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IDAHO

First Association Meeting

The Onsite Wastewater Association of Idaho will hold its first annual meeting at Boise State University on March 14 in conjunction with the Idaho Environmental Health Association Education Conference March 13-14. The half-day meeting will include presentations from distinguished industry members. For more information, call 208/664-2133 or visit www.owaidaho.org.

MICHIGAN

New Directors Join Michigan Association

Misty DeJonghe of Matt DeJonghe Septic Tank Cleaning Service in Britton and Paul Lawrence of All American Septic Service in Imlay City were elected to the Michigan Septic Tank Association board of directors. Former MSTA president Rep. Ken Goike introduced a bill to eliminate the ban on storage tanks by 2025 along with language to allow haulers to access the receiving stations of their choice.

PENNSYLVANIA

Association Commendation

The state Senate adopted a resolution congratulating the Pennsylvania Septage Management Association on its 25th anniversary. Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Majority Chair Mary Jo White sponsored resolution SR 390.

NATION

EPA Supports Onsite Industry

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SepticSmart program helps reinforce conversations installers and service providers have with homeowners about the care and maintenance of their onsite systems. The program, suggested by National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association and other members of EPA's Decentralized Wastewater Management Partnership, provides print and electronic-based tools for industry practitioners and local governments. Visit http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/septic/septicsmart.cfm.

The EPA Decentralized Memorandum of Understanding Partnership developed four fact sheets highlighting the benefits of decentralized treatment systems. They demonstrate how such systems can be sensible, cost-effective, sustainable solutions. Visit http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/septic/Decentralized-MOU-Partnership-Products.cfm.

NOWRA Nuggets

The debate over the effects high sodium levels and regeneration discharges from water softeners have on septic tank performance and effluent filter and drainfield clogging has been around for years. In 2010, the Water Quality Association, representing the water softener industry, proposed a study to NOWRA to establish the facts. Several NOWRA members joined a committee that designed and directed the study. Representatives also came from the State Onsite Regulators Alliance, NSF and other organizations.

John Novak, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, led the research. He established laboratory column experiments, adding varying levels of sodium to wastewater influent, then feeding it to columns that contained solids from operating septic tanks. Novak used graduated cylinder experiments to determine how sodium affects the production of gases and the degradation of solids. He also investigated slug influent solutions, which mimicked regeneration flow. For comparison, researchers sampled private septic tanks to determine effluent quality from systems diverting and receiving regeneration flow.

"This is an excellent example of two organizations recognizing an issue in the industry and working in a forthright, constructive way to provide a scientific response," says executive director Eric Casey. "Both parties are comfortable with the science and how the study was conducted. The report, due out this year, will advance our knowledge and probably contain
some surprises."

NOWRA elected new officers and members to the 2012-2015 board of directors. Officers are President Tom Fritts, Residential Sewage Treatment Co., Grandview, Mo.; Vice President Greg Graves, Norweco; Secretary/Treasurer Robert Mayer, American Manufacturing Co.; and immediate past President Richard Otis, Otis Environmental Consultants, Madison, Wis.

Joining the board are installer Robert Himschoot, Crews Environmental, Ft. Myers, Fla.; regulator James Vincent, New Mexico Environment Department; and service provider David Ritchie, Zaring Septic and Drain Service, Crestwood, Ky. Allison Blodig of Bio-Microbics was appointed to fill the remainder of Mayer's term.

CANADA

Instructional Videos

The Waste Water Nova Scotia Society shot two more training videos last year. Flushing a Septic System shows how to flush and repair a malfunctioning drainfield and what reports to file. The association will use the video with a flushing course it is developing for pumpers needing certification for the work. Installation of a C3 details the installation of a pressurized disposal bed. The video also covers installation of leaching chambers and gravel-and-pipe drainfields. The first in the series, The Selection and Installation of a Raised C2, is at www.wwns.ca.

Canadian Onsite Wastewater Study

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation commissioned a study on onsite wastewater infrastructure in Ontario and Alberta. The study will determine what effects the systems have on potable and surface water and design protocols to alleviate environmental stresses.

