MICHIGAN

Land Application Demonstrated

Michigan Septic Tank Association director Chris Sloan and family opened Sloan’s Septic Tank Service in Oakley to legislators, enabling them to view proper procedures for land application of septage.

State Rep. Ken Goike, a former MSTA director and author of a bill that would require local governments to provide receiving stations if they banned the practice, suggested the tour to satisfy his colleagues’ concerns and set the stage for action on his legislation. A bill that would grant Michigan septic haulers a weight exemption during the spring weight restrictions also will be introduced in the legislature.

 

Onsite System Guidelines Rewritten

Larry Stephens and Ron Lindsay of the Michigan Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association assisted the state Department of Environmental Quality in rewriting the 1994 Michigan Criteria for Subsurface Sewage Disposal, which provides guidelines for the design and approval of onsite systems above 1,000 gpd. A Yahoo discussion forum has been formed. To subscribe, email MOWRA-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

 

MINNESOTA

Advanced Certification Required

As of Feb. 4, Minnesota onsite professionals conducting design, inspection, and service on Type 4 or 5 systems and those with design flows greater than 2,500 gpd must have an advanced certificate. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will enforce the requirement. The two-part Advanced Design and Inspection course from the University of Minnesota Water Resources Center provides the proper certification.

 

OREGON

Members’ Voices Heard

Testimony and letters from members of the Oregon Onsite Wastewater Association were instrumental in having an improved onsite code approved by the state Department of Environmental Quality. Recommendations included filing annual maintenance reports on new sand filters and pressure distribution systems, creating a time-of-sale inspection program for the state’s coastal zone, and improving the approval process for alternative treatment technologies.

An article in the association’s summer newsletter by Yamhill County regulator Kim Aldrich tells of a giant root mass found by Dennis Gibbens, owner of Price-Rite Septic Tank Service in Newberg. Responding to a service call, Gibbens excavated to find a round, vertical septic tank with a 9-inch-thick root mat in the shape of the tank.

“It looked like an alien slug,” Aldrich writes. Roots from a maple tree eight feet away had penetrated between the lid and base of the tank, then followed the piping to the drainfield. Aldrich invites other service providers with root stories to email them to aldrichk@co.yamhill.or.us.

 

WISCONSIN

New Association Manager

Essie Consulting Group hired Kimberly Cunningham as manager of the Wisconsin Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association.

 

Training & Education

Alabama

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

• March 7-9 – Advanced Installer I Class

• May 2-4 – Advanced Installer II Class

• May 23-25 – Basic Installer Class

The first day of classes is for installers and the second day is for pumpers and portable restroom operators. Call the training center at 205/652-3803 or visit http://aowatc.uwa.edu.

 

Connecticut

The Connecticut Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association is holding its Installer School on Jan., 12, 19 and 26 and Feb. 2, 9 and 16 with a snow date of Feb. 23. The COWRA Pumper/Cleaner School is Feb. 16 with a snow date of Feb. 23. Classes are at Wesleyan University, Middletown. Call 860/267-1057 or visit www.cowra-online.org.

 

Iowa

The Iowa Onsite Wastewater Association has these courses:

• March 16 – Operation and Maintenance Workshop, Coralville

• March 23-24 – CIOWTS Installation Overview and Test, Ainsworth

• April 27 – Operation and Maintenance Workshop, Emmetsburg

Contact Alice Vinsand at 515/225-1051, execdir@iowwa.com, or visit www.iowwa.com.

 

Minnesota

The University of Minnesota Water Resources Center has these classes:

• March 5-6 – General Continuing Education, Willmar

• March 7-9 – Advanced Design and Inspection of Onsite Systems, Part 1, St. Cloud

• March 14-16 – Maintaining Onsite Systems, Brainerd

• March 19-21 – Introduction to Onsite Systems, Farmington

• March 22-23 – Installing Onsite Systems, Farmington

• March 27-28 – Solutions for Difficult Sites, St. Cloud

• March 29-30 – Pumping/Maintainer Continuing Education, Brainerd

• April 2-4 – Introduction to Onsite Systems, Cloquet

• April 5-6 – Installing Onsite Systems, Cloquet

• April 11-13 – Basic Onsite System Designs, Brainerd

• April 18 – Design Continuing Education, Alexandria

• April 18-19 – Designer/Inspector Continuing Education Combo, Alexandria

• April 19 – Inspector Continuing Education, Alexandria

• April 24-27 – Advanced Design and Inspection of Onsite Systems, Part 2, St. Cloud

• April 30-May 2 – Maintaining Onsite Systems, Mankato

• April 30-May 4 – Maintainer/Service Provider Combo, Mankato

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

 

New England

The New England Onsite Wastewater Training Center at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston has these courses:

• April 12 – Bottomless Sand Filter Design and Installation

• April 19 – All About Series: Septic Tanks

• April 26 – Conventional Onsite Wastewater System Inspection

• April 26-27 – Conventional Onsite Wastewater System Inspection and Field Training

• May 3 – Functional Inspections

• May 10 – Innovative and Alternative Technologies

• May 17 – All About Series: Sand Media

• May 31 – Installing Advanced Onsite Treatment Systems

• May 31 – Innovative and Alternative Technology Field Training at Peckham Farm

Call 401/874-5950 or visit www.uri.edu/ce/wq. For soil courses, call Mark Stolt at 401/874-2915 or email mstolt@uri.edu.

