QUESTION: What factors determine maintenance or service frequency?

ANSWER: During the Pumper and Cleaner Environmental Expo International last year, I moderated a roundtable discussion on maintenance contracts. If you have not participated in one of these sessions, I suggest you look at the 2013 Expo roundtables and participate. The discussions are wide-ranging, and everyone at the table left with some new ideas.

One consistent question was: "If I offer maintenance contracts, how often do I need to visit the site and perform the service?" This led to much discussion about specific situations encountered by contractors at the table.

Some of the key points from that discussion were:

- It's hard to convince a homeowner they need a contract for preventive maintenance.

- Maintenance contracts may lead to additional expense fixing or solving problems identified.

- Contracts are most successful when driven by some type of regulation and when there is a reporting requirement.

- Before a service provider proposes a contract, a comprehensive system inspection is necessary.

- Most contracts are established on an annual basis. From a business standpoint, this means that the contracts are continually up for renewal, which can be a paperwork headache. It requires  time in the field, so the service provider should have a troubleshooting or inspection fee.

FREQUENCY FACTORS

The Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment several years ago released an Operation and Maintenance Manual and educational material for service providers. Their starting point was a comprehensive system inspection, with a site evaluation, including topography and soils. It was interesting to hear service professionals at the roundtable session echo this point.

Here are some factors that go into determining service frequencies (As with most lists in our industry it starts with the user): What type of residence is being served? What is the design flow versus actual use? How many people are using the system? Is something out of the ordinary happening?

Home-based businesses or some type of daycare operation in a home is a trend I've seen emerging. Consider this when determining the number of visits needed to monitor system performance. A factor is whether the home is being used year-round. If the residence is seasonal, an evaluation is necessary to determine if all system components will function properly with this type of use.

You also need to establish actual flows. In the "old days," as I like to say, I had a colleague who consistently pushed to install water meters for an actual measure of flow. With advanced technologies, performance requirements, and more pieces to take care of, knowing the actual flow in relation to design flow is even more important. Everyone agrees that if a system is consistently operating at or above design flow, it will fail. It's just a matter of time. With pumps in the systems and use of control panels, time meters and cycle counters are often used to determine flows.

SITE CONDITIONS

A number of site conditions impact service frequency. The simplest example is the lot size and availability of other sites for systems if there is a failure. It is one thing to have a system on a 10-acre lot with plenty of additional room, and another — which I see on my lakeshore — where there is a half-acre lot and most of that is taken up by the house and the garage. With less area, it is more critical to watch the system closely and take steps to solve problems before failure.

I like to hear professionals talk about the importance of soils. Most concerns I heard at the roundtable were over clay soils and permeability worries. I remind everyone we should also have concern for situations (coarse sandy soils, shallow bedrock, high water table) where treatment is a concern.

Along with the treatment line of thinking, the regulatory aspect comes into play. Roundtable participants talked about special districts in their states where they had to install and then take care of technologies that reduce nitrogen discharge. These technologies — recirculating media filters, etc. — must be continually monitored for performance. This requires more visits.

Some people said they avoid installing these types of systems because they don't feel adequately prepared for the job. This is an issue to consider. Be honest with yourself and others. Decide on your niche, what kinds of systems you are qualified to take care of now and what types you want to work with in the future.

Regional differences also impact maintenance frequency. Where I live, we can have extremely cold stretches. It is important going into those freezing periods that systems work properly. If not, someone will be making repairs under severe conditions. In other areas, extreme heat can cause problems. And until you work in the mountains and see the changes with elevation, it is hard to grasp the impact that can have on system operation.

PROCEED CAUTIOUSLY

Before entering into a maintenance contract, recognize how the system operates at the actual site. Ideally you want to work with systems that are stable and not easily upset by changes in temperature, etc. With changes in climate, the frequency of visits will rise and each visit will take longer.

Convenient access to systems was a key factor mentioned at the roundtable. There are two aspects to access: one is permission from the customer to gain access at all points on the site. An example is access to an alarm located in the house or garage. The other is to determine if all parts of the system are easily accessible. For example, if the tanks are 10 feet deep, maintenance of the tank or pumps is difficult and time consuming.

A final point is to explain every step in the process to your customers. Remind them that preventive maintenance will protect their major investment in a sewage treatment system.