Effluent sewer
Effluent sewers also currently serve fewer people than septic systems, which also use septic tanks, but simply dispose of the effluent by draining it into a leach field. About one quarter of United States homes dispose of their wastewater with septic tanks. However, effluent sewers are being looked at as a sewage treatment solution in areas where gravity sewer systems are not well-suited or when the high capital cost to build a gravity system is prohibitive. Areas that are less than ideal for gravity systems include areas that are large, but extremely flat and areas that require long-distance pumping, such as where homes are widely spread out or when several small villages or towns connect their sewage systems so that a centralized plant can be built.
Onsite sewage facility
State and tribal agencies report that onsite septic systems currently constitute the third most common source of groundwater pollution and that these systems have failed because of inappropriate siting or design or inadequate long-term maintenance (USEPA, 1996a). In the 1996 Clean Water Needs Survey (USEPA, 1996b), states and tribes also identified more than 500 communities as having failed septic systems that have caused public health problems. The discharge of partially treated sewage from malfunctioning onsite systems was identified as a principal or contributing source of degradation in 32 percent of all harvest-limited shellfish growing areas. Onsite wastewater treatment systems have also contributed to an overabundance of nutrients in ponds, lakes, and coastal estuaries, leading to the excessive growth of algae and other nuisance aquatic plants (USEPA, 1996b). In addition, onsite systems contribute to contamination of drinking water sources. USEPA estimates that 168,000 viral illnesses and 34,000 bacterial illnesses occur each year as a result of consumption of drinking water from systems that rely on improperly treated ground water. Malfunctioning septic systems have been identified as one potential source of ground water contamination (USEPA, 2000).