Communities in Tooele Valley are nearing the limit on individual wastewater systems.
That’s what Jeff Coombs, director of the Tooele County Health Department, told the county board of health last Tuesday. If the valley reaches the limit, groundwater in communities north of and including Tooele City could be affected, he added.
Coombs cited a 1998 study by the Utah Geological Survey that determined the number of septic tank soil-absorption systems in Tooele Valley should not exceed 3,000 to avoid groundwater impacts.
At the time, there were approximately 800 septic systems in the valley, according to the study abstract. Currently, there are approximately 2,300 septic systems in Tooele Valley, according to Tooele County Commissioner Myron Bateman. In addition to sitting in on board of health meetings, Bateman chairs the Utah Water Quality Board.
“The more septic systems we put into the ground, the greater the potential to increase nitrate levels in the water, which have potential health impacts,” Coombs said.
For example, Coombs said a high level of nitrates can cause methemoglobinemia or “blue baby” in children — a condition resulting from a deficiency of oxygen in the blood.
To avoid such health impacts, the board of health plans to put a cap on future septic system approvals in Tooele Valley. Once the restriction is reached, future residential and business developments would be required to install either an alternative wastewater system or a dry wastewater system that could connect into a central treatment system.
Erda will likely be most impacted by the restrictions because it does not currently have a community-wide wastewater treatment system. Grantsville and Tooele cities both pipe wastewater to treatment plants. Lake Point and Stansbury Park’s improvement district both use lagoon systems, which filter the wastewater enough to be used to water alfalfa, Bateman said.
A conventional septic system costs between $5,000 and $6,000 per home, said Mike Mollard of 2M Contracting. On the other hand, the price tag on an alternative wastewater system is at least twice that, said Bryan Slade, environmental health director for the county.
“An alternative system is a much more involved treatment system,” he said. “It treats the water a lot better before it’s put out into the dirt for disposal.”
Although health board members discussed these options during the meeting, no formal action was taken. Coombs agreed to analyze the water quality in Tooele Valley to see if it has degraded since the 1998 study and update the board at its next meeting in November.
Bateman requested Coombs write a letter to the Tooele County Building Department to coordinate the cap on future septic systems with the new wastewater system requirements for developers — whatever those may be.
“I hope they’ll [the board of health will] do it in the next year or two,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind if they did it immediately.”