I used to edit Onsite Installer magazine, written for contractors who install onsite wastewater treatment systems (for simplicity’s sake, septic systems).During those years I learned that the onsite and “big pipe” communities were to some extent sworn enemies. Onsite contractors and septic system owners felt threatened by ever-expanding sewer systems. Municipal treatment agencies looked down on septic systems as temporary, questionably effective and failure-prone.However, I’ve learned from that experience and my tenure as TPO editor that both types of treatment have their place — each should welcome the other as part of a big-picture solution for managing wastewater. And that means
