A New Approach to Septic Waste Management
A Canadian company claims it has a more environmentally friendly way to pump septic waste, but some health officials have been reluctant to embrace it since it gained state approval this fall.
Known as The Juggler, the new pumping technology developed by Labrie Environmental Group of Saint-Nicolas, Quebec, separates the liquids from the solids inside the pumper truck and returns the liquids to the septic tank. The sludge and scum from the system are then hauled to a septage or wastewater treatment facility.
Adoption and Regulatory Approval
The only company in the state using the technology is Bluewater Septic, a Pembroke-based outfit with a branch in Yarmouth. According to the company’s Web site, it operates in 14 of the 15 Cape Cod towns.
“It is a technological innovation in an industry that hasn’t seen many in the past 50 years,” said Patrick Davison, project manager at the National Sanitation Foundation in Ann Arbor, Mich. His international not-for-profit public health organization has endorsed The Juggler.
The Juggler technology was approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection on Oct. 31, a difficult feat considering the department’s intense scrutiny of new technology, said George Heufelder, director of the Barnstable County Health Department.
Concerns Over Cross-Contamination
Several off-Cape towns have raised the issue of whether water pumped from one septic system might remain in the Bluewater truck and be introduced into a different septic system, along with viruses, chemicals, or other toxic waste from the first system. In their permit, state environmental officials required that the truck’s water tank be completely emptied between pump-outs.
“Cross contamination is not considered a big issue,” Heufelder said.
Davison said his group’s extensive research and field testing showed that proper usage of The Juggler’s technology guaranteed no cross-contamination.
Economic and Operational Realities
While Bluewater makes many claims about the environmental benefits of The Juggler, Davison and Heufelder agreed that the greatest, and perhaps only, benefit is the cost savings, and emissions and traffic reduction from pumper trucks not having to make as many trips to empty loads. Bluewater President Dan Potter said his trucks may make seven or more stops before they have to empty their load, while a conventional truck might have to empty after one or two.
Customers, who usually pay for their pump-outs by the gallon, don’t get a price break even though fewer gallons are taken away with The Juggler. He said customers end up paying about the same as with conventional septic removal.
Steve Brito, assistant chief at the Orleans Tri-Town Septage Treatment Facility, said the plant charges Bluewater almost three times as much to treat waste because it has to be specially mixed with the regular septage for their equipment to run properly.
