Septic Tank "Basement"

An interesting story turned up while on the Open Studios Tour yesterday. You know how it is, you are looking at art, sculpture, jewelry, and the topic of the sewer comes up. You could be at the grocery store or at Sweet Springs and the topic of the sewer comes up. Not always of course, but what other town besides one beset with sewer woes for lo, these 40 years, and paying through the nose for those delays, and the topic of the full-on sewer tax hitting us now that everything is in, would the sewer topic have come up?

Well, I guess these days, Morro Bay.......... But it is not quite the same comparison, as they have had a sewer for many, many, many years. In contrast, we are in the almost finished process of saying goodbye to our septic tanks, except for those areas in town where they are not forbidden.

The (presumed) owners of one house either: Thought there would never be a sewer; they loved their septic tank so much they didn't want to part with it, so hid it; OR, did not know where it was when they built their living room on top of it. Or maybe they did not care, or thought they could just not bother with a permit? (Our personal wild-wild-west example: We found a whole room built inside of the garage when we bought the house - drywall and everything.)

So....when it was time to hook up, in order to pump the tank, they had to cut a hole in the living room floor. Maybe I am a clean freak, but the thought of the pulsing, stinky, waste evacuation hose snaking over ruined carpet, or maybe shattered tile, or ecologically friendly splintered bamboo flooring seemed kind of gross! I don't know what the requirements were to fill in the tank, cement or gravel, but for sure, it would not be re-used for rainwater catchment!

Lazy Sewer Reporting

Yes, this should have been posted last Friday. Oh well. Here it is now:

I attended LOCAC on Thursday, July 24, 2014. Sewer stuff was discussed when questions were asked of our District 2 Supervisor, Bruce Gibson. (Q and As below are paraphrased.)

Question: Has there been any movement on converting our septics to cisterns for rain water?

Supe BG: It is a permitting issue. County Planner Kerry Brown may work on consolidating the permitting process to one permit and one inspection. The County will try to make it as low cost as possible, maybe even free. Planning and Public Works are in discussion on this right now.

Question: Some people have already put in their laterals but they are not connected. What happens next?

Supe BG: It will need to be videoed. We are discouraging the "over achievers" on doing this now. There will be a massive outreach and a place to drop in to talk about what to do, or you can come to South Bay Community Center weekly or bi-weekly.

Part of Mr. Gibson's report to LOCAC was that ARB has substantially completed their part of the trenching. Their punch list is now under 50. Public Works, in addition to finalizing the remedial treatment for the battered streets, says the actual work will wait until the warranty period on the trench work has expired. That way, if any problems with the trench work arise, they will be under ARB's warranty and ARB will need to fix those problems. The treatment plant is under construction and no issues have arisen there (according to John Waddell, Project Manager).

Also mentioned was financing for laterals. It will likely be a low-interest loan or grants. There are three or four different programs being looked at for an income-tested basis. This might start mid-2015.

There was an interesting discussion on pot-growing here in Los Osos, but that was not sewer-related, so won't be reported here. (You should have been there!)