Many Michigan residents who move from the city to more rural areas unknowingly become part of a worsening sewage problem for the Great Lakes system. Septic systems and other on-site sewage disposal are the method of choice for most rural homes out of the reach of city sewer lines. But tens of thousands of homeowners don’t realize that without periodic maintenance and pumping, these systems will fail and leak harmful wastes to Michigan’s lakes, rivers, streams and drinking water sources.

Clean Water Fund is working with citizens and officials on a Clean Kent County campaign to prevent or reduce the sewage threat to groundwater, streams and lakes. The two-year project—with support from the Frey Foundation, Sebastian Foundation, Grand Rapids Community Foundation and local residents of Grand Rapids targets the estimated 50,000 septic tanks in the county that are believed to pose an environmental risk. As rural development of the county continues, new septic tanks are adding to the number.

In a typical system, raw sewage is sent through plumbing in the home and to a septic tank. There light solids .oat to the top, forming a scum layer, and the heavy solids sink to the bottom, forming sludge. In the tank, organic solids such as food particles and human waste are decomposed by millions of naturally occurring bacteria. The septic tank delivers the partially treated liquids, or effluent, to a soil treatment area. When not pumped out frequently enough, or otherwise poorly maintained, the system can fail, causing either sewage backup into a home or the release of pollutants to nearby waters—or both.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality estimated in 2004 the state’s 1.2 million on-site wastewater systems in Michigan generate 264 million gallons of liquid waste per day. An estimated 10 to 20% of such systems—anywhere from 120,000 to 240,000—are believed to be failing due to inadequate maintenance. In 1990, approximately 28% of Michigan housing units were served by on-site systems. Data now suggest that over 50% of new single-family homes in the state use on-site wastewater systems.

If you live in Kent County and would like more information on how you can help with this program, please contact Clean Water Fund at (616) 742-4084.

Healthy Michigan, Healthy Kids

The Healthy Michigan, Healthy Kids coalition includes health-professional, health-affected, and environmental organizations working together to protect children from toxic chemicals in toys and other children's products.
The coalition was formed because:

• Children are especially vulnerable to exposure to toxic chemicals, and deserve safety measures to protect their developing brains and bodies.
• Our current system for protecting children from toxic chemicals in children's products is inadequate.  Independent reviews of the federal government's system for regulating chemicals have found the system is outdated and fails to protect children's health.
• Michigan can take action where the federal government has failed to protect the health of our children.

The Healthy Michigan, Healthy Kids platform calls for Michigan to follow the lead of other states and countries by taking commonsense steps to protect Michigan's children from toxic chemicals in children's products by: eliminating added lead, mercury and arsenic; giving the public the right to know what other high-priority toxics are in kids' products; and encouraging Green Chemistry and safer product development in Michigan. The coalition has asked all candidates of both parties running for the Michigan House of Representatives to demonstrate their support for protecting kids by signing the Healthy Michigan, Healthy Kids platform.

The Healthy Michigan, Healthy Kids coalition is non-partisan and non-electoral; we do not conduct political endorsements or engage in political campaign work.