Additional Resources

Septic Tank Resources 

• Septic Tanks/ Sanitary Sewer System

• How Your Septic System Works

• House Septic System Installation

• South Florida's Septic Story

Historical Resources

• FWQA Conference, 1970

• Pollution of the Water of Dade County (FWQA, 1970)

• Historical News

  • The Miami News, “Plans, Plans and Plans But Not a Sewer Yet!” (Williams, 1953)

  • The Miami Herald, “Sewering Metro’s Biggest Challenge” (Archbold, 1967)

  • The Miami Herald, “No Sewers, No Buildings, Hialeah Told” (Greene, 1965)

  • The Miami News, “Knee-deep in sewage; no end in sight” (Williams, 1970) - Part 1

  • The Miami News, “Knee-deep in sewage; no end in sight” (Williams, 1970) - Part 2

  • The Miami Herald, “The piper tells Dade: ‘Pay!” (1993) - Editorial

  • The Miami Herald, “Florida called ‘Polluted Paradise’: Wylie Hits Sewage Disposal” (Trumbell, 1949)

  • The Miami Herald, “Sewers: Why Dade Must Spend $1 Billion Just to Catch Up” (Toner, 1970)

  • The Miami Herald, “Official Warns Community - Big Tax Outlay Seen for Sewage: The Cost Could Top a Billion” (Archbold, 1967)

  • Clipping  Part I - The Miami Herald, Federal Water Quality Conference (1970)

  • Clipping  Part II - The Miami Herald, Federal Water Quality Conference, “Dade Given Three-Year Timetable to End Pollution of Water” (1970)

  • Look Magazine, “Florida Polluted Paradise” (Wylie, 1949)

  • The Miami Herald, “Moratorium Asked on Septic Tanks” (Bax,  1970)

  • The Miami News, “More septics could cost metro up to $80 million” (Lucoff, 1971)

  • Part I - The Miami Herald, “Catastrophic Pollution Facing Florida?” (Mansfield, 1970)

Scientific Resources

• Ayres Association. (1989). Performance Monitoring and Ground Water Quality Impacts of OSDSs in Subdivision Developments. Tallahassee: Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

• Badruzzaman, M., Pinzon, J., Oppenheimer, J., & Jacangelo, J. G. (2012). Sources of nutrients impacting surface waters in Florida: A review. Journal of Environmental Management, 90-92.

• Barreras Jr, H., Kelly, E. A., Kumar, N., & Solo-Gabriele, H. M. (2019). Assessment of local and regional strategies to control bacteria levels at beaches with consideration of impacts from climate change. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 11.

• Beta Analytic Preliminary Report to Miami Waterkeeper, 2020. Isotopic Tracers for N Pollution in Biscayne Bay Water and Sediments. 

• Bicki, T. J., Brown, R. B., Collins, M. E., Mansell, R. S., Rothwell, D. F., Soil Science Department, . . . University of Florida. (1984). Impact of On-site Sewage Disposal Systems on Surface and Ground Water Quality. Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

• Boyer, N. J., & Caccia, V. G. (2007). A nutrient loading budget for Biscayne Bay, Florida. Marine Pollution Bulletin 54, 994-1008.

• Briggs, M.S., G. M., Roeder, Ph.D., P.E., E., & Ursin, E. (2007). Nitrogen Impact of Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems in the Wekiva Study Area. Florida Department of Health (FDOH).

• Chin, D. A., & F .ASCE. (2020). Source Identification of Nutrient Impairment North Biscayne Bay, Florida, USA. Journal of Environmental Engineering / Volume 146 Issue 9, 1-11.

• Environmental Protection Agency Region IV. (1973). Final Environmental Impact Statement: North Dade County Regional Collection, Treatment and Disposal System. Atlanta: Environmental Protection Agency.

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2018). Septic Systems overview.

• Greely & Hansen. (1973). Water quality management plan for Metropolitan Dade County.

• Havens KE 2003. Phosphorus–Algal Bloom Relationships in Large Lakes of South Florida: Implications for Establishing Nutrient Criteria. Lake and Reservoir Management,19:3, 222-228

• Havens, K. E., & Walker Jr., W. W. (2002). Development of a Total Phosphorus Concentration Goal in the TMDL Process for Lake Okeechobee, Florida (USA). Lake and Reservoir Management, 227-238.

