This is part two in the series on the ecological concerns related to living near a body of water.

As I wrote previously, we hear a lot about our own personal “footprints” on this earth, and how we should minimize our negative impact. Living near water it is crucial that your septic system be in good working condition and in compliance with governmental health standards.

Before purchasing a home, I strongly advise that the buyer have a well and septic inspection. An improperly operating septic system can contaminate the ground and will eventually leach into the ground water. This can contaminate your drinking water source, and in a waterfront home it also means that you are pumping e-coli bacteria directly into the lake.

And an improperly operating septic system leaching into the lake encourages  weeds to grow so fast so that they can overwhelm the ability of the water system to balance itself, leading again to fish kills and the choking off of the water flow.

Over the last few years there has been great controversy over proposed uniform septic-system standards for Ohio homeowners. The latest of 9 bills addressing this is Ohio Senate Bill 110 which was proposed and passed by the Senate after earlier versions were deemed by some legislators to be cost-prohibitive for homeowners. All agree something has to be done after a 2008 Ohio Department of Health study showed that 23 percent of household systems were failing and 13 percent were projected to fail in the next five years.

Whatever form the final bill takes, it appears that it will establish statewide guidelines with enforcement to come through local health departments which will determine rules for inspecting and maintaining systems.

My advice to anyone buying or selling a home, is that you need to know if the septic system is currently functioning properly. If the property does not pass the inspection, it may still be a doable project, but you will need to do your homework to determine if repairs can be made, if they would be allowed by the health department, and if not what type of replacement system would need to be installed and then determine the cost.