Treated effluent wastewater is increasingly reused for irrigation, landscape watering, and even aquifer recharge, supporting ...

However, septic tank problems can and do occur even in the most up-to-date modern systems. Septic repair costs can add up quickly when things go wrong. However, ...

Modern septic systems have an 8-inch plastic pipe that rises from the tank to a few inches above grade. The cap can be removed and the system flushed and drained.

Also, sewer operators know the capacity of the system, and many overflows happen in predictable ways, she says. “The benefits of people knowing [about CSOs] are just enormous,” Lange says.

Once can argue the relative merits of modern septic systems, but the truth is that a septic tank (or a sewage treatment plant) is only as safe as the maintenance it receives.

With a modern sewerage system, pollution of groundwater can be prevented. The treated effluents at the wastewater treatment plant can be reused for agricultural and other purposes,” Mr. Nair ...

EL SOBRANTE — For nearly three months, sewage has been seeping onto Cris Ramirez’s property, the result of a failure in a neighbor’s septic system. The problem has gotten so bad that she and ...

The septic tank regulations (though not necessarily the high-tech septic systems) have had a dampening effect on development. Even the county's position makes sense: If they can spur development ...

The sewer museum in Paris. Gao Jing/Xinhua Press/Corbis. If it weren’t for modern wastewater sys tems, we’d probably all have cholera. The deadly disease festers in sewage-laden waters ...