The National Association of Wastewater Transporters is partnering with the California Onsite Wastewater Association to present the Waste Treatment Workshop, Oct. 6-7, in Sutter Creek, Calif. A continuation of the popular NAWT Waste Treatment Symposiums of the past five years, part of the workshop will be held at the Sierra Septic Waste Treatment facility owned by COWA member Dean Trevaskis.

The event will help satisfy a goal of NAWT to provide a convenient workshop location for members in California, Oregon and Washington State. Four of the five Waste Treatment Symposium events so far have been held east of the Mississippi River, and this is the first similar – though a slightly smaller scale – event of its kind in the Western U.S.

We’re pleased to be working with COWA and Kit Rosefield to bring this vital information to California pumpers. A goal of COWA is to bring more industry program opportunities to its septic service members.

TWO DAYS

The two days of activities will be split into three parts. The first is a classroom workshop, followed by presentation of the NAWT Vacuum Truck Driver training course. The third part is a forum on the decentralized approach to wastewater treatment for regulators. This will be a pilot run in anticipation of bringing this program to other state associations.

The classroom portion of the workshop will be held at the Jackson Rancheria Casino, three miles from the Sierra Septic plant. The hotel-casino complex also will provide lodging for conference participants. On the first day-and-a-half of the workshop, classroom sessions will give an overview of waste treatment options and ways to analyze if a treatment facility should be part of your future business plans. There also will be an opportunity for attendees to visit with vendors during the breaks, lunch sessions and in the evening.

Workshop and training events will begin at 10 a.m. Oct. 6 and carry over until after lunch on Oct. 7, when participants will visit the Sierra Septic facility. Visitors will tour the three-year-old treatment facility and experience hands-on vacuum truck and technology demonstrations by vendors showing equipment used in the dewatering processes discussed during the workshop.

The Sierra Septic operation utilizes an Alar system along with dewatering boxes and a unique tank storage configuration. Trevaskis is eager to share what he’s learned during the evolution of his treatment operation. The plant is modern, clean and of a size and scale that would reflect the needs of many pumping companies.

To learn more and register for the Waste Treatment Workshop, go to our website, www.nawt.org. You’ll find the schedule details and information on lodging for the event. We hope to see many members take advantage of this great education opportunity.

A HELPING HAND

Todd Frank, son of Tom and Carol Frank of Tim Frank Septic Cleaning in Huntsburg, Ohio, is the first college intern to work with NAWT. You might remember Todd as a past recipient of the William Hapchuk Memorial Scholarship. As a matter of fact, he won it twice.

As part of his work toward a business degree at Ashland University in Ohio, Todd is required to serve an internship to gain practical experience in his area of interest. He felt serving an internship would be a good way to give something back for the support he has received from NAWT. So he shared the idea with his college advisor, and the internship was approved. Entering his senior year at Ashland, Todd will receive credits toward his degree by working with NAWT.

Todd is working with the NAWT Education Committee on two projects. One is to develop a spreadsheet that can be used to analyze septage treatment costs, which will give pumpers a valuable tool to determine if they should pursue establishing treatment facilities. The second project is to work with NAWT program sponsors to create a framework for continuing financial support.

Todd started working with NAWT in late May and will continue through late August. He will contribute 240 hours of service to the association.