Food waste disposers are installed in more than 60 million homes in the U.S. Most homes are connected to centralized sewage collection and treatment systems, but many use an onsite sewage treatment system, known as a septic system.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates 20% of U.S.¹ homes are on septic systems and 10-20% fail every year.² These failures potentially threaten public health and groundwater quality, so the EPA, local authorities having jurisdiction, and other organizations offer advice to prevent failures. This advice includes cautioning homeowners about using food waste disposers, some suggesting that homeowners eliminate or limit the use of a disposer.³ According to one report, no single organization collects data to evaluate the extent of failures.