A choice between septic or sewer

The Tippy Chapman Regional Sewer District has set boundaries and demanded that everyone inside this boundary connect to sewer at their own expense to reach the main line at the road.  Each property owner must also voluntarily give up a 15 foot easement to the sewer district from the road to the area the waste exits the house.  This area must never have landscaping or any structure placed in it or over it.  The estimated beginning bill will be $110 per month forever, but may include rate increases in the future.  They are demanding that existing septic tanks be crushed and filled in so they are inoperative.

     I'm asking for people to be given a choice.  If they choose the can connect to sewer, if they choose they can remain on or construct septic.  I'm not asking for anything illegal, septic still must meet industry standards of design and construction and all Indiana department of health guidelines.  I'm also asking for any other choices for the safe handling of sewage to be allowed as well to include composting toilets, Aeration Treatment Units, biofilm filtration or other systems I am unaware of.  I want to prevent the overreach of government, the over regulation and the inciting of gear as to the actual conditions of our shared public surface waters in the form of lakes, rivers, ponds, streams and ditches.

     Additionally there is water draw down concerns regarding the unconfined aquifer of Northern Indiana which most if not all houses pull their water from.  This aquifer can range up to 300-500 feet deep with most wells at the 100-200 foot range.  Should sewers be mandatory then all the private well water that historically has been leeched back into the ground and returned to our aquifer through septic will then be pumped miles away to be processed and dumped in the Tippecanoe River.  This will amount to over 1 million gallons a day.  With reduced rainfall in the region over the last decade we could be setting ourselves up for drinking watwr scarcity in the next 50 years.  Maybe there is an unlimited amount of water in our aquifer but pulling it out and dumping it in a river is not the responsible use of resources we are trying to protect as a state.  With septic systems we recycle the water and allow it to drain back to the underground aquifer over the course of years and decades to be used again.  With sewer we send it down the river to the ocean never to return unless it's in the form of rain, and this year alone we are 6-8" short of our normal rainfall.  Septic is beneficial to homeowners and is needed to keep the water where it belongs.

Thaddeus Du Bois    Contact the author of the petition