Substandard materials cause home septic system troubles

DINGMAN — “Dirty aggregate which some contractors are using for septic sand mounds may be clogging up the whole system,” Township Sewage Enforcement Officer Chris Wood told the board supervisors recently. Wood reported, “When stone is picked up from an aggregate supplier, it is often covered with a fine layer of rock dust. The dust gets filtered down into the system and causes clogs which may not appear as problems for as much as a year or longer.” Even though the aggregate suppliers are Department of Environmental Protection approved, it doesn’t insure the proper stone for the job is being used. “When we get the ‘slips’ from the contractor as to the source of the aggregate being used and the supplier is state approved there is nothing we can do,” Wood concluded.