Exempting Surface Discharge

The July Wisconsin Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association newsletter details members’ efforts to stop legislation to offset the cost of replacing failed systems and maintenance by allowing surface discharge and permitting residents to decide when to pump their septic tanks.

Legislators also bowed to pressure from individuals not wanting to pay for pumping and inspections. They pushed to repeal the mandatory six-hour maintenance class to care for their systems or have the state pay for it. “One resident said that he doesn’t have to look in his septic tank to determine whether it needs pumping because he found a chart online telling how often to pump a tank based on size and number of occupants,” says Todd Stair, WOWRA president.

Rep. Jerry Petrowski will re-introduce the bill when the legislature reconvenes. “Once people become ill from surface discharge pathogens, headlines across the country will scream about the dangers of onsite systems,” says Stair. “Every industry professional must fight such dangerous and misguided legislation.”

 

Septic System Workshop

The Greene County (Ind.) Soil and Water Conservation District developed a six-hour Septic Workshop for homeowners, buyers, real estate agents, housing inspectors, loan officers and appraisers. The first workshop featured Debbie Barnhizer of the state Department of Health discussing matching onsite systems to the situation and Alan Dunn, residential sewage disposal program director for the department, explaining operating permits. The final class covered how to close a sale on properties with failing systems.

 

Alberta Strategies

The Alberta Onsite Wastewater Management Association developed an enforcement framework that identifies systems not built to code and applies corrective action. Finalization of the details was expected by late summer. The association also submitted to Municipal Affairs a revised proposal that included an extra review day added to the six-day training program, and requiring soils field classes for certification. Since some provincial permit applications are too lengthy to be practical, AOWMA designed new forms and asked an installer, inspector, and municipality to rate their effectiveness. The form they chose became the standard.

 

Community AidSpurs Education

The Iowa Onsite Waste Water Association worked with Heartland Hills Habitat for Humanity to bring onsite technology to a home on an abandoned naval base near Waverly. Doug Bird, public health sanitarian for Bremer County and IOWWA board member, coordinated the project and used it as an advanced treatment training session.

More than 30 installers and sanitarians learned about the AP-500 Set-N-Go aerobic treatment unit. Hydro-Action Industries donated the ATU and 300-gallon pump tank. Midwest Pipe Supply, Mid Country Machinery, and Advanced Drainage Systems supplied other major components. Equipment and labor were donated by Crystal Heating and Plumbing, Deike Excavating, Municipal Supply, River to River Onsite Septic Solutions, Wikner Trucking and Toby’s Dirt Work.

 

Beavers Threaten Onsite System

A beaver dam in a 48-inch culvert in Southborough, Mass., caused floodwaters to back up and threaten a resident’s onsite system. The low-lying area usually floods at least once a year even when the culvert is clear. Workers from the Department of Public Works inserted three pipes to restore flow until the Board of Health approved a 10-day emergency trapping permit. The state banned beaver trapping in 1996.

 

Calendar of Events

Oct. 11-12

Delaware On-Site Wastewater Recycling Association Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, Dover. Call Ben Miller at 302/383-5391 or visit www.dowra.org.

 

Oct. 11–12

Delaware Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association 15th Annual DOWRA Conference and Exhibition, Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, Dover. Exhibitors, presenters and attendees may download the registration form from the website, www.dowra.org, or contact Ken Walsh at 302/436-8822.

 

Oct. 27

Maryland Onsite Wastewater Professionals Association, conference on Onsite Systems -- Perspectives on Nitrogen Impacts to the Chesapeake Bay, Best Western Travel Plaza, Baltimore. Presenters will offer views on onsite system nitrogen discharges in relation to population growth in Maryland. Manufacturer exhibits will be available. The conference serves as the Annual Meeting and members may propose and vote on new board members. Call 410/633-9500.

 

Training & Education

Alabama

Licensing classes are the joint effort of the Alabama Onsite Wastewater Association (AOWA) and University of West Alabama (UWA). Courses are at UWA Livingston campus:

• Nov. 16-18 – Advanced Installer II

• Dec. 1-2 – Continuing Education

The first day of Continuing Education classes is for installers and the second day is for pumpers and portable restroom operators. Call the training center at 205/652-3803 or visit www.aowatc.uwa.edu.

 

Arizona

The Arizona Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association in sponsorship with the University of Arizona Onsite Wastewater Education Program has an Advanced Soil and Site Evaluation class on Nov. 2-3 in Payson. Call Kitt Farrell-Poe at 520/621-7221, email kittfp@ag.arizona.edu, or visit www.ag.arizona.edu/waterquality/onsite.

