Field trips are always a highlight of the annual NOWRA conference. This year's 19th Annual Technical Education Conference, Oct. 25-28 in St. Louis, includes a field trip on Thursday, Oct. 28, focusing on alternative systems in tough soils.
The field trip will tie in with alternative system discussions held during technical sessions at the conference. The field trip is a separate event that requires a ticket costing $75 for NOWRA members and Partnering Organizations, $100 for those who sign up by October 18, and $125 for those who sign up thereafter.
The bus tour will depart at 8:30 a.m. and proceed to a site in Avondale where the developer of a portion of a subdivision stripped off about two feet of good soil, leaving the poorer soils where the onsite wastewater systems had to be constructed. Two systems will be on display here. One features a Norweco tank with two-compartment pump tank followed by a sand filter bed and low-pressure-pipe drainfield. The other includes a BioMicrobics Tank with a distribution box and 600 feet of 10-inch gravelless pipe drainfield.
A third site serves a small house and pole barn. The soil profile on the lot showed 4b soils from the surface to below 60 inches. This system includes a BioMicrobics tank with a distribution box and 500 feet of drainfield. A fourth system serves a home with a Jet Class 1 Tank and a Wisconsin mound.
The final site is in Defiance at a popular bar that offers live music on weekends and sits on a very small lot. The system uses two 1,000-gallon septic tanks with a 3,000-gallon time-dosed pump tank. Wastewater is pumped to a peat system at 15 gallons every 15 minutes. The peat system rests on a small rock pit about 6-8 feet deep. The design assumes that during the week, the system will be pumped down enough so that when there is a band on the weekend, there is plenty of holding capacity.
The last stop on the trip will be at the Sugar Creek Winery, where participants can sample some of the area wine and discuss what they have seen. Find out more or register for the trip at www.nowra.org.