Alabama

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

• April 17-19 – Advanced Installer II

• May 8-10 – Basic Installer

• May 30-31 – Pumper

The first day of continuing education 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.

California

The California Onsite Wastewater Association is offering these classes:

• April 24-25 – Soils, Hydrogeology and Site Evaluation, Monterey

• May 22 – Low-Pressure Pipe Drainfield and Drip Dispersal Design, Sacramento

Call Kit Rosefield at 530/513-6658 or visit www.cowa.org.

Minnesota

The University of Minnesota Water Resources Center has these classes:

• April 3-4 – Solutions for Difficult Sites Continuing Education, Alexandria

• April 9-11 – Basic Onsite System Design, Owatonna

• April 17 – Design Continuing Education, St. Cloud

• April 18 – Inspector Continuing Education, St. Cloud

• April 17-18 – Design/Inspector Continuing Education Combo, St. Cloud

• April 23-26 – Advanced Onsite System Design and Inspection, St. Cloud

• April 29 - May 1 – Introduction to Onsite Systems, Bemidji

• May 2-3 – Installing Onsite Systems, Bemidji

• May 7-9 – Basic Onsite System Design, St. Cloud

• May 20-22 – Maintaining Onsite Systems, Mankato

• May 20-24 – Maintenance and Service Provider Combo, Mankato

• May 21-24 – Service Provider, Mankato

• May 29-31 – Soils, Mankato

Call Nick Haig at 800/322-8642 or visit http://septic.umn.edu.

North Carolina

North Carolina State University has these courses:

• April 2-3 – 18-hour Introductory Installer Training, Raleigh

• April 4 – Gravity and Pump Systems: A Better Installation Equals a Better System, Raleigh

• April 5 – Advanced Septic System Installer Guidance, Raleigh

• April 9-10 – Soil Profiling for Wastewater and Stormwater System Siting, Carthage

• April 24 – Soils for the Outer Piedmont and Foothills, Morganton

• May 8 – Saprolite, Morganton

• May 15 – Principles of Gravity System Design, Greensboro

• May 16 – Onsite System Layouts, Greensboro

• May 22 – Soils of the Low Mountains in the Southeast U.S., Mills River

• May 28 – Basic Troubleshooting of Onsite System Malfunctions, Greenville

• May 29-30 – Advanced Troubleshooting of Onsite System Malfunctions, Greenville

Contact Joni Tanner at 919/513-1678 or soils_training@ncsu.edu, or visit www.soil.ncsu.edu/training/training.htm#38, scroll down, click No. 8.

North Carolina Pumper Group has this course:

• May 23 – Septage Management and Land Application, Morganton

Call 252/249-1097 or visit www.ncpumpergroup.org.

Oregon

The Chemeketa Community College in Salem has these classes:

• April 2-3 – Maintenance Operator, Bend at O2WA Conference

• April 4 – Installer, Bend at O2WA Conference

• May 30 – Installer

Call 503/399-5181 or visit www.chemeketa.edu/busprofession/ccbi/customizedtraining/deq/classes.html.

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Septage Management Association is offering these courses at Wyomissing:

• April 2-3 – Basic Onlot Wastewater Treatment System Inspection

• April 2-3 – Advanced Onlot Wastewater Treatment System Inspection

Call 717/763-7762 or visit www.psma.net.

Virginia

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

• April 9-10 – Water Movement in Soils

• April 12 – Nitrogen Dynamics, online

• May 10 – Foundational Concepts of Pump Systems

Contact Latonya Fowlkes at 434/292-3101 or latonya.fowlkes@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 Puyallup training center (unless stated otherwise):

• April 3 – Design High-Strength Waste

• April 17 – Design/Install Subsurface Drip, Moses Lake

• April 18 – First Aid/CPR

• April 24 – Pumper, Vancouver

• May 1-2 – Certification for Proprietary Devices

• May 15 – Electrical Control Panels

• May 22 – Design/Install and O&M of Subsurface Drip, Bremerton

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



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