Do Septic Systems Recharge Groundwater?
Because homes with septic system put their water back into the ground, does that cancel the amount of water those homes draw from their wells? Dr. William Anderson, a hydrologist and assistant professor at Appalachian, said, “No, it does not. Most residences that use well water draw their water from fairly deep fracture zones (300 to 500 feet in depth). The groundwater moving through those deep fractures is on a temporally long travel path and will not discharge to adjacent streams for many years (decades to centuries, perhaps a bit more or less). So, removing water from those deep regions lowers the amount of energy (water levels) in those fractures. Septic systems take this deep water and place it near the surface into a much shorter travel path. Thus, it is not that septic cancels out pumping. Rather, the transfer of water from deep fractures to septic short circuits the natural hydrogeologic system and shortens the residence time of the water in the system.” Watauga County Well Mon
