Association News

News, Training & Education and Calendar of Events

NATION: Groups Renew Commitment to Effective Water Management

Wastewater trade groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with 13 water quality organizations, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Decentralized Wastewater Management, renewing a commitment to improve national decentralized wastewater treatment system performance.

Goals of the agreement include strengthening partnerships and improving practitioner competency, management practices, research and technology transfer, accountability, control and oversight through enhanced state, tribal, and local program implementation.

Improving public awareness, education programs and information materials are viewed as ways to help local officials make better decisions, as is supporting the principles outlined in the EPA Voluntary Management Guidelines and Management Handbook for Decentralized Systems.

The three-year agreement involves the Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment, the National Association of Towns and Townships, the National Association of Wastewater Transporters Inc., the National Environmental Health Association, the National Environmental Services Center, the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association Inc., the Rural Community Assistance Partnership Inc., the Water Environment Federation, the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators, the Ground Water Protection Council, the State Onsite Regulators Alliance, the Water Environment Research Foundation, the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, and the Association of State and Territorial Health Organizations.

The groups will work to advance the awareness of decentralized systems as potential answers to centralized infrastructure challenges, and provide opportunities to implement innovative technologies, develop water scarcity strategies and implement long-term sustainability initiatives in urban and rural settings.

MISSOURI: Installer Training Program Slated

CIDWT, NOWRA and NEHA selected the Missouri Smallflows Organization to host their new Installer Training Program, March 5-6, in Liberty, Mo. The optional NEHA exam follows on March 7. For information, visit www.mosmallflows.org/CIDWTrainingCourse.html.

OREGON: Fees Increase 40 to 60 Percent

The Oregon Onsite Wastewater Association newsletter reports that the state Department of Environmental Quality is requesting approval to increase fees for site evaluations, existing system inspections, permits, product reviews and variances by $1 million for 2009-2011. The 40- to 60-percent increases, effective in early 2010, take into account rising program costs. Application fees were last increased in 1998.

While onsite applications decreased about 35 percent in 2008, the DEQ still received more than 2,500 applications. The additional revenue would restore 2.5 full-time positions at the agency to process applications. Without the increase, two offices will close and another will reduce its staff, increasing delays.

NOVA SCOTIA: Septage Treatment Facility Assistance Offered

Nova Scotia onsite leaders, in partnership with Nova Scotia Environment regulators, are providing new options for managing liquid waste. According to the newsletter of the Ontario Association of Sewage Industry Services, one initiative — the four-year, $2.75 million Septage Treatment Facility Assistance Program — offers assistance to septage lagoon operators to upgrade facilities or construct replacements, as well as technology to meet the department’s revised guidelines for the handling, treatment and disposal of septage.

The septage treatment program enabled the municipality of the District of Chester to become the first in the province to purchase the Altinex dewatering truck, which pumps septic tanks, then dewaters the septage using Masko Zoll technology. Liquid is returned to the septic tank and the dewatered solids are composted. The truck, developed in Norway, was refitted on a North American chassis by ABCO Industries Ltd, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (www.abco.ca).

Another initiative, the Environmental Home Assessment Program, provides onsite owners with a septic system assessment, water-quality sampling kit, water-saving device and samples of environmentally friendly septic system cleaners. After the assessment, participants who want their tanks pumped will receive a $100 rebate. Low-income households may be eligible for a grant up to $3,000 to repair their systems.

The agency also issued pilot approvals for SoilAir, MicroFast, and RetroFast pretreatment units for existing onsite systems with disposal fields designed by professional engineers. The department approved the Ecoflo peat module treatment system and the Micro-Modular peat filter system for onsite systems. The latter, a lightweight filter produced by Brookfield Concrete Products Ltd., was subjected to extensive testing and presumed to be the first study in the province that assesses the treatment efficiency of a peat filter exposed to different loading rates.

IOWA: State Claims Most Certified Installers

According to the National Environmental Health Association, the Iowa Onsite Wastewater Association leads the nation in certified onsite installers. The state has 27 contractors, followed by Ohio with 19. This is the second year Iowa has taken the lead.

Traing & Education

Soils Information Online

Soil survey manuscripts with soils, data, maps, diagrams, tables, and other details are online at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov. Posted by the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Web Soil Survey allows visitors to create and print a soils map for any U.S. location and obtain reports on the suitability of the soils.

The reports identify potential soil limitations including depth to a restrictive layer, predicted seasonal high water table, potential for flooding, and suitability for sewage disposal. For assistance with the program, call Dani Aleshire at 541/967-5925, ext. 124 or e-mail dannelle.aleshire@or.usda.gov. Anyone living in a county without an online soil survey manuscript should contact their local NRCS office for a copy. To find the nearest office, visit http://offices.sc.egov. usda.gov/locator/app.

