MIDDLETOWN, Ohio—Loretta Armstrong is fed up.

• Homeowners across the state are being forced to foot the bill to change sewer lines
• Contractors estimate going from septic to city sewer lines could cost over $10,000
• The health commissioner says homeowners could face legal action if they don’t make the change

“I just don’t think it’s right,” Armstrong said.

Because the next time she flushes the toilet, it could cost her thousands.

“I just don’t know where I’ll get the money,” said Armstrong.

And it’s all because of what’s in her backyard.

The wastewater from her house is being filtered through the underground septic tank.

“I never had any problems with it until we got that letter,” said Armstrong.

The letter is from the Middletown Health Department, saying she’ll have to change her entire sewer hook up. 

It says she could no longer use a septic tank. Instead, the sewer piping has to be hooked up through the city’s sewer lines —a job some contractors estimate could cost between $4,000 and $10,000 dollars plus.

And it’s the homeowner who will have to foot the bill.

“If you don’t have it, and it’s not no problem with your septic, I don’t feel like it’s right to be forced to go to the sewer line,” said Armstrong.

It’s the reason she’s protesting the change with a sign right in her front yard. 

And she’s not alone.

The health department says there are at least 14 homeowners who still haven’t had the work done. 

But Jackie Phillips, Middletown’s health commissioner, says they could be facing legal action because of a little-known law that went into effect almost a decade ago. 

“Households that were in close proximity, 200 feet or less, must connect, and we sent that out to all homeowners,” said Phillips.

She says they sent notice in 2011 and just recently, health departments across the state started trying to enforce it again. 

“Sometimes things get put on the back burner, and so we’re just tying up all those loose ends… that still is the law and we’re just going forward and enforcing it, so they had, in a sense, multiple years to get this done… we just picked it back up and said let’s go on and finish what we started,” said Phillips.

And she says there’s another reason why they’re trying to get more homeowners on the city’s sewer system.

And that reason involves public health. 

“It may be hard to see if something is failing, and we just want to prevent any kind of fecal oral diseases,” said Phillips.

But Loretta Armstrong is not buying it, literally. 

She says she’s staying on her septic now, so it won’t cost her thousands later to flush.

“If you don’t have it, you don’t have it,” said Armstrong.