The Ohio department of health says over a third of all septic systems in the state are failing.

As a result, they are proposing new rules for homeowners to stop sewage from leaking into yards or waterways.

A town hall meeting in Warren, Wednesday, hosted by Senator Capri Cafaro and the Ohio Department of Health outlined new sewage rules for homeowners.


Rebecca Fugitt, with the OH Dept. of Health, says "What we're trying to do is modernize our standards so that the system you get is designed specifically for your lot, your soils and the amount of water you generate out of your household."


The new rules would only apply to people building new homes or those with old, broken systems that need to be replaced.

The old rules are 35 years old and did not account for different soil types.

The department of health says the one standard design that didn't address soil types accounted for 31% of all failure rates.

Now homeowners can get their soil tested and meet with their local health districts to decide what system is best for them.


"It was our objective to make sure that Ohio residents have a choice of technology in home sewage treatment and cost comes into consideration through  the evaluation process and also folks have an opportunity to appeal a ruling by the local board of health," says State Senator, Capri Cafaro.


"People need to be an informed consumer they need to look at all their options that might be available for their property and think that maybe this system costs more upfront but the maintenance costs are less," says Fugitt.


The proposed rules are expected to take effect on January 1, 2015.