By the Numbers: Septic Replacement Loan Program helping Michigan homeowners with the high cost of repairing or replacing failing systems

Next week marks the second anniversary of the Septic Replacement Loan Program (SRLP), a partnership between the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and Michigan Saves, the nation’s first nonprofit green bank.

The program provides low-interest loans to help Michigan homeowners with the high costs of repairing or replacing failing septic systems.

In Michigan, more than 1.3 million septic systems, also known as onsite wastewater treatment systems, treat wastewater from toilets, sinks, washing machines, showers, and more from homes, businesses, and small communities, before returning it to the environment.

Since the program’s inception, 372 projects were approved, totaling $6,285,964. The result was 47,523 gallons of sewage receiving proper treatment annually before reentering the environment.

Tier 1 (income qualified) loans totaled 111. Tier 2 (market-based loans) totaled 225.

To make the program more accessible to Michigan homeowners, Tier 1 eligibility was adjusted from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level, notes Anne Mitchell, manager of the SRLP at EGLE.  With the change, more middle-income households will qualify for tier one loans with fixed interest rates of 1%. For example, a family of four with an annual gross income of $99,000 will be eligible for a Tier 1 loan through the SRLP.

There are now 191 authorized contractors part of the program.

For more information on the program, check out the SRLP website. For more background information on failing septic systems in Michigan, check out the Throwing a lifeline to fix failing septic systems MI Environment article from the 2024 State of the Great Lakes report.