Septic Systems in the Media: ‘From the Trenches’ News Highlights, 2025
One of the parts of our monthly newsletter, From the Trenches, that we always look forward to is the roundup of news stories from the past month covering septic systems and decentralized wastewater. These are often hyperlocal stories, but it can still be quite fascinating to learn about the similarities and differences in septic stories, challenges, and successes across the country — and sometimes around the world.
Below, we’ve collected some of the stories we found most interesting from our 2025 newsletters!
Hoback Junction’s nitrate pollution is a septic problem
By Sophia Boyd-Fliegel, Wyoming Public Media | January 5, 2025
“Leaking septic systems in Hoback Junction are polluting drinking water. That’s according to findings from an investigation published last month by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. ‘Based on the results of the data review, it appears that the major known source of nitrates in groundwater is related to the density of domestic septic systems in the area,’ the report states. It’s the first report from outside experts showing nitrate pollution in Hoback could be resolved by addressing wastewater.”
Stuck horse hoisted out of septic tank in Colorado
By Ben Hooper, United Press International | February 10, 2025
“Emergency responders in Colorado came together to conduct an unusual rescue when a horse was found with the back half of its body stuck in a septic tank. The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office said on social media that deputies from the Emergency Services department responded alongside personnel from Pueblo West Fire, Pueblo West Metro District, the Community Animal Rescue Team and a local veterinarian. ‘The horse was sitting in chest-deep sewage with only her head and front hooves sticking above the ground when rescuers arrived,’ the post said.”
JEA, City of Jacksonville making progress on ‘Septic Tank Phaseout’ program, beginning to target new areas
By Tarik Minor, News4Jax | March 3, 2025
“The City of Jacksonville and JEA are making progress on their ‘Septic Tank Phaseout’ program, with three major projects now completed. Meanwhile, the latest phase targets the Christobel and Riverview neighborhoods, which could affect nearly 3,000 parcels combined. JEA and the city have successfully converted neighborhoods like Biltmore and Beverly Hills East and West to city sewer systems. The focus is now on Christobel and Riverview, two neighborhoods prone to flooding. These areas were chosen because septic tanks in flood-prone regions can leak harmful nutrients into the St. Johns River and its tributaries, damaging water quality.”
Michigan’s newest PFAS threat: Contamination from household septic systems
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan | March 17, 2025
“Cadillac residents had been on edge for months about the discovery of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in dozens of private drinking water wells, when state officials recently delivered some unexpected news. The most logical culprit, many had believed, was a local industrial park with a troubled history. After all, metal platers and automotive manufacturers had already polluted the park with volatile organic compounds and hexavalent chromium. Those same industries have been linked to PFAS contamination in other Michigan communities. And Cadillac’s first PFAS-positive well test had come from a home within the industrial park. But a state analysis of water from 70 neighboring wells told another story: Some residents, schools and businesses may have unwittingly tainted their own drinking water, through years of flushing common household products down the drain and into septic systems that allowed tainted sewage to quietly infiltrate the aquifer.”
Trump administration cancels program to protect Alabamans from raw sewage
By Judd Legum, Popular Information | April 14, 2025
“[In April], the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release announcing the termination of a 2023 ‘environmental justice settlement agreement that stemmed from the investigation launched by the previous administration targeting Lowndes County, Alabama.’ The press release said the move was part of the administration’s commitment ‘to serving every individual with dignity and respect.’ … The press release did not mention the substance of the settlement agreement between Alabama and the DOJ or why it was implemented. In 2021, the DOJ launched an investigation into the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). The 18-month investigation found that the ADPH and the Lowndes County Health Department ‘engaged in a consistent pattern of inaction and/or neglect concerning the health risks associated with raw sewage’ in Lowndes County. About 72% of the county’s residents are Black.”
A septic tank in this tiny Arizona town could crack a 2006 cold case
By Stephen Lemons, Phoenix New Times | May 28, 2025
“It’s not hard to miss the small Arizona outpost of Seligman. It’s a dot on the map about an hour west of Flagstaff — technically not a town but a ‘census-designated place,’ a more complicated way of saying, ‘This place exists.’ Home to roughly 450 souls, its only claim to fame is that it sits on historic Route 66, though it clings to only one of that famous highway’s 2,448 miles. A passing motorist could inhale upon entering Seligman and not have to let out a breath before rolling out the other end. It’s also not hard to go missing in Seligman. That’s what happened to Phoenix native Keith King just more than 19 years ago. On May 7, 2006, according to one account, the 46-year-old walked away from his girlfriend’s house in a T-shirt and flip-flops. He plodded over the windswept rocky terrain, dotted with pinyon and juniper trees, for a hike. Then he was never seen again. It was as if he’d been beamed up by one of the extraterrestrials he believed in and sometimes believed himself to be. A missing person’s case was opened and inquiries were made, but the mystery of King’s disappearance has remained unsolved.”
