Since the early 1990s the National Association of Wastewater Technicians has conducted workshops providing a standardized procedure to conduct onsite system inspections at the time of property transfer. This has been and will continue to be one of the mainstays of the NAWT Education Program. Now NAWT is poised to take the lead to develop a webinar involving several organizations to promote real estate transactions.

The initial drive to develop the workshops grew out of questions raised with some of the NAWT founders about whether a standardized procedure could be developed and an education program initiated. The program was developed and unveiled at the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International in 1995. The program was overhauled in 2004 and 2005 with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant for assistance. Since then, more than 3,000 inspectors have taken the course and over 1,000 currently maintain NAWT Certification. There are annual program updates and improvements.

In 2004, NAWT was invited by the EPA to participate with seven other national organizations in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The invited organizations all had some involvement with septic systems. The MOU partners’ mission was to promote use of septic systems and requirements for management. Today the Partnership has grown to 17 participating national organizations. NAWT’s involvement helped solidify pumpers as a professional industry.

As a result of this longstanding relationship, Kit Rosefield – NAWT’s MOU representative – was approached by partnership representatives to ask if NAWT wanted to play a key role in developing a real estate inspection webinar. Of course, based on history and interest, NAWT jumped at the chance to make this happen. The webinar will take place in late April or early May. At the time of this writing the exact date had not been set. Keep an eye out for the announcements of when the webinar will be provided. This is another example of how your organization keeps pumpers in the national spotlight.

Look for roundtable updates

At the Pumper & Cleaner Expo in February, NAWT representatives chaired and led discussion sessions on the last morning of the show. The two sessions are ones that should be of continuing interest to pumpers. First, there was a discussion on hydraulic load tests for systems during property inspections. This has been an area of continuing interest and discussion by NAWT members. Check the website for updates and changes to these guidelines. With an active membership, new information and discussion items are constantly being added.

The second session involved discussion of disposal fees and when it makes sense for a pumper or group of pumpers to think about developing a new facility. There were also discussions of how to get out in front of bad actors with your local facility to avoid punitive across-the-board reactions to improper materials being added to the waste stream. Ideas were shared on how to propose standards and protocols to the wastewater treatment facility before problems arise, and establishing procedures to follow to determine the culprit without turning the local fee structure upside down.