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Raw Sewage Plagues Alabama's Black Belt
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LOWNDES COUNTY, AL – JULY 10, 2017: Perman Hardy, 58, sits in the living room of her home that was construction in 1989 with a below ground septic tank. Hardy, a former home health nurse, has had trouble with her septic tank backing up into the house since her first year in the home, and says she’s just learned to live with it. “The first time it happened, we had to leave the house for two weeks because [sewage] was everywhere. It was in every room in the house."
A recent study conducted by Baylor University suggests that nearly one 1 in 3 people in Lowndes County have hookworm, a parasite normally found in poor, developing countries. Below ground septic tanks are common in Lowndes, but due to the chalky clay soil throughout much of the Black Belt, septic tanks are prone to backing up into people’s homes during heavy rains. With failing or absent municipal sewage systems in the county, many families choose to live with open, above ground sewer systems made from PVC pipe, which pump raw sewage into nearby streams or open land.
A recent study conducted by Baylor University suggests that nearly one 1 in 3 people in Lowndes County have hookworm, a parasite normally found in poor, developing countries. Below ground septic tanks are common in Lowndes, but due to the chalky clay soil throughout much of the Black Belt, septic tanks are prone to backing up into people’s homes during heavy rains. With failing or absent municipal sewage systems in the county, many families choose to live with open, above ground sewer systems made from PVC pipe, which pump raw sewage into nearby streams or open land.
![LOWNDES COUNTY, AL – JULY 10, 2017: Perman Hardy, 58, sits in the living room of her home that was construction in 1989 with a below ground septic tank. Hardy, a former home health nurse, has had trouble with her septic tank backing up into the house since her first year in the home, and says she’s just learned to live with it. “The first time it happened, we had to leave the house for two weeks because [sewage] was everywhere. It was in every room in the house."<br />
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A recent study conducted by Baylor University suggests that nearly one 1 in 3 people in Lowndes County have hookworm, a parasite normally found in poor, developing countries. Below ground septic tanks are common in Lowndes, but due to the chalky clay soil throughout much of the Black Belt, septic tanks are prone to backing up into people’s homes during heavy rains. With failing or absent municipal sewage systems in the county, many families choose to live with open, above ground sewer systems made from PVC pipe, which pump raw sewage into nearby streams or open land.](https://archive.bobmiller.works/img-get2/I00009iRtE3eXD4U/fit=1000x750/g=G0000N8TzxEn6St4/170710-HOOKWORM-BobMiller-0236.jpg)
