The Brown County Health Department has about $72,000 available to help county residents repair or replacement of failing septic systems.
The money is from an annual grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Steve Dick, Brown County Environmental Health Director, said that four to five systems can be replaced with the funds available.
“We completely replace the septic system. We don’t want to work with repairs in case something else happens to these people down the road and funds might not be available.”
Dick said that the septic system must be failing in order to be eligible for the grant funds.
“A failing septic system has raw sewage coming up to the top of the ground. That can happen for any number of reasons, including the age of the system or the type of soil the system is in,” Dick said.
“People aren’t going to know they have a problem until the raw sewage comes to the top of the ground, at which point they can see it or smell it or they begin to have drainage problems in the home.”
Dick said that grant applications will be “first come, first serve” and based on income and household size.
The depending on a number of factors, the grant pays 50%, 85% or 100 % of the replacement costs.
For more information please contact Stephen Dick at (937) 378-6892 or visit the Brown County Health Department at 826 Mt. Orab Pike in Georgetown.