Each year over 40,000 new on-site systems are installed in North Carolina for new housing, commercial, and industrial development, adding to the existing 1,440,000 on-site systems already in use in North Carolina. These systems contribute over 360 million gallons of wastewater to the environment every day.
Properly designed and located, on-site systems can be a permanent means of wastewater disposal that protects public health and has minimal effect on the environment. Most on-site systems function satisfactorily; however, a significant number of systems fail to perform as designed, and pressure is increasing to install on-site systems on unsuitable sites. The following statistics indicate the scope of the problem of failing on-site systems in North Carolina.
At the time of this publication, approximately 12,600 systems in North Carolina are repaired each year because of failure. Additionally, about 11 % of improvement permit applications are denied, mainly because selected sites are unsuitable.
Public health agencies process 62,000 applications per year for site evaluations for both new systems and the repair of failing systems. Environmental health professionals perform 136,000 consultative site visits per year, often to inspect a failing on-site system.
These failing on-site systems and unsuitable sites are major concerns.
From the North Carolina Onsite Guidance Manual