Coastal Services Center

When officials have to close a beach because of high E. coli bacteria counts, the problem can sometimes be tracked to malfunctioning septic systems. Without local data on how a system was designed, permitted, installed, operated, and maintained, it can be challenging to identify where a problem may be coming from.

In Indiana, coastal resource managers partnered with state health officials to develop a Web-based tool to track septic systems at the local level.

The iTOSS (Indiana’s network for Tracking of Onsite Sewage Systems) tool creates a centralized database that county health officials can use to document septic system information, such as location, soil and system type, permit, and permit violations.

State and county permit staffs can link permit violations and complaint data to a specific parcel, as well as attach site images and other supporting documentation. The tool can be used to develop and implement water quality improvement projects throughout the watershed.

“The on-site disposal system section of 6217 is one that a lot of coastal states struggle to meet,” says program manager for the Lake Michigan Coastal Program Mike Molnar. Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Management Act calls upon states and tribes with federally approved coastal zone management programs to develop and implement coastal nonpoint pollution control programs.

“I think this tracking tool could be used by other coastal states as a template. It’s definitely a model that could be used by others,” Molnar says.

System Failure

On-site sewage disposal systems are a contributing source of nonpoint pollution in many coastal areas, including Indiana’s Lake Michigan watershed. While septic systems do effectively treat contaminants, such as nutrients and pathogens, systems can fail for reasons that include poor soil conditions and inadequate maintenance.

“Prior to iTOSS, there was no single state database to track those systems, and the majority of county health departments used paper records,” Molnar explains.

In 2007, the Indiana State Department of Health convened a committee of state and county health department staff members to determine what a statewide database should look like, says Mike Mettler, director of the Environmental Public Health Division of the Indiana State Department of Health.

Streamlined and Customized

With funding and support from the Lake Michigan Coastal Program, the state modeled its program on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Wastewater Information System Tool, streamlining and customizing the input screens and altering the flow of data to more accurately reflect county record-keeping.

“The majority of the system is handled by local health departments, and they don’t work for us,” Mettler notes. As a result, the state tested the database with several counties before releasing it and is providing training and outreach for county staff members.

“It’s not a Field of Dreams kind of thing where if you build it, they will come,” Molnar says. “We have found some counties don’t have computers or GPS units, and we have provided additional grant funding to build that capacity internally. It’s important to commit the resources to make sure it works in the end.”

Using the System

So far 12 counties have begun using the system, which was completed in 2010, including two of the three coastal counties bordering Lake Michigan.

“The beauty of it for the counties is that they don’t need to buy or maintain any software,”Mettler says. “It’s Internet based, so they can just log in to the system.” Currently, the Oracle Web-based system is not publicly accessible.

“This database is easy for people to use, and it’s easy to see the information in a comprehensive way,” says Colin Highlands, nonpoint source coordinator for the Lake Michigan Coastal Program.

Highlands notes that the coastal program is planning to use iTOSS data to assist local communities with refining watershed management plans and developing local ordinances addressing on-site sewage disposal systems.

“Any county that is still using paper records would benefit from this database,” Highlands says. “Paper records are an impediment for setting ordinances on the operation, on-site inspection, and maintenance of septic systems.”

Two other states have already asked for a program demonstration, Mettler says.

He adds, “We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback for it. It turned out better than I imagined it would. I was worried our budget wasn’t big enough, but what we really needed, we got.”

For more information on the iTOSS system, you may contact Mike Molnar at (317) 233-0132 or mmolnar@dnr.in.gov, Colin Highlands at (219) 921-0863 or chighlands@dnr.in.gov, or Mike Mettler at (317) 233-7183 or mmettler@isdh.in.gov.