Welcome to the 2016 WWETT Show issue of Onsite Installer. If you’re reading this at the Indiana Convention Center, you’re among the lucky thousands of wastewater professionals enjoying the biggest trade show on the planet for your industry. It’s great that you’ve arrived in Indianapolis, and I hope to meet you during Education Day or as you check out products in the exhibit hall.

One place we can meet up is the exciting new venue, the WWETT Show Kickoff Party, 5-8 p.m., Feb. 17 and 18, at the home of the Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium. Find me near the COLE Pub truck, parked at the 50-yard line, and let’s talk about the industry issues you find important. Tell me about your company and the concerns you have moving into the 2016 busy season.

Do you already have a backlog of work scheduled for spring? Is your crew up to speed with required training and ready to start digging in the ground? Are you finding it a challenge to keep up with ever-changing regulations regarding use of advanced technologies and inspection requirements? These are just a few things we can discuss while sharing refreshments at the Kickoff Party.

The WWETT Show is my best chance to meet installers face to face and learn about topics you would like to see covered in the magazine. I enjoy hearing about the companies you have built from the ground up and are looking to improve every day. I jot down your technical questions that I can pass along to Jim Anderson and Dave Gustafson, authors of the popular

Basic Training feature. I want to hear about the onsite equipment components you’re keeping an eye on at the show.

Here are a few industry topics we can discuss further at the WWETT Show:

Focus on flushable wipes

A Rules and Regs story in this month’s issue about the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s order that manufacturer Nice-Pak Products cease promoting its woven wet wipes “flushable” sent me looking for the company’s spin on the controversy surrounding a growing clogging problem – both in septic systems and municipal wastewater systems. And spin they do at the website www.nicepak.com.

Nice-Pak deflects the blame, stating that other sources – including paper towels, feminine hygiene products and nonflushable wipes – made up about 90 percent of items found in studies of clogged pump station inlet screens. They say “flushable” wipes represent only 9 percent of the items found in the inlet screens.

Wipes considered flushable presumably break down in drainlines, like toilet paper, therefore causing no clogging issues. If that’s the case, why are any of these products (much less 9 percent of the problem) being found in these inlet screens? The way Nice-Pak hedges its bets on the definition of “flushability,” I’m not so sure they believe their products will do what
they promise.

“Our flushable wipes are proven, when flushed one wipe at a time, to pass through a home’s well-maintained toilet and drainlines or septic system without clogging,” the company asserts. Think about it: If only one “flushable” wipe can be put into the system at a time, do you think it’s really breaking down like toilet paper? Toilet paper of practically any amount will break down adequately to make it into the septic tank, where it will disintegrate further.

Remain vigilant about inspections

A recent nationwide trend toward required point-of-sale system inspections has been positive for the onsite industry on a number of fronts. So a report about a setback in this area is a source of concern for onsite installers.

Mandated real estate inspections have provided the catalyst for many installers to add inspection and maintenance services to their offerings. They raise awareness about system performance and prompt many homeowners to take better care of their ever-more-complex and costly investment in wastewater treatment.

Most importantly, point-of-sale inspections are an effective way to identify poor performing or failed systems. By region, some estimates I’ve seen say as many as a quarter of onsite systems are no longer performing as intended. As is the case with much of the U.S. infrastructure of roads, bridges, water and wastewater operations, and septic systems are aging and well beyond their expected life span of 20 to 25 years. These failing systems are polluting waterways and threatening drinking water, and have the potential to spread disease.

Failing systems also reflect badly on our industry. When the public hears that untreated waste is leaking from a decentralized system and into an important watershed, it’s common to hear criticism of onsite wastewater technology and a call to lay more big pipe and expand municipal treatment plants. We know onsite plays a pivotal role in providing a good portion of this country’s wastewater treatment and that the technology is top-notch and getting better all the time. That message is a hard sell, however, in the face of bad news.

So I was disappointed to read that Stearns County, Minnesota, is considering eliminating a requirement for point-of-sale onsite inspections. County supervisors argue the inspections and resulting system replacements are costly for homeowners, according to an account in the St. Cloud Times newspaper. One other county in the state recently considered ending an inspection requirement, but kept it. This goes against the grain in Minnesota, where most counties – and the number is growing – require real estate inspections.

“Most of the time it’s, ‘Should we add it or not?’” Aaron Jensen, coordinator of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s subsurface sewage treatment program, said about the inspections. “It’s never, ‘Should we take it out?’”

I take this as a warning shot in the war over improving our infrastructure and our environment. Point-of-sale inspections are an important tool to identify failing onsite systems. Efforts like this to derail this positive inspection trend by well-meaning but ignorant local officials must be countered by the industry every time they crop up.

Some might say actions of one county in central Minnesota won’t impact the wider movement. But I say we can’t rest on the advances we’ve made so far. We always need to be educating the public about the importance of properly functioning septic systems. Our environment and our industry depend on it.

SEE YOU IN INDY

Let’s continue the conversation at the WWETT Show. Maybe you’ve just completed a challenging install and you’d like to tell me about it. You may have looked at our contractor profiles and wondered how you can see your company featured in Onsite Installer. Talk to me and we’ll see if we can share your story and show your hardworking crew on the cover.

It’s easy to reach me at the WWETT Show. Look for anyone wearing a COLE Publishing uniform shirt and ask to track me down. I’ll be excited to talk to you. See you in Indy!