The new year is a time where we all make goals and a plan of attack for the upcoming 12 months.  We often think of things we will do to improve our health, save money or be more organized in all or part of our daily lives. One way to take steps to be more organized and also protect your and others’ health as well as the environment is to get reacquainted with your water system--both your drinking well and your on-site wastewater system—and to establish a testing and maintenance schedule for the upcoming months. 

This year’s National SepticSmart Week is September 18-22, 2017. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a week in September each year to focus on improved awareness of proper operation and maintenance of septic systems across the United States. The wastewater of approximately 25 percent of the population of the United States is treated by on-site or individual wastewater systems. In Nebraska, this statistic holds consistent with 25 percent of our state’s population being served by onsite wastewater systems on farms, acreages, suburbs and even some small communities.