ISSUE 8: Are waste treatment lagoons the same as cess pools ?
RESPONSE: NO. Waste treatment lagoons are engineered structures used by livestock farms and municipalities to receive manure, sewage, or wastewater for biological treatment by beneficial bacteria. Lagoons built during the 1990s are lined to minimize leakage and protect groundwater. Treated liquids and biosolids are pumped from the lagoon and applied as organic fertilizer to field crops and forages. Cess pools are deep holes dug in the ground to receive drainage or sewage from a residence and infiltrate the untreated liquids into the soil. They were used primarily by single-family households for waste disposal before the technology of septic tanks and drainfield trenches was implemented.
