septic repair Wish List

You can support the Western Carolina Septic Repair Project in 2008!

To donate any of the following materials, please contact Rich Holder via email or by phone at 828-236-0500 to find out quantities and sizes needed.

PVC pipe, septic tanks, effluent filters, tank risers, EZ flow, chambers, and other materials.

For additional opportunities to support NCRCAP, see our Support page.

To send a donation, you can Download our donation form or Donate online at our secure site.

PROJECT: Western Carolina Septic Repair

project Partners

NC DENR’s Wastewater Discharge Elimination program (WaDE)
Land of Sky Regional Council of Governments
Western North Carolina County Health Departments
Emanuel Lutheran Church Appalachian Servant Event
ReCreation Experiences
Wautaga Avery Mitchell Yancy Community Action, Inc.

Background info

The Western Carolina Septic Repair Project grew out of NCRCAP’s previous work with county-wide survey projects throughout western NC to identify wastewater straight-pipes and failing septic systems in Madison, Buncombe, and other counties. Subsequent to the surveys, NCRCAP and other partners worked with low income households to find viable technical and financial resources to correct these problems. A strategy was needed to address some of the most severe wastewater problems for households without financial resources and living on sites not easily accessed by conventional machinery. To meet this need, NCRCAP spearheaded an effort to have eager volunteers hand dig the needed repairs.

This project requires the coordination of multiple agencies and organizations and relies heavily on the expertise of NCRCAP's Technical Assistance Provider, who is a registered sanitarian/ environmental health specialist, to oversee installation aspects and coordinate permitting with local health departments. NCRCAP anticipates volunteer groups to hand dig eight or more septic repairs a year to repair failing systems and eliminate straight-pipes in western North Carolina counties.

Timeline

In 2006 NCRCAP supervised the installation of a septic system for a home referred to the program from the Land of Sky Council of Governments (LOS). The family was awarded a grant to have their current home replaced with a mobile home by the Asheville Regional Housing Consortium. The grant budget, however, could not pay for a septic system, even though untreated sewage was flowing under the home. NCRCAP recommended a new pump system and contacted the Emanuel Lutheran Appalachian Service volunteers to alert them of the potential project and inquire if they could hand dig and install the system. They agreed and spent a week of almost continuous digging. Once the septic work was complete this enabled the other project partners to complete the work necessary to replace the family's dilapidated home with a new mobile home. NCRCAP inspected the final plumbing work that connected the home to the new septic system and the family was able to move into their home before the 2006 holidays.
In 2007 NCRCAP has sought additional funding and volunteer groups to expand the project. NCRCAP requested funding from the Community Foundation of WNC and the WaDE program and recruited additional volunteer labor from Recreation Experiences. With this extra funding and labor the program will install eight repairs during the summer of 2007 in Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, and Madison counties.