By MIKE STACEY
When next April arrives I will have been a homeowner on Maliview Drive for 50 years.
Back then, 39,900 bucks provided a house on half an acre complete with a privately owned water system that failed on an almost daily basis and a sewer system of equal quality. Sewage went downhill and with minimal intervention ended up in the salt chuck.
Why did we have a sewer system in the first place? Because the heavy clay soil made it impossible to put in a septic field of the type used at that time. So septic fields were a no-go but septic tanks would work just fine, if the outflow from the tank (water) were to be put into the sewer system, leaving very little work for a sewage plant to do. Tanks get pumped out every five years and you’re all set.
If that would still be possible today, then maybe the collection system slated for replacement would be up to the task. At the other end of the pipe is the plant. The steady stream of septic pump trucks coming from the site tells me that pumping a home septic tank at five-year intervals is a viable option, and according to my own experience of driving one of those pumpers, the five-year pumping schedule works. In the old days a septic tank could go on forever, or at least til the wooden top rotted out and the whole thing caved in. Modern detergents put an end to that because they clog up the tank inlet after five years or so.
I have never been a member of the “green club,” but surprisingly that does not mean I would be in favour of off-shore drilling in Fulford Harbour or an island-wide clearcut. If I see something that might be environmentally friendly and actually work I will consider it. The concept of dumping any sort of waste into the ocean is a less-than-perfect idea, but it fulfills the two requirements of waste control: cheap and easy.
Why not climb out of the box and see what else is out there? Sewage treatment using aquatic plants is working elsewhere, and greenhouses using vegetation for evaporative purposes are possible.
The property owners on Maliview Drive pay very high rates for sewer and water and are being asked to approve a huge borrowing plan to rebuild the sewer system. My last bill was a little shy of $900 for three months in basic charges, before a single drop of water was used.
As long as crap is going into the ocean this is not a Maliview problem, but an island problem. Mother Nature has been doing this stuff a lot longer than we have, so if we are a “green” community, let’s have a look at how she would handle this.