 

North Carolina

North Carolina State University has the following courses:

• March 13 – Basic Troubleshooting of Onsite System Malfunctions, Mills River

• March 14 – Advanced Troubleshooting of Onsite System Malfunctions, Mills River

• March 27 – Redoximorphic Features, Soil Wetness, and Water Table Relationships, Wilmington

• March 28 – Water Movement and Treatment Through Soils, Wilmington

• April 17 – Subsurface Wastewater System Operator Training School, Raleigh

Call Joni Tanner at 919/513-1678 or visit www.soil.ncsu.edu/training.

 

Virginia

The Virginia Center for Onsite Wastewater Training has these classes at Pickett Park unless stated otherwise:

• March 20-21 – Wastewater Basics

• March 27-28 – Water Movement in Soils

• March 19-May 31 – Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation Test Review, Hybrid

• April 2-May 31 – Understanding the Septic Tank, Web based

Contact Lydia Shepherd at 434/292-3101 or lydia.shepherd@southside.edu or visit www.southside.edu.

 

Washington

The Washington On-Site Sewage Association and Washington State Department of Health in cooperation with Washington State University are offering these certification courses at the training center in Puyallup unless stated otherwise:

• March 7 – Troubleshooting and Repairs

• March 15 – Design of Subsurface Drip Systems, Bellingham

• March 28-29 – Exam Review for Designers

• April 4 – Maintenance Basics

• April 11 – Design of Subsurface Drip Systems

• April 18 – Pumper, Mt. Vernon

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

 

Wisconsin

The Department of Safety and Professional Services is offering a Plumbing and Private Onsite Wastewater Treatment System course March 6-8 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Green Bay. Visit http://dsps.wi.gov/sb/SB-DivContinuingEducation.html.

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

 

Calendar

Jan. 30-Feb. 1

Minnesota Onsite Wastewater Association Convention and Exhibitor Showcase, Sheraton South, Bloomington. 952/345-1145; mowacarla@aol.com.

 

Feb. 6-9

Onsite Wastewater Professionals of Illinois Annual Conference and Trade Show, Gateway Conference Center, Collinsville. Contact Steve Johnson at jswastewatersystems@mchsi.com.

 

Feb. 8-9

Utah Onsite Wastewater Association Conference, Northfront Business Resource Center, Davis Applied Technology College, Kaysville. Contact Judy Sims at judith.sims@usu.edu.

 

Feb. 10

Saskatchewan Onsite Wastewater Management Association Conference, Radisson Hotel and Conference Centre, Saskatoon. 877/489-7471; www.sowma.ca.

 

Feb. 10-11

Oregon Onsite Wastewater Association Conference, Seaside Civic and Convention Center, Seaside. 541/389-6692; www.o2wa.org.

 

Feb. 18

Saskatchewan Onsite Wastewater Management Association Convention and Trade Show, Saskatoon. 877/489-7471; www.sowma.ca.

 

Feb. 21-22

Texas Onsite Wastewater Association Conference, Waco Convention Center, Waco. Call Tim Taylor at 888/398-7188; www.txowa.org.

 

Feb. 22-24

Kentucky Onsite Wastewater Association Conference, Hyatt Regency, Louisville. 270/314-7110; www.kentuckyonsite.org.

 

Feb. 27-March 1

Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International, Indianapolis, Ind. 866/933-2653; www.pumpershow.com.

 

March 2-3

Onsite Wastewater Management Association of British Columbia, Coast Capri Convention Centre, Kelowna. Call Lesley Desjardins at 877/489-7471 or lesleyd@shaw.ca.

 

March 4-7

Pennsylvania Association of Sewage Enforcement Officers Conference and Trade Show, Holiday Inn, Grantville. 717/761-8648; www.pa-seo.org.

 

March 19-20

Granite State Designers and Installers Association Spring Septic System Conference & Expo, Radisson Hotel and Conference Center of New Hampshire, Manchester. 603/228-1231; www.gsdia.org.

 

March 29-30

Alabama Onsite Wastewater Association Trade Show, Pelham Civic Complex, Pelham. Call Dave Roll at 334/396-3434 or visit www.aowainfo.org.