• Hain, K.E., and R.T. Obrien. 1979. The survival of enteric viruses in Septic tanks and septic tank drainfields. Water Resources Res. Inst. Rept. No. 108, New Mexico Water Resources Res. Inst., New Mexico State Univ., las Cruces, New Mexico. 

• Heisler, J., Gilbert, P., Burkholder, J., Anderson, D., Cochlan, W., Dennison, W., . . . Suddleson, M. (2008, August 1). Eutrophication and harmful algal blooms: A scientific consensus. Harmful Algae(8), 3-13.

• Katz BG, Griffin DW, McMahon PB, Harden HS, Wade E , Hicks RW, Chanton JP, 2010. Fate of effluent-borne contaminants beneath septic tank drainfield overlying a karst aquifer. J. Environ. Qual. 39. 1181–1195

• Kelly, E., Gidley, M., Sinigalliano, C., Kumar, N., & Solo-Gabriele, H. (2020). Impact of Wastewater Infrastructure Improvements on Beach Water Fecal Indicator Bacteria Levels in Monroe County, Florida (Journal Pre-Proof). Science of the Total Environment, 50.

• Lapointe, BE O’Connell, JD Garrett, GS 1990.Nutrient couplings between onsite sewage disposal systems, groundwaters, and nearshore surface waters of the Florida Keys. Biogeochemistry 10, 289–307

• Lapointe, BE. Krupa, S. 1995a. Jupiter Creek septic tank/water quality investigation. Final Report Loxahatchee River Environmental Control District, Jupiter, FL 96 pp

• Lapointe BE, Herren LW, Paule AL 2017. Septic systems contribute to nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms in the St. Lucie Estuary, Southeast Florida, USA. Harmful Algae 70 1–22 

• Miami-Dade County Environmental Quality Control Board (EQCB). (2018). Order No. 18-22. Miami-Dade County Code. Chapters 24, 32

• Miami-Dade County RER, WASD, DOH 2018. Septic Systems Vulnerable to Sea Level Rise, Final Report in Support of Resolution No. R-911-16.

• Miami-Dade County, Directive No. 171537 (2019). Report on the Findings of the County’s Study on the Decline of Seagrass and Hardbottom Habitat in Biscayne Bay. 

• Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department 2020. WASD Sanitary Sewer System Performance and Asset Management. Presentation to Biscayne Bay Task Force.  

• Otis, P.E., R., Anderson, P.E., D. L., & Apfel, CPSS, R. A. (1993). An Evaluation of Current Onsite Sewage Disposal System (OSDS) Practices in Florida. Tampa: State of Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

• Paerl HW, Hall NS, Calandrino ES. 2011. Controlling harmful cyanobacterial blooms in a world experiencing anthropogenic and climatic-induced change, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 409, Issue 10, Pages 1739-1745, ISSN 0048-9697

• Reay, W.G., 2006. Septic tank impacts on ground water quality and nearshore sediment nutrient flux. Ground Water 42 (7). 1079–1089. 

• State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). (2017). Revised Verified List of Impaired Waters for Group 4 Basins. FDEP.

• Swart, P. K. et al. (2013). Applied Geochemistry, 38, 134-146.

• U.S. Department of the Interior. (1849). Resource and Land Information for South Dade County Florida. United States Department of the Interior.

• United States Department of the Interior, Federal Water Quality Administration (FWQA) (1970) Pollution of the Waters of Dade County, Florida.

• US Department of Interior (DOI). (1975). Ground-water quality in selected areas serviced by septic tanks, Dade County, Florida, geological survey. Open-file report 75-607.

• United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2013). Decentralized Wastewater Management Program Highlights. Decentralized Wastewater Program. EPA.

• USGS 1990. Groundwater Atlas of the United States Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina HA 730-G  

• Viraraghavan, T. 1978. Travel of microorganisms from a septic tile. Water, Air, and Soil Poll. 9:355-362

• Walsh P.G., Ph.D., V. (2019, July 15). Septic Systems Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise: Water Quality Analysis - Ongoing Efforts. Miami, FL, USA.

• Report on Development and Implementation of an Annual Report Card Program on the Health of Biscayne Bay

• 2020 Plan of Action Report - A Risk-Based Approach to Septic Systems Vulnerable to Sea Level Rise

• Scientific Support for Septic to Sewer Conversion