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Inspecting, Repairing and Replacing Septic Systems Restores Primary
Contact Recreation Use Support in Selsers Creek
Waterbody ImprON/ed Since at 'east 1998' Se,sers Creek, subsegment 040603, was riot
fully supporting its designated use of primary contact recreation
(PGR) due to high levels of fecal coliform bacteria, It was determined that a possible source of fecal
pollution in Selsers Creek was onsite sewage disposal systems, with an estimate of 3,000 systems
located in Tangipahoa Parish. Onsite disposal system inspections, education and outreach, and the
repair and/or replacement of systems occurred from October 2011 through December 2016, Water
quality improved. As a result, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) identified
Selsers Creek as meeting its PCR use support in 2016.
Problem
The 12-square-mile Selsers Creek watershed supports
primarily forestry, pasture and urban/developed land.
Several areas within the watershed are undergoing
population growth and rapid urban development,
which consequently involves the conversion of agricul-
tural land uses to urban land types (Figure 1).
As early as 1998, LDEQ listed the waterbody on its
Integrated Report (IR) for failing to support PCR use
due to high concentrations of fecal coliform bacte-
ria. PCR standards for fecal coliform concentrations
require that no more than 25 percent of the total
samples collected on a monthly basis (between May
and October) shall exceed a fecal coliform density of
400 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters (cfu/100
mL) of water. Data collected during the PCR period
from May 2001 to September 2011 show that 11 of
27 samples exceeded the criteria for PCR (a 41 percent
exceedance rate, which violated standards).
In October 2011 the Capital Resource Conservation
and Development (RC&D) Council began developing
a watershed implementation plan (WIP) specific to
Selsers Creek. While drafting the WIP, the RC&D par-
ticipated in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation
(LPBF) watershed task force in Tangipahoa Parish,
which helped to identify onsite disposal systems as a
key fecal coliform pollutant source within the Selsers
Creek watershed. Through grab samples and research,
the RC&D confirmed that ailing individual home onsite
disposal systems were a prevalent problem. With
an estimated 889 onsite disposal systems located
Figure 1. Selsers Creek is a rapidly developing
watershed with numerous residential septic systems.
throughout the Selsers Creek watershed, there was
an imminent need for homeowner education on the
importance of proper home sewage system operation
and maintenance, as well as a need to inspect and
repair/repiace failing systems.
PoncHatoula
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Selsers Creek
Subsegment 040603
On-Site Disposal Systems
Selsers Creek
Subsegment
\ Bogalusa
Hammond
V
Tangipahoa Parish
Legend:
® Ambient Monitoring Station
• On-Site Disposal System
C3 Subsegment Boundary

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Selsers Creek PCR fecal coliform exceedance rates, 2001, 2007, 2010/2011,2015
2010/2011
Figure 2. An inspection team discovered sewage
overflowing from an improperly maintained onsite
disposal system in the Selsers Creek watershed.
Project Highlights
The RC&D staff began collecting water quality grab
samples in February 2012 to identify critical areas
within Selsers Creek. The RC&D then began targeting
educational outreach efforts to work with homeown-
ers to identify and repair potential failing onsite dis-
posal systems to reduce fecal coliform concentrations
in Selsers Creek (Figure 2).
Because onsite disposal systems are under the author-
ity of the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), LDEQ
has no regulatory authority in this area; therefore,
cooperation with the local government was critical in
the project's success. In July 2014 an inspector with the
Tangipahoa Parish Department of Health and Hospitals
began going door to door to inspect the operation of
the onsite disposal systems in the area. Inspections in
Selsers Creek concluded in December 2016.
Tangipahoa Parish launched an educational out-
reach program at the same time as the initiation of
the inspection program. The educational outreach
program made the public aware that an inspection
program was in effect and that their property could
be inspected in the near future. The educational
campaign consisted of advertisements in local newspa-
pers and publications, mailing of courtesy letters, and
communicating with homeowners face-to-face. The
program emphasized public health and environmental
protection with respect to nonpoint source pollution
and sewage disposal. In addition, educational materi-
als regarding maintenance, inspection, repair, and
Figure 3. Selsers Creek PCR fecal coliform exceedance
rates declined after the onsite sewage disposal system
management program was initiated in 2014.
replacement of onsite disposal systems were integrat-
ed into information that ali building and construction
permit applicants received.
Between July 2014 and September 2016, 126 onsite
disposal systems were inspected. Of those, 50 were
found to be nonfunctional and were repaired and/
or replaced. This reduced the fecal count by approxi-
mately 304,000 cfu/100 mL in Selsers Creek.
Results
Water quality data collected since the onset of educa-
tion and inspection efforts indicates the waterbody
is meeting the water quality PCR standard for total
fecal coliform. From May 1 through October 31 of
2015, there were five sampling events, of which zero
sampling events exceeded the fecal coliform standard
of 400 cfu/100 mL, resulting in a zero percent exceed-
ance (Figure 3). As a result, LDEQ listed Selsers Creek
as supporting PCR in the state's 2016 IR.
Partners and Funding
Local, federal, state and nongovernmental entities that
aided in the improvement of the Selsers Creek water-
shed include Capital RC&D, LDH, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, LPBF, Tangipahoa Parish and LDEQ's
Nonpoint Source section. Partners used approximately
$119,220 in CWA section 319(h) grant funds (federal
fiscal years 2010 through 2015), and $19,457 match-
ing funds to support watershed restoration efforts in
Selsers Creek.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-18-Q01B
January 2018
For additional information contact:
Crisalda Adams, Manager, LDEQ Nonpoint Source Pollution
Control and Aquifer Evaluation and Protection Section
225-219-3924 • crisalda.adams@la.gov
John Sheehan, LDEQ Environmental Scientist
225-219-3499 • john.sheehan@la.gov

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