Rhode Island Needs a New Generation of Wastewater Professionals

While new technology is always a priority in Rhode Island, the pumpers and installers who build and maintain onsite systems are aging and leaving the industry.
Rhode Island Needs a New Generation of Wastewater Professionals
George Loomis 401/874-4558 gloomis@uri.edu

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Since it formed in 1980, Rhode Island Independent Contractors & Associates has been involved in promoting the use of advanced onsite wastewater systems. Representing contractors in the construction, excavation, utilities and similar industries, around 75 percent of RIICA’s 200 members are involved in decentralized wastewater, including Will Wright of Wright Excavating, who serves as second vice president.

Wright explains that 75 percent of his installations are advanced systems because many of them are along the coastline. Statewide, about 30 percent of systems use innovative technology, according to George Loomis, research and extension soil scientist and director of the New England Onsite Wastewater Training Center at the University of Rhode Island. RIICA, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the university work closely together in protecting the state’s environment.

Why the long history of advanced systems in Rhode Island?

Loomis: We have been dealing with nitrogen removal since the early 1980s, so promoting advanced systems has been one of our main focuses from the beginning. We have sensitive coastal environments, high groundwater, and high groundwater nitrogen concentrations in some communities. There are about 5,000 advanced installations in Rhode Island — that’s in a state the size of a typical county out west.

Under the direction of former RIICA president Dave Burnham (who passed away in 2011), we installed 60 advanced systems in seven different communities from 1996 to 2005. They were proof-of-concept systems to put technologies in the ground, test them, see how they functioned, and get that information to the DEM to make informed decisions whether they wanted to include them in the regulations.

Wright: Dave also sat on the Technical Review Committee with DEM so he was involved in everything that happened. He was an exceptional person in the right place at the right time.

Loomis: These systems were extremely important because we brought hundreds of people out to kick the tires, and we did training with designers and installers about how to put them in and what to be careful about. One of the demonstration projects was on Block Island, an island 10 miles off the coast. Everything had to go on and off on a ferry system, so it was a big logistical challenge. There was a storm and we got stranded on the island for five days.

This was the catalyst in helping the state move forward with innovative technologies. RIICA did all the hard work getting the systems into the ground, the university did all the testing and educational aspects, and DEM integrated the information to improve the regulation to make everything work much better. We have well-trained individuals in the state. Our designers and installers are just top-notch people, very experienced, and they know what they’re doing.

What are the continuing education requirements?

Loomis: Those who do design work have to renew their license every three years and need continuing education credits to do that. Installers are licensed, but they don’t need continuing education credits. It’s up to them to come to a workshop. A good many of them still come because they want to stay current, know what’s going on, and they want to understand what everybody else is doing in order to stay competitive. We offer anywhere from 38 to 45 workshops a year and we get a pretty good response.

Wright: RIICA also offers classes to help people get their backhoe and heavy equipment licenses.

Are there any issues on the horizon?

Wright: I reached out to one of our members who is a lot younger than me. One of the things he’s running into is finding enough people to service these systems. RIICA has 200 members right now. There was a time when we had 1,000 members. It’s hard to get people to do these jobs. So one of the issues is keeping all this going, servicing and maintaining these systems.

Loomis: There’s also the question of verifying that the systems are doing what they are supposed to from a treatment perspective. That’s probably an emerging area because if you don’t have good quality operation and maintenance or don’t have enough people to do that effectively, it could influence treatment performance. Those are two pretty big concerns.

Is academia doing anything about that?

Loomis: Formal training at the college level for onsite wastewater is limited, and that’s always been a weakness. Most engineering programs around the country have an introduction and design class for municipal collections and treatment systems. Very few would be talking about onsite systems; you could count them on one hand. We give our environmental science students at URI one or two lectures on onsite wastewater treatment, but that is offered in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, and not in the College of Engineering. We have undergraduate and graduate students in my department who are doing research on onsite systems and other universities across the country have similar research programs. So there is a small amount of higher education in onsite wastewater, but it’s nothing like what takes place with large pipe.

What some young practitioners new to the field may know about onsite is often from on-the-job training, what you learn from your boss when you start out. If you happen to have a boss who’s pretty sharp, you may learn cutting-edge stuff. If you have somebody who’s old-school, you’re going to learn old-school techniques.

How has the onsite and septic service business changed in your region?

Wright: I worked for an older gentleman and it was kind of a father/son-type thing. There were a lot of companies where their father started it. What’s happening now, it’s either one guy by himself or it’s a company with four or five guys. And with the new equipment we have now, a company does the work of 10 companies 15 years ago. It seems what’s happening is there aren’t as many little guys. The companies are getting bigger like every other industry.

There aren’t a lot of young pumpers coming along either. They’re buying routes when guys retire. So instead of having 50 pumpers, we’re getting down to 30 and it’s hard for them to keep up. I talked to one who has three trucks and he’s scheduling two weeks out. And he said it’s the same thing with maintenance.

What do these trends mean for the industry in Rhode Island?

Loomis: The state recently passed legislation so at the time of sale, you have one year to get rid of old cesspools. So it’s going to be busy in the future, and there’s going to be a lot heavier reliance on innovative technology.

Wright: You look at the average age at RIICA in the 1980s and it was probably 30 or 35 years old. If you look at it now, the average is probably 55. And it’s just going to get busier. I don’t see us slowing down. But the guys I talk to in RIICA, they can’t keep up.

I’m trying to convince my son, who wants to be a plumber, to get into onsite maintenance. This is a business you should be in if you want to make money because I see a big call for it.



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