 

California

The California Onsite Wastewater Association is offering these NAWT classes:

• Nov. 1-2 – NAWT Operation and Maintenance, Part 2, Mill Valley

• Dec. 9 – NAWT Installer Training, Citrus Heights

Call Kit Rosefield at 530/513-6658 or visit www.cowa.org.

 

Georgia

The University of Georgia College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences has these courses:

• Nov. 2 – Onsite Wastewater Management, Fulton

• Nov. 8 – Contractors and Pumpers, Fulton

• Nov. 15 – Contractors and Pumpers, Brunswick

• Nov. 16 – Contractors and Pumpers, Brunswick

Contact the Continuing Education Center at 770/229-3477 or conteduc@uga.edu.

 

Iowa

The Iowa Onsite Waste water Association has the Basic and Advanced CIOWTS Installer Pretest Nov. 11-12 in Prairie City. Contact Alice Vinsand at 515/225-1051, execdir@iowwa.com, or visit www.iowwa.com.

 

Minnesota

The University of Minnesota Water Resources Center has these classes:

• Nov. 30-Dec. 1 – General Continuing Education, St. Cloud

• Dec. 7-8 – Installer, Continuing Education, Brainerd

• Dec. 8 – Pipelayer Certification, Brainerd

• Dec. 13-14 – General Continuing Education, Mankato

Call Nick Haig at 800/322-8642 or visit www.septic.umn.edu.

 

Missouri

The Missouri Smallflows Organization has these CEU courses:

• Nov. 9 – Pumps, Panels, and Electrical, Cape Girardeau

• Nov. 10 – Earthen Structures, Cape Girardeau

• Nov. 15 – Selling Systems, Branson

• Nov. 16 – Aerated Treatment Units, Branson

• Dec. 6-7 – Operations and Maintenance, St. Louis

• Dec. 12 – Drip Irrigation, Springfield

• Dec. 13 – Pumps, Panels, and Electrical, Springfield

Call Tammy Yelden at 417/739-4100 or visit www.mosmallflows.org.

 

Nebraska

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension has these state-approved courses:

• Nov. 17 – Planning and Sizing a System, Mead

• Nov. 18 – Operation and Maintenance, Mead

• Dec. 8 – Planning and Sizing a System, Omaha

• Dec. 9 – Operation and Maintenance, Omaha

Call the extension at 402/472-9390 or visit www.deq.state.ne.us/WasteWat.nsf/pages/OnsitePDH.

 

New England

The New England Onsite Wastewater Training Center at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston has these courses:

• Nov. 3 – Rhode Island Designer Examination Prep

• Nov. 9 – AutoCALCS - Automated Support Materials for Pump Timers, Tanks, Chambers, BSF Sizing & Buoyancy Calculations

• Nov. 17 – Identifying and Managing High-Strength Wastewater

• Dec. 1 – Rhode Island Regulatory Setbacks and Buffers

• Dec. 8 – Nitrogen in the Environment and Onsite Systems

• Dec. 15 – Designing Nitrogen Removal Technologies

Call 401/874-5950 or visit www.uri.edu/ce/wq. For soil courses, call Mark Stolt at 401/874-2915 or email mstolt@uri.edu.

 

North Carolina

North Carolina State University has these courses:

• Nov.1 – Profiling Soils, Morganton

• Nov. 3 – Water Movement and Treatment Through Soils, Morganton

• Nov. 14 – Basic System Troubleshooting, Mills River

• Nov. 15 – Pump System Field Course: Advanced Monitoring and Troubleshooting, Mills River

• Nov. 30 – Advanced Troubleshooting of Onsite System Malfunctions, Raleigh

• Dec. 6 – Inspector Field Practicum, Manteo

• Dec. 7 – Basic System Troubleshooting, Manteo

• Dec. 8 – Inspector Field Practicum, Raleigh

• Dec. 14 – Flow Equalization and Timed Dosing, Raleigh

• Dec. 15 – Pump System Design, Raleigh

• Dec. 16 – Advanced Design Lab, Raleigh

Call Joni Tanner at 919/513-1678 or visit www.soil.ncsu.edu/training.

The North Carolina Pumper Group and Portable Toilet Group are holding the four-hour septage management training and three-hour land application seminar on Dec. 10 in Raleigh. Call Joe McClees at 252/249-1097 or visit www.ncpumpergroup.org or www.ncportabletoiletgroup.org.