Before Joan Pendexter replaced her septic system at her Scarborough home three years ago, she used to have to do her laundry according to the weather.

“It was bubbling up in the back yard and coming into the basement,” Pendexter said of the sewage. “You can’t live like that.”

In the Heritage Acres subdivision, located off Payne Road in Scarborough, many people are still living with failing septic systems. According to Gary Lorfano of the Scarborough Sanitary District, small lot sizes, a high water table and poor soils have caused the septic system problems for Pendexter and her neighbors.

For more than a decade, the town has talked about extending the sewerage system on Haigis Parkway and hooking up to the neighborhood of some 60 homes. On Wednesday, Town Manager Ron Owens was scheduled to present the town council with a proposal to put that plan in place.

According to Owens, the town has been working with the Scarborough Sanitary District on the proposal. The extension is projected to cost about $2 million and the cost would be split up among the town (60 percent), the sanitary district (30 percent) and the residents (10 percent). Owens said the 10 percent portion spread out across the residents would translate to about $3,000 per home.

However, some residents, like Pendexter, have already spent more than$10,000 to replace their septic systems.

“I don’t know whether we’ll do it or not,” Pendexter said, of hooking up to the sewerage system. Still, she said, it’s an essential improvement for the neighborhood.

“On any given day, you can smell certain odors,” said Pendexter. “I think for health reasons it’s absolutely necessary.”

Council chairman Jeff Messer said that around 1990, before he moved to Scarborough, the sewer line was extended to the Green Acres neighborhood – a project that cost about $13 million and about $2,000 per home and was supported by the council. Messer said given the support of this similar project and what he has heard in previous discussions with the council, he expected the council to support the Heritage Acres extension, as well.

Though no formal vote was scheduled to be made on Wednesday, the council’s support of the project would move the process forward. Lorfano said the next step would be to hold a neighborhood meeting.

“They need to be in support of this, too,” Lorfano said of the residents.

Lorfano said a sewer survey completed in 2004 found a lot of failing systems in town, which, he said, was “no surprise.” However, Lorfano said, this neighborhood was by far the worst.

According to Owens, in the past, the sanitary district has not been involved in helping to pay for projects like this. Lorfano said due to the number of homes that would be using the system, the district expects to return the investment within 20 years. Owens called the collaboration a “good partnership.”