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AGING SYSTEMS <br />S eptic systems installed before 1983 cause the m ost concern. <br />Aside from aging, the systems can be 25 feet from waterways – some are closer – and <br />the drainfields that hold waste can be 6 inches above groundwater. <br />State codes enacted in 1983 require the systems to be set <br />back at least 50 feet from a waterway and the drainfield to be <br />at least 2 feet above groundwater. However, the old systems <br />some of them installed in the 1960s — were <br />grandfathered in. Even if they're replaced, the owners can <br />keep the 25 -foot setback from surface water, said Cheryl <br />D unn, Indian River County's environmental health director. <br />If well-maintained, the average septic system works properly <br />for about 18 years, Dunn said. <br />D unn said her health agents don't look at a septic system <br />unless someone complains, usually because of a stench. A <br />failing system leaks long before it emits foul odors, she said. <br />"That's the problem with septic systems," Dunn said. "They're <br />put into the ground and forgotten." <br />S EWAGE BUILD-UP <br />Lagoon sewage is the worst in Indian River County, <br />especially during the rainy season. <br />H eavy storm runoff funneled through the main relief canal <br />combined with a lack of incoming saltwater cause sewage <br />levels to swell, experts say. <br />Tests show the nutrients that feed algal bloom s were the <br />highest when sali nity was the lowest, and it coincided with <br />water control districts releasing a high volume of stormwater, LaPointe said. <br />I_DER VS/iNEWE <br />NA.SEP11C SYSTEMS:`;" <br />Before 1983: <br />• Septic systems could be <br />25 feet from waterways, <br />and some were allowed <br />to be closer. <br />• Drainfields that hold <br />waste can be 6 inches <br />above groundwater at <br />seasonal high. <br />• Roughly half of <br />Florida's 2.7 million <br />septic systems were <br />installed before 1983. <br />1983 and later: <br />• Septic systems must be <br />at least 50 feet from a <br />1 waterway <br />• Drainfields must be at <br />least 2 feet above <br />groundwater at seasonal <br />high. <br />• Pre -1983 systems <br />grandfathered in. <br />Source: Florida <br />Department of Health <br />D umping stormwater here has a similar effect, though on a smaller scale, as Lake <br />Okeechobee's freshwater being released into the St. Lucie River, LaPointe said. <br />Increased stormwater carries more sewage, he said, noting the nitrogen isotopes – a <br />chief sewage indicator — spiked to 9 parts per million during the wet seasons. <br />11 \L1 <br />