Kornell R. “Trapper” Davis is responsible for the operation of more than 1,000 advanced onsite treatment systems. And yet his company, Coastal Plains Environ-mental Group in New Kent, Va., has never installed a single system.
Davis is a self-labeled “reformed regulator” who left that side of the industry. In 2001, with his wife, Anna, they formed Coastal Plains.
“I saw an opportunity to fill a niche market that would be in high demand and which, for now, is not too crowded,” he says. From their office about 20 miles east of Rich-mond, Coastal Plains Environmental Group technicians service systems across about half the Common-wealth of Virginia. “A technician is usually less than three hours away from any customer,” Davis says.
The company services systems from Annapolis, Md., on the north and into North Carolina to the south. Some systems are in the Blue Ridge corridor to the west. To overcome the challenges of time and distance, each technician is assigned a company service vehicle and drives it home every night.
Management mandate
Today, Virginia does not mandate onsite system management, yet all of Davis’ customers have chosen to manage their systems. That will change on July 1, 2009, when a management mandate goes into effect for all alternate-technology systems. Traditional box-and-rocks systems will be exempt.
Davis compliments his customers for being ahead of the compliance and knowledge curves. “First, they have recognized the need to protect their onsite system investment and extend its usable life,” he says. “Second, they have acted voluntarily.”
It was easy for Davis to anticipate the demand for his services. As a regulator, and later as a service provider, he lobbied the state legislature for about seven years before it created the management mandate. Similar requirements are being established across the nation, creating entrepreneurial opportunities.
Davis describes his service menu as maintenance, operation and management (MOM for short). The work covers manufacturer-specified actions — such as filter cleaning or replacement, component inspections, and chemical replacement — that are required at set intervals.
It also includes surveillance and data storage. System control panels measure and record pump cycles and run time which, in turn, relate to daily flows. Owner-supplied information includes the population served and the structure’s maximum occupancy.
Knowing the patterns
Operation starts with the user and continues with Davis and his crews. “Operation is far more than the system user flushing a toilet,” Davis says. In the operation arena, water use patterns are addressed to ensure that the onsite system performs as designed. Different families and cultures have different usage patterns.
“Those patterns are neither good nor bad — they are what they are,” Davis says. “Part of our job is to recognize them. Then, using education and, to a lesser extent, system tweaking, we work to bring actual flow into the system as close to the manufacturer’s expectations as possible.”
Davis describes an aerobic treat-ment unit that was specified in the system design and installed to serve a four-bedroom house. “When only two elderly people lived in the house, the treatment device did not receive sufficient food to preserve the biological or chemical environments needed to perform as intended,” Davis says. He calls that condition “underload.”
On the other hand, systems serving restaurants or similar commercial establishments typically experience overload. Each situation brings its own challenges, some “further complicated by seasonal variations or special events: Thanks-giving weekend, daughter’s wedding, graduation, grandparents’ 50th anniversary party.
It may be impossible to adjust the onsite technology for such shock loadings. A well-proven work-around is a rented portable toilet or two. Davis tells customers: “Monitoring and operation are inseparable.”
Critical communication
Customer briefings and education are essential, but communication does not stop there. “I want the system to contact me when it encounters atypical conditions,” Davis says. Davis specifies telephony and telemetry upgrades that on all system designs he prepares or colla-borates on. “Communication with systems must be a two-way process to be effective,” he says.
This two-way communication allows Davis or his crew to interact with and adjust a system’s operations from any place where there is a telephone line for Internet service. “Telephony tells us when there is a problem,” he says. “Telemetry enables us to address the issue as if we were standing on the site.” Equipping a system with telephony adds about $650 in hardware. Adding telemetry can double the communication hardware cost, but it also cuts response time and miles traveled.
Davis also wants to see a remote county-level data storage and management tool put into use. When a county specifies a single data repository, it makes consistent information available to all who rely on that data. Regulators can see data for all systems in their jurisdictions, while service providers can only see their own customers’ data. Davis espouses common data management for all Virginia counties. “Such a system would enable statewide data compilation and, more important, analysis,” he says.
Annual contracts
Coastal Plains’ MOM contracts are priced using a sliding scale. “The system’s components and their corresponding maintenance intensities are factored into the pricing structure,” Davis says. “Every manufacturer’s cleaning, inspection and service interval is covered, as well as 24/7/365 emergency response.”
Customers also receive a five-year warranty on all pumps, panels, level sensing devices, switches and mechanicals. In effect, Coastal Plains becomes the manufacturer’s agent, assuring prompt service and a hassle-free transaction for the homeowner. The initial price is locked in through a five-year contract. Service fees do not include treatment tank cleaning. Insistence on telephony and telemetry at the front end enable Davis to control his costs and keep contract prices stable.
Makers of a dozen technologies recognize Coastal Plains as a factory- authorized service provider. These include American Manufacturing Company Inc., Bio-Microbics Inc., Bord na Mona, Clearstream Waste-water Systems Inc., Eco-Pure Waste Water Systems, E-Z SET Co., Geoflow Subsurface Drip Systems, Hoot Systems Inc., Norweco, Orenco Systems Inc., Pentair/Delta Environ-mental Products, and Waterloo Biofilter Systems Inc.
This diversity of technologies provides breadth to the skills Coastal Plains offers its customers. Davis also acts as the technology trainer for some equipment manufacturers.
Focused on MOM
Davis’ wife supported his career switch. Today, she is the office manager, account manager, official timekeeper, secretary, financial administrator, and more. “I may know how to evaluate sites and design, install and maintain treatment systems, but she keeps the office functioning,” Davis says.
He has avoided or walked away from some aspects of the business. Davis reserves soil evaluation and design work to system repair projects. “While we are trained and qualified to inspect existing systems under Virginia law, we have purposefully chosen not to be included on any list of approved inspectors,” he says. “We want to stay focused on the main mission of MOM.”
Coastal Plains’ service technicians cover about half of the Common-wealth. Daryl Jones, Jamal Jones and Brandon McDowell are each supported by a fully equipped vehicle that carries a complete inventory of diagnostic tools and the most commonly needed repair parts.
“The telemetry is important in the dispatch side of our work,” Davis says. “It gives the technician an indication of the parts that may be needed before they ever leave to service the alarmed system.”
Growth opportunities are every-where. It is estimated that in Virginia in 2007 there were 15 companies dedicated to MOM, and more than 6,500 alternative treatment systems installed. Coastal Plains is one of the largest MOM providers, and in 2007 wrote contracts for about 4.5 percent of those systems.
“The largest majority of alternative treatment systems that are being installed are not being professionally maintained,” Davis says. “They do not have a dedicated and knowledgeable service entity looking after them.”
In demand
Davis’ work and the reputation he has built have earned him a position of influence in the industry and beyond. Locally, Coastal Plains belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and Better Business Bureau.
Inside the industry, Davis is part of the leadership of the Virginia Onsite Wastewater Recycling Associ-ation (VOWRA) and represents that organization on the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA) board of directors.
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has appointed Davis to a board within the Commonwealth Department of Professional and Occupational Reg-ulation. “That board is currently figuring out what type of training or certifications will be required to achieve state licenses for onsite system soil evaluator and designer, onsite system installer, and onsite treatment system service provider,” Davis says.
Davis was a speaker at the NOWRA Installer Academy in Las Vegas last December, and later this year will speak about MOM at conferences in Colorado, British Columbia, and elsewhere. “Across the country, demand for MOM and information about MOM is rising,” he observes.
Whether to fill a knowledge gap or satisfy a customer’s need, Coastal Plains Environmental Group’s Trapper Davis is ready to answer the call and fill the niche.