Conservation group challenges DEQ approval of septic systems near Big Sky
By Ellis Juhlin, Montana Public Radio | July 9, 2025
“The Montana Department of Environmental Quality approved four new septic systems for a residential and commercial development along Highway 191 near the town of Big Sky. Septic systems can increase nutrient pollution that can deteriorate water quality issues and cause harmful algal blooms. Guy Alsentzer, with Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, filed suit against DEQ. He says the agency failed to assess how nutrient pollution will harm the Gallatin River. ‘The river is already over its tipping point, which is to say it’s had neon green algal blooms several years. And those big, neon green, multi-mile-long algal blooms represent we don’t have any carrying capacity in the river to handle more nutrient pollution.’”
Man falls in septic tank, found trapped underneath tire
By Mia Morales, KARK 4 News | August 8, 2025
“A 29-year-old man is in stable condition after falling into a septic tank in Edinburg, Texas, on Friday morning, according to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office. At 9:05 a.m. on Friday, deputies responded to a welfare check at the 7300 block of N. Terry Road in rural Edinburg. According to a news release from HCSO, the homeowner had reported to deputies that their 29-year-old uncle had not shown up at the daycare in the morning and had not been there since 9 p.m. the night before. The homeowner granted the responding deputy permission to search the property. While calling out the man’s name, the release stated that the deputy heard a faint voice coming from the ground, calling for help.”
Cape Cod town weighs proposals for a shared approach to septic costs
By Tyler Jager, The Provincetown Independent | September 10, 2025
“As the town struggles to meet state requirements to reduce nitrogen pollution in Wellfleet Harbor — which comes principally from the town’s thousands of septic systems — residents and elected officials are discussing how to organize the expenses of that effort. A citizens’ petition that has been certified for the Oct. 22 fall town meeting aims to address the costs of future upgrades by creating a new ‘public utility’ in Wellfleet to provide water, septic, and sewer services to residents. The purpose of the utility, according to the petition, would be to ‘ensure that the costs to any residents are equitable; regardless of whether people use a sewer connection or individual home system for septic treatment.”
Making septic systems cleaner for the environment
By Robert C. Jones Jr., University of Miami | October 1, 2025
“The small toolshed in the backyard of one Palmetto Bay home doesn’t contain a lawnmower, hedge trimmer, rake, or shovel. Not even a pruning shear. Instead, it is packed with electrical control panels, reactors, and wires that run everywhere. While such high-tech tools will not keep a lawn neatly manicured, they hold the promise of helping to safeguard the environment, from preventing harmful chemicals from leaching into the water supply to stemming the growth of algal blooms in nearby lakes and canals. The gadgetry is part of an electrohydromodulation (EHM) system developed by a team of University of Miami College of Engineering researchers that recovers nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen directly from wastewater while simultaneously treating it.”
In coastal South Carolina, septic systems are seen as a shield against development, and an environmental hazard
By Jonah Chester, The Post and Courier | November 10, 2025
“Leaky septic tanks are considered the ‘dirty hidden little secret’ of [coast South Carolina’s] development boom. Lax regulatory policies have led to a proliferation of the systems in recent years, The Post and Courier previously reported, even as climate change-fueled rising groundwater levels have made them less effective and prone to discharges. But in areas such as Edisto [Island], there aren’t any other options. ‘We are never going to get a municipal centralized wastewater treatment plant on this island,’ [resident Tom] Austin said. ‘It’s 15 miles to connect to the one in Ravenel.’ And even if there were other choices, some residents in these rural areas view septic systems as a bulwark against over-development.”
Inquest into toddler’s septic tank death sparks calls for improved maintenance in remote public housing
By Elsie Lange, ABC Australia | December 10, 2025
“Damning coronial inquest findings into the death of a toddler who fell into an unsafe septic tank in his family’s backyard have sparked concerns about the state of public housing in remote Northern Territory Aboriginal communities. In her report, Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage found the two-year-old’s death could have been prevented if government departments had undertaken sufficient maintenance of a septic system. Advocates are calling for urgent improvements to maintenance and repairs in remote community housing, with one saying federal government involvement is needed.”
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See our “Septic Systems in the Media” news highlights of 2024 at this past blog post.