Rural Indiana Community Receives Help
Allen County has a septic sewage problem, but new projects will help reduce the risk of exposure to septic waste in rural areas. About 15,000 properties in the county use septic systems for human waste disposal, said Gary Chapple, director of pollution at the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health. About two-thirds of those systems are more than 30 years old or don’t have an installation permit on file with the health department, which increases the risk they could be failing, Chapple said.
Sewage leaking from a failing septic system can spread disease if people of pets come into contact with it, he said. The species of mosquito that carries the West Nile virus also prefers to breed in water contaminated by sewage.New sewer projects now being designed for the Allen County Regional Water and Sewer district will help about 350 households around the county, said Ken Neumeister, the district’s executive director.
