivision in northeast Ocala, said she has her septic system pumped every two years or so.

Her motto: "Don't wait for a problem."

The cost is $175 or so. Spread over 24 months, that is not a crazy amount of money. Still, a significant rate increase would sting, especially since the consumer won't see any difference in service.

"It's not an improvement at all for me," she said of the environmental benefits of the rule change.

Joni Partridge, of Reddick, paid $185 for a septic system pumping in 2013. She doesn't have the service as often as Wrye and has no set schedule for the next one.

With that approach, "It (a rate increase) wouldn't faze me in the least," she said. After all, it's a necessary chore, and when the time comes there is no way around it.

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Straining a customer’s checkbook is not the only concern.

As Groover and John Mills, of Mills Septic Tank Service, point out, the anticipated spike in rates within the industry could pose an additional problem if customers respond by putting off needed maintenance on their tanks.

Groover, for example, pointed to a related mandate, which was adopted in 2010 and repealed in 2012, that required owners to pump out their tanks at least once every five years. That was met with significant backlash, in large part because of the cost burden it put on owners.

“The general public didn’t feel like they were in a position to pay for that,” Groover said.

So, it is reasonable to think they won’t appreciate the price hike anticipated with the coming ban, she reasoned. She and Mills speculated this means tanks could then go unmaintained, posing environmental (among other) concerns that lawmakers had sought to address through five-year inspections.

That is where Mills said he expects to be affected by the ban. His company handles maintenance rather than pump outs, so he is not directly affected by the land application ban. But if customers are ignoring maintenance in response to the ban, he said, he expects to see his company fielding more calls.

“If the prices go up,” Mills said of regular pump-outs, “people will not do it.”

— Star-Banner managing editor Jim Ross contributed to this report.Contact Nicki Gorny at 352-867-4065, nicki.gorny@ocala.com or @Nicki_Gorny.