I am trained/certified by Manitoba Conservation and I would never have an ejector system. Even a septic field must be in proper working order to be safe. I would never even pet a dog on the property of an ejector. Liquid from an ejector isn't “harmless water.” Just because it looks like water doesn't mean it is. It has suspended feces in it and is loaded with bacteria and viruses causing diseases. Not to mention household chemicals, etc. It is not like farm animal droppings. It is a soup mix that has fermented and digested in a tank all mixed together into a toxic blend.

The biggest misunderstanding is that the liquid coming out of your septic tank is not harmful. Let's look at a typical situation: A farm with a family (children), a dog and ejector system that uses well water for drinking. Dog walks through ejector area and then later children play with dog - huge risk to get sick. Ejector is pumping out an average 300 gallons per day of liquid from an average three-bedroom, one-bathroom house. That's 9,000 gallons a month – a semi tanker truck of toxic waste. This untreated sewage is soaking directly into the groundwater. It doesn't take forever to reach the well water. Take a rural subdivision around Brandon. Some of these have ejectors, with each one of them ejecting the equivalent of a semi-tanker truck onto the ground every month. It doesn't take a lot of knowledge to see there is going to be a problem. The land won't be sustainable forever. We don't live in a Third World country and have a valuable resource of safe ater. We have to be careful how we put back this resource into the ground. Septic fields or holding tanks are the proper way to go. If you have an ejector, in most cases your system is fine right up to the ejector, where a sepctic field can simply be installed to replace the ejector. You haven't wasted all your money on the ejector system.

It is up to everybody to preserve Manitoba's safe ground water. Take my advice and replace your ejector with a septic field.

Charles Shepard

co-owner of Brandon-based Sep-tech Environmental

Brandon