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Over the course of the last 50 years, many summer homes had become permanent residences. Originally each home (235 homes) had a septic tank or cess pool and leach field which allowed high levels of fecal coliform and nitrogen to percolate through the soil and enter the lakes, causing serious health hazards during the summer months.

The groundwater is relatively high (<2 feet below ground surface).While the leach fields drain well, they also discharge filtered effluent into the ground water which subsequently enters the lakes.

• Summer residents are swimming in contaminated water.
• Project was the first region in a County wide regional system relying on decentralized treatment facilities.
• Capital and Operating Costs dictated a passive treatment system using little energy and no equipment.
• Housing density is low. Most of the homes were built in clusters with homes built only on one side of the lake perimeter road.

SOLUTION - In 1992, the County began to actively pursue the construction of a regional treatment system but based on a study prepared by Ball State University, began to look at decentralized treatment systems using constructed wetlands. Based on a subsequent engineering feasibility study prepared in conjunction with Southwest Wetlands Group, the County elected to build the following at Fish Royer:

• Small diameter collection system using grinder pumps (by others).
• Anaerobic Pretreatment Tanks.
• Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands.
• Dosed Sand Filters, discharge to the stream

OPERATING HISTORY - This system has been in operation since 1994, and has met the BOD and SS conditions of the permit during the peak summer months. In fact this system has survived the illegal dumping of septage during the winter months by a local septic tank pumper who has been dumping an approximate 12,000 to 18,000 gallons a month into the system.