INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The simple act of flushing the toilet has become controversial in some rural areas of Indiana.

Actually, the controversy isn’t so much about flipping the handle on the toilet tank, but what happens afterwards. For much of rural Indiana, the waste winds up in a septic system. But not everyone thinks that’s the right way to handle sewage.

The Indiana Regional Sewage District Assoc. (IRSDA) prefers all Hoosiers be connected to a municipal sewage system as a way of keeping the state’s waterways and wetlands clean. Under state law, anyone living within 300 feet of a municipal sewer system is required to connect to it, but that’s not fair, according to Dale Arnett, an attorney from Winchester, who is representing a growing list of farmers and rural residents.

“We’re not anti-sewer,” said Arnett. “We just think the way regional sewer districts operate needs to change.”

In urban areas, municipal sewers are a way of life. Everyone is connected and because there are so many people in cities and towns, the cost to connect is affordable.

But in rural areas, where miles of pipe have to be laid just to connect a half a dozen people, the cost is much higher. To spread that cost out, state law allows for the creation of regional sewer districts where rural residents, subdivisions, unincorporated towns and small communities can join together as a regional sewage district and build a system.

“The problem the people I represent have with that is once a regional sewer district is created, it’s not regulated by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission,” said Arnett. “We’re proposing legislation to be introduced at the next session of the General Assembly that sewer district boards be elected, not appointed.”

Arnett said his clients don’t like the mandate that they be required to connect to a system that is within 300 feet of their property. That requirement, he added, takes way their freedom of choice.

“Just because someone else puts in some pipe, why should my client have to connect? I don’t have to do that for electricity. Why shouldn’t they have a choice on how to handle their own sewage? All that is is a transfer of wealth to the sewer entrepreneurs,” said Arnett.

Connie Stevens of Lewisville, a past president of the IRSDA, said regional sewer districts are formed only when there is a need. In other words, she said only when serious environmental problems are found are sewage districts organized.

“You can’t create a district when there’s a small need. We have a serious problem in one of our towns where sewage was showing up in the pond in the town park. That’s how we created the South Henry (County) Sewer District. There was a problem and people were complaining about sewage showing up in ponds,” she explained.

Stevens, who heads the South Henry district, said since it was created, the problems have disappeared. While there were some complaints about the connection fee and monthly bills, she said the long-term benefits have outweighed those concerns.

“The folks who got fired up about it didn’t do so until they say it was coming in,” said Stevens. 

While the cost to install a system can run into the millions of dollars, she said grants from the Indiana Revolving Fund and the Indiana Rural Development Agency can help pay for sewer systems.

“The whole point is to get people off septic systems. They have to be replaced eventually and not all of them are maintained properly,” said Stevens. “We’ve had people come to us and complain about having to connect when they say their septic system is working just fine.

“We’ve found in a lot of cases, the systems aren’t doing what they’re supposed to. In one case, there was a pipe running from the holding tank to a creek, draining sewage into the creek. We didn’t find out about that until people who owned a nearby farm were complaining about raw sewage in their water.”

And that, said Mike Mettler, director of environmental public health for the Indiana Department of Health, is why there is a need for regional sewer districts.

“A lot of the septic systems in use today were installed in the 1970s and they’re at the end of their useful life,” said Mettler. “We have had reports of sewage being piped to a nearby creek and that’s a public health hazard.”

In the case of rural subdivisions, he said the only answer may be a regional sewage district because the lots may not be large enough to install a septic system. “Just because your toilet flushes and everything goes away doesn’t mean it’s being disposed of properly,” he said.

According to Indiana Department of Health statistics, 25 percent of Indiana’s population – about 1.5 million people – are served by septic systems. “And of that, between 25 percent and 30 percent of the septic systems are in failure,” said Mettler.

That translates to between 250,000-300,000 failing septic systems across the state.

The cost to put in a sewer system varies greatly, depending on the number of people served and how close together they are, but it could mean a monthly bill of between $50-$90. At the same time, a septic system costs between $5,000-$20,000 and they are engineered to last only 20 years.

The issue is being examined by the Indiana Farm Bureau, said staff lawyer Justin Schneider.

“We’re working on fixes with the Regional Sewage District Association on some of the issues,” said Schneider. “We haven’t taken a position on this, but people need to address this issue publicly. We’re looking at the issue.

“One key question that needs to be answered is whether an individual system is working properly. That’s a problem that needs to be addressed. It is a big issue.”

While some who are opposed to regional sewage districts are because of freedom of choice, he said the real issue may be economic: “The cost of pipe might not make it feasible for some people to afford a sewage district. That needs to be addressed.”

Although no legislation has been submitted so far, Arnett and Schneider both expect bills concerning regional sewage district to be submitted for debate.