Pumper/hauler questions inspection plan

Craig Bakay | Apr 06, 2017

Central Frontenac Township’s plan, which is now under review, to licence pumper/haulers to do inspections on septic systems “won’t work,” says a long-time area pumper who does 30 per cent of his business in Central Frontenac.

“They’ve opened up a hornets’ nest,” said Dave Orser, who began helping his father with the family business in 1963 and took it over when his father retired. “South Frontenac tried this a few years ago and I was quite involved in it. It won’t work.”

Orser said he has two main concerns.

First, he’s concerned he’ll lose business if he’s put in the position of having to ‘fail’ a system.

“If I come to an area and turn down a system, I’ll never pump another system in that area again,” Orser said. “People will say ‘don’t get Dave, he’ll turn you in. Is the Township going to accept the liability for the pumper losing business?”

His second point is that the $20 fee the Township will pay for the inspection just isn’t enough.

“I’m not going to do inspections for $20, especially when you get $100 for a real estate inspection,” he said. “Inspections take time and that cuts into the number of pumpings I can do in a day.

“A good day now is about 10 tanks but depending on the distance I have to travel and the complexity of the inspection (like for example if a filter at the weeping bed has to be dug out and checked) that could be down to five.”

It’s not that Orser is being critical or that he doesn’t care about he environment. He considers all the lakes in this area as ‘my lakes’ and he’s been known to ‘recommend’ that a system owner take steps to correct problems.

“If I see something suspicious, I’ll say ‘you gotta do something’ and most people do,” he said. “If I see it a second time, then I’ll tell the Health Unit.

“They’re all my lakes.”

Orser also sees plenty of problems on the horizon if people are forced to replace aging systems.

“I’ve had a lot of calls and there are a lot of older people in a panic about this,” he said. “Just because a system is 40 years old, it doesn’t mean it’s not still working.

“I’m still pumping systems my dad put in.”

But he worries what will happen to seniors on fixed incomes, given that most new systems are in the $15,000-$20,000 range and newer technologies can cost even more if they use electricity to operate such as the Waterloo Biofilter.

“I know I’d be in trouble financially if I had to replace my system,” he said. “And what if you’re on an older 100 x 100 lot? There might not be room for one of the newer systems.”

He doesn’t think Township subsidies or 80-20 type loans will work either.

“You could have 600 people coming for help replacing their systems,” he said. “How is the Township going to pay 80 per cent of that? And let’s face it, for single seniors who only have their pension and a few dollars put away, they’re never going get $20,000 paid off.”

Orser said he thinks the best solution is for municipalities to hold off on making plans until the Province actually passes the legislation and then to lobby them for inspectors. “It is my one hundred per cent hope the township will hold off,” he said. “Then, if the province decides to pass this, the Province can hire the inspectors who will accompany the pumpers and to the inspections.”