(a)        The person who manufactures, installs, repairs, or pumps any septic tank to be installed in this State as a part of a septic tank system that is designed to treat 3,000 gallons per day or less of sewage shall provide an effluent filter approved by the Department pursuant to the requirements of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-335, this section, and rules adopted by the Commission. Any person who manufactures, installs, repairs, or pumps systems described in this section may purchase and install any approved filters on the systems. The person who installs the effluent filter shall install the effluent filter as a part of the septic tank system in accordance with the specifications provided by the manufacturer of the effluent filter. An effluent filter shall:

(1)        Be made of materials that are capable of withstanding the corrosives to which septic tank systems are normally subject.

(2)        Prevent solid material larger than one-sixteenth of an inch, as measured along the shortest axis of the material, from entering the drainfield.

(3)        Be designed and constructed to allow for routine maintenance.

(4)        Be designed and constructed so as not to require maintenance more frequently than once in any three-year period under normally anticipated use.

(b)        The access device required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-335(f) shall provide access to each compartment of a septic tank for inspection and maintenance either by means of an opening in the top of the septic tank or by a riser assembly and shall include an appropriate cover. The access device shall:

(1)        Be of sufficient size to facilitate inspection and service.

(2)        Be designed and constructed to equal or exceed the minimum loading specifications applicable to the septic tank.

(3)        Prevent water entry.

(4)        Come to within six inches of the finished grade.

(5)        Be visibly marked so that the access device can be readily located. (1998-126, s. 2; 2006-255, s. 4; 2006-264, s. 63(a).)