tical. For Joe Rose and his client, that 

 means a low-pressure mound system 

 and a green light for the grocery. 



"The first septic tank was made in 

 France in the seventeen-hundreds," 

 Harris says, "and nothing much had 

 been done to improve it until just 

 recently. Because of the interest Sea 

 Grant and North Carolina State have 

 taken in these new designs, we can give 

 people a quality installation. If it 

 weren't for them, we'd still be handing 

 out eighteenth century technology." 



Harris' department has approved 

 about 75 alternative systems, based on 

 Carlile and Osborne's designs. Most of 

 these have been installed in the last 

 two years, many for businesses. Harris 

 tells the story of a textiles firm that 

 wanted to build near Vanceboro. It 

 promised 80 badly needed jobs. But the 

 soils on its building site were poor. 

 Carlile, Osborne and Bob Rubin 

 designed the low-pressure mound 

 system for the plant, and specified 

 water-stingy plumbing fixtures. 



"No problems at all," says the 

 plant's mechanic, Jerry Somers, of the 

 system. "We just check it once in a 

 while and keep the grass mowed." 



Harris says the alternative systems 

 have helped his county substantially 

 broaden its tax base, while easing some 

 health and environmental risks. But 

 using the new systems, he says, incurs 

 some stiff responsibility, not only for 

 his department, but for the property 

 owner. 



"We've had to become educated in 

 these designs," Harris says. "And they 

 require some management. We are es- 

 tablishing a checklist for alternative 

 systems, and we'll conduct regular 

 inspections." 



The checklist includes the alarm 

 system, the levels in riser pipes, the 

 sequence of the pumps and the condi- 

 tion of the grass over the absorption 

 field. 



"They've done a good job using this 

 technology in Craven County," says 

 Bob Rubin of Harris' depart- 

 ment. "They've got a qualified staff 

 and they're not afraid to learn new 

 things and examine the alternatives." 



Such close supervision of the new in- 

 stallations, Rubin says, is crucial to en- 

 sure the technology is not misused. 

 "These things are not a panacea for 

 every sewage-disposal problem," 

 Rubin says. 



Osborne and Craig Cogger say that 

 there are already cases of mounds that 



Photo by Neil Caudle 



Jerry Somers, with alarm and timer 



have been installed improperly. Some 

 of these have failed. One of the most 

 notorious examples is the mound 

 system for a fast-food restaurant in 

 Shallotte. The mound was built by a 

 private firm, and did not provide ade- 

 quately for the huge quantities of 

 grease the restaurant produces. 



Bob Benton says the shoreline sur- 

 veys his staff at Shellfish Sanitation 

 has conducted have also found mounds 

 failing. 



Cogger and Osborne say these 

 failures are due to inadequate main- 

 tenance and design. But not every 

 county health department, they say, is 

 as well-versed in the new alternatives 

 as the one in Craven County. 



"You have to have some kind of 

 management framework to handle 

 these problems," Cogger says. "And 

 you need education and extension for 

 the health departments; they really 

 need the support of trained experts." 



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