The new systems I referred to that hopefully will take the place of a septic tank, actually clean the water before releasing it, where over flow out of a septic tank just goes into the ground, so people with wells could have contamination.

Robert if you keep your septic tank maintained, great, for most do not and thus the problem with them. But during flooding even a septic tank can leak out contiminated water. And doing a better system isn’t punishment but an improvement. If we cling to our established ways thinking any change is bad or punishment we’d still be riding horses.

I know one of the main contaminates in the rivers and bayous in Escambia County/Pensacola was fecal matter, which most was coming from old septic tanks. As to water quality and septic tanks look at some of the issues involved in links:

http://www-csgc.ucsd.edu/NEWSROOM/NEWSRELEASES/2009/CoastalWaterQuality.html

excerpt from NC piece:
“Sewage from the new development poses problems in the form of leaking septic tanks, poorly regulated “package treatment plants” (small unmanned sewage treatment plants that are typically designed to serve one development or business), leaking sewage lines, and poorly operated sewage treatment plants.”
link:
http://www.catawbariverkeeper.org/News/waterqualityfacts

and locally, here’s an old op piece:
http://www.pnj.com/article/99999999/NEWS10/90814013
excerpt:
“Meanwhile, the DEP report states, chemicals in prescription drugs and personal care products like soap, cosmetics, sunscreens, fragrances and over-the-counter medications have already been linked to disruption of the natural sex balance in fish, with more females and fewer males being born. They also cause more fish of “indeterminate sex.”

The real question: What is their impact on human reproduction?

And the most common source of these chemicals in the environment? Wastewater discharges (including septic tanks), sewage sludge and animal manure applied to land, and contaminated water leaking from old landfills. “