Most readers of Onsite Installer likely have had relatively little contact with the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA) in recent years, so providing an update about what’s new at NOWRA is probably overdue. As you will hopefully agree, there is a lot of news to report. Below are some of the recent initiatives and activities where NOWRA has been focusing its efforts.

Installer Academy. For several years, NOWRA held an Installer Academy where we asked contractors to come to us for training. Now the Installer Academy can come to you. NOWRA has kept the Installer Academy brand, but changed how it works. NOWRA currently offers eight training courses as part of a new Installer Academy catalog, where we take the training to the people who need it. All of its training courses feature nationally recognized presenters. Recently NOWRA completed several trainings in New Jersey, helping more than 200 installers get the training they needed to earn installer certification. For states affiliated with NOWRA, we offer those trainings at cost. NOWRA is also beta testing an online training component. You can see a copy of the Installer Academy catalog by visiting www.installeracademy.org.

NOWRA website. In February NOWRA rolled out a vastly improved website (www.nowra.org). Among the new features are: online membership applications and membership renewal, the ability for members to manage their own data in “real time,” a greatly expanded Resource Library organized by subject area and professional specialty, and the Septic Locator directory for finding NOWRA-member companies.

Septic Locator. NOWRA’s Septic Locator is already a useful tool, but plans are nearing completion for an upgraded Septic Locator. The new locator will be on a more homeowner-friendly website with lots of advice about septic systems.

Advanced design training curriculum. In response to a request from MOWPA, NOWRA’s affiliate in Maryland, the association developed an advanced design training curriculum to provide regulators and designers in Maryland with the expertise they will need to comply with more stringent water quality standards mandated by the state.

Annual Conference. NOWRA will host its Annual Conference at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 17-20. This event is one of the few places where every year new research, new ideas and new initiatives intended to advance the state of the art are presented.

Onsite Journal. In September, NOWRA rolled out the first edition of its member magazine, the Onsite Journal. NOWRA suspended publishing OSJ several years ago in a cost-cutting measure, but its goal was to resume publication as soon as feasible. Initial publication will be twice annually.

Roe-D-Hoe. A half-dozen state affiliates now host officially sanctioned Roe-D-Hoe events, and the winners are automatically placed into the finals of the NOWRA National Backhoe Roe-D-Hoe competition.

National focus. NOWRA continues to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Decentralized Partnership and played a critical role in the development of the “Septic Smart” public information program and in the publication of four position papers promoting onsite/decentralized systems. But we are also concentrating on two other critical areas: expanding the market for large decentralized systems by educating key stakeholders outside of our industry about their benefits, and increasing our industry’s meager share of federal funds.

In support of those objectives, in the past year NOWRA has made presentations to engineers at WEFTEC 2012, to state revolving fund managers at their annual meeting and to industry leaders at the One Water Network symposium. We became the only decentralized wastewater organization represented in the U.S. Water Alliance. And last month we cohosted a workshop with WEF intended to help utility managers and “big-pipe” engineers understand how they can profitably undertake decentralized wastewater projects.

We are also committed to pursuing change at both the national and local level when it comes to funding our industry receives. Our industry represents roughly 25 percent of the U.S. wastewater infrastructure, and while billions of dollars in federal funding each year goes to wastewater treatment, virtually all of it goes to municipal treatment. That needs to change. The clean-water goals for decentralized wastewater treatment are no less important, and our funding needs are just as worthy.

New affiliate members – NOWRA has been pleased to welcome the Onsite Wastewater Association of Idaho, the Tennessee Onsite Wastewater Association and the Florida Onsite Wastewater Association as members within the last year.