Thursday, November 21, 2024 | 5:29 p.m
The Southern Nevada Water Authority board is postponing a decision on a policy that would grant exemptions to homeowners seeking a septic system.
As part of projects to convert septic tanks to sewers, many property owners have received 85% of funding up to $40,000 for those conversions, said Bronson Mack, spokesman for the authority. The waiver applies to residents who have vacant properties without a building or home and want to build something on the vacant property.
If a property owner were to apply for a waiver and meet the eligibility requirements, they would pay the one-time $40,000 fee, which goes back into the water authority's wastewater conversion programs, plus an additional $150 per month until they are connected to the wastewater system, said Mack.
“This is an urgent need for (municipal) water plants that need to expand their treatment capacity,” said resident Diane Henry. “(It is) a very necessary program, but its extreme conditions will make it unattainable for many.”
There are 15,000 septic tanks in the Las Vegas Valley, a way to dispose of household wastewater, said Colby Pellegrino, assistant general manager for resources for the water agency. Wastewater flows from the house into a tank in the backyard and then into a filtration system where the waste is returned to the water table.
However, because of their distance from sewer infrastructure, they are too far away to connect to the main sewer system and cannot be converted, Mack said. Another variable that property owners cannot convert is the elevation at which a property would require an uphill pump.
Community members at the meeting who want to build on their property but have sewer connection restrictions asked if there could be a waiver process, Mack said.
“If a fee must be charged, it should be a cost-based impact fee,” Henry said. “If you're a half-mile from the nearest sewer line … you're going to be penalized and you're going to pay these fees for years, maybe even decades, all because administrators decided not to bring in sewer infrastructure at a much cheaper cost.”
In the past, if homeowners did not have access to a sewer system, they could obtain a permit to install and build a septic system, Mack said. However, in an effort to increase water efficiency, the installation of wastewater treatment plants is prohibited except under certain conditions.
Although the waiver was not approved and was up for further discussion in January, conditions for the waiver could include the property being at least 600 feet from the sewer line, an engineering problem, or the cost of connecting to the sewer line total $150,000 or more, said Rich Easter, a program administrator who handles septic tank conversion.
Infrastructure development in the Las Vegas Valley is funded by developers building subdivisions, Mack said.
For example, when Summerlin was built, developers installed electric, water, sewer and gas infrastructure.
“A lot of times what we see with these properties that may be eligible for an exemption or applying for an exemption is that they're in a valley where there hasn't been a lot of residential development,” Mack said.
These are areas in the northwest part of the valley where there are many nature reserves, Mack said. When a developer wants to build a subdivision, they bring all the infrastructure with them and hand it over to the utilities.
Another problem at wastewater treatment plants is nitrate, which Pellegrino said has a limit of 10 millimeters per liter, a level one pollutant that causes blue baby syndrome. Nitrate contamination requires a public health notification for every customer in the Las Vegas Valley.
“If you’re connected to a septic system, you have a significantly larger water footprint than other homes with septic systems,” Pellegrino said.
An area near Sahara Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard has septic tanks that were approved when the area was developed, Pellegrino said. In 2014, the water authority noticed an increase in nitrate levels and stopped several production wells in the valley.
“Stopping the spread of septic tanks and removing them from the valley is not only a water quantity issue, but also an important water quality issue,” Pellegrino said.
Of the 15,000 wastewater treatment plants, more than half receive water from the drought-stricken Colorado River, and at least a third of them are located at a distance that allows the county to require them to be connected to the sewer system, but not in the valley Follow this rule, Pellegrino said.
Instead, they allowed the septic tanks to remain in place permanently, even when sewerage infrastructure became available.
“Three-figure amounts are still being approved for new septic tanks every year,” Pellegrino said. “These septic tanks were installed because in some cases it is more cost effective, but over time it will probably become cheaper to be in the sewer system.”
The Nevada Legislature passed House Bill 220 in 2023, which banned the installation of new wastewater treatment plants on land that receives water from the Colorado River. The legislation required the water board's director general to grant waivers and create a septic tank conservation program, Pellegrino said.
Daniel Youssef, a firefighter and Las Vegas resident, said he bought his property in 2019 and had to delay construction of additional buildings when they received the notice.
“I appreciate the waiver, but the waiver is just bananas,” said Youssef. “It is not possible for a normal person to build.”
The average project cost $46,000 and homeowners pay up to $13,000 to be eligible for this program, Pellegrino said.
Installing a new septic system costs between $15,000 and $35,000, Pellegrino said. Contractors told SNWA that replacing a septic tank is more expensive. Life cycle costs show that connecting to sewer is between $100 and $150 cheaper per foot. Prior to AB220, it was required to use a sewer if it was within 400 feet.
AB220 has been in effect since 2023, but the water authority has granted a grace period, Pellegrino said. Anyone who owns a property or purchases a property by November 2025 is entitled to an exemption.
Construction must begin after approval is received so that wastewater agencies can begin moving wastewater to areas around the valley, Pellegrino said.
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