The Antis Township supervisors at a recent meeting postponed action on a proposal to red-tag a property on Lower Riggles Gap Road for a septic system malfunction, after the local sewage enforcement officer explained to the resident what needs done to correct the problem.

Resident Jensen Schleich has attempted to deal with the issue by cutting off the pipes to his discharge field and converting his septic tank to a holding tank, which can be pumped out, but that’s not an acceptable fix — and gray water discharge to a nearby stream has shown it isn’t working, according to Luke Helsel, sewage enforcement officer for the Blair County Sanitary Administrative Committee, and Shawn Wolfe, the township’s code officer.

Schleich has already applied for a septic permit, which is fine, but before he can get a permit to install a potential new system, he’ll need to have his soil tested for percolation capacity, then get an appropriate new system designed and installed, Helsel said.

With the recent easing of freezing weather, Schleich can call Helsel’s office to set up a testing time, provided he has a backhoe ready, Helsel said.

A septic tank designed to allow liquids to flow out into a drainfield for percolation through soil is not the same as a holding tank — which does not allow any outflow, and which needs to be pumped frequently to remove both liquids and solids, Helsel said.

The supervisors will reconsider whether to impose a red tag in April, based on whether they see “significant progress.”