Sand Fact Sheet Available

The Ohio State University Extension published Sand Size Analysis for Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems: Determination of Sand Effective Size and Uniformity Coefficient. Graphs and tables in the four-page fact sheet explain why the most important feature of the sand is not the grains, but the pores the sand creates. It’s a free download at http://ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/pdf/0757.pdf.

Onsite Tour

The New York Onsite Wastewater Treatment Training Network has an Alternative Onsite Wastewater Treatment Technology Training and Project Tour on May 27-28 in Skaneateles. Call SUNY Delhi at 607/746-4545 or visit www.delhi.edu/bcs/otn_wastewater/training_events.php#alternative.

Alabama

Licensing classes are the joint effort of the Alabama Onsite Wastewater Association and University of West Alabama. Courses are at UWA Livingston campus unless stated otherwise:

• April 3-4 – Continuing Education, Pelham

• May 6-8 – Basic Installer

• May 13-15 – Advanced Level II Installers

Call 334/396-3434 or visit www.aowa.org.

Minnesota

The University of Minnesota Extension has these classes:

• April 14-16 – Basic Design of Onsite Systems, White Bear

• April 17 – OSHA Competent Person/Pipelayer Certification, Sauk Centre

• April 27-29 – Introduction to Onsite Systems, Grand Rapids

• May 4-5 – Pumping/Maintenance, Mankato

• May 4-5 – Service Provider, Mankato

• May 20-21 – Soils, Owatonna

• May 27-28 – Inspecting Onsite Systems, Waseca

Call Nick Haig at 800/322-8642 (612/625-9797) or visit http://septic.umn.edu.

Missouri

The Missouri Smallflows Organization is offering these continuing education courses:

• April 21 – Troubleshooting, Moberly

• April 22 – Hydraulics, Moberly

• May 5 – Basic Drip Irrigation Design and Installation, Chillicothe

• May 6 – Onsite Pumps, Panels, and Electrical, Chillicothe

• May 19-20 – Operation and Maintenance, Liberty

Call 417/739-4100 or visit www.mosmallflows.org.

Virginia

The following courses by the Virginia Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association and Virginia Center for Onsite Wastewater Training are at Blackstone unless stated otherwise.

• April 15 – Proprietary System Training (VOWRA)

• April 23 – A to Z of Onsite Wastewater, Fredericksburg (VOWRA)

• May 13 – Proprietary System Training (VOWRA)

• May 13-14 – Wastewater 101 (VCOWT)

For VCOWT classes, contact Debbie Campbell at 434/736-2011 or visit www.southside.edu/programs/wastetreat. For VOWRA courses, contact Jeff Barr at 703/771-5250 or visit www.vowra.org.

Washington State

The Washington On-Site Sewage Association and Washington State Department of Health, in cooperation with Washington State University, offer these certification courses at the training center in Puyallup.

• April 8 – Maintenance Basics

• April 15 – Pumper 101

• April 22 – Designers: Subsurface Drip Systems

• May 6 – Basics of Electrical

• May 7 – Control Panel Wiring

• May 13 – Mounds and Sand Filters

• May 20 – Maintenance Basics, Bremerton

Call WOSSA at 253/770-6594 or visit www.wossa.org.

Pumper invites your state association to post notices and news items in this column. Send contributions to editor@pumper.com.

Calendar

March 1-4

Ontario Onsite Wastewater Association Conference and Exhibition, Sheraton Conference Centre, Richmond Hill. Call Denis Orendt at 905/372-2722 or visit www.oowa.org.

March 3-4

Texas On-Site Wastewater Association Conference, Waco. Call 888/398-7188 or visit www.txowa.org.

March 8-10

Pennsylvania Association of Sewage Enforcement Officers Conference, Grantville, Pa. Call 717/761-8648 or visit www.pa-seo.org.

March 17-19

California Onsite Wastewater Association Exhibition and Technical Conference, Arden West Hilton, Sacramento. Call 916/727-2692 or visit www.cowa.org.

March 23-24

Tennessee Onsite Wastewater Association Continuing Education Workshop and Annual Meeting, Embassy Suites, Murfreesboro Hotel and Conference Center. Call 615/890-4464 or e-mail Theo Terry at theo.terry@bearonsite.com.

April 3-4

Alabama Onsite Wastewater Association Annual Trade Show, Pelham Civic Complex, Pelham. Call 334/396-3434 or visit www.aowa.org.

April 6-9

National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association Technical Exhibition and Conference, Midwest Airlines Convention Center, Milwaukee. Call 800/966-2942 or visit www.nowra.org.



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