Published September 2007

NAWT Programs Focus on Professional Image

By Tom Ferrero (page 52)

Onsite installers probably are hearing about the National Environmental Health Association Installer Credential Examination. Even regulators are starting to support it.

Consortium Installer Training Program

Onsite installers probably are hearing about the National Environmental Health Association Installer Credential Examination. Even regulators are starting to support it. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, however, felt installers should have some training in the subjects before taking the test. The Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment is writing that material and is presenting its first pilot training at the Installer Academy in Las Vegas in December.

With the support of COLE Publishing, the National Association of Wastewater Transporters Inc. presented its first onsite installer training in Arizona in June. Although in its beginning stages, the program is acceptable to NEHA and the EPA. As the Consortium finishes writing segments of the training course, NAWT will incorporate them into its installer training program. The material must undergo four pilot training sessions, with the release of the final version anticipated in spring 2009. After that release, NAWT will teach the completed Consortium’s installer training course.

EPA-MOU partnership

On Jan. 12, 2005, NAWT signed a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, with the EPA and seven other national organizations to address the challenges of jointly implementing onsite system management. The partnership offers many advantages. One of them is that NAWT has qualified partners who can critique proposed programs or publications. Even more important is hearing different viewpoints.

However, the greatest achievement so far is establishing pumpers as professionals in the eyes of big government. When the EPA started work on its management guidelines five years ago, it perceived the onsite industry as under-trained and under-qualified to meet the agency’s requirements. NAWT kept hearing, “Utilities can manage wastewater better, and the EPA can regulate them.”

Today, that perception has changed. NAWT is recognized for working hard to train and certify pumpers. NAWT-certified pumpers provide quality assurance and meet customer expectations. It’s vital that our armchair members get on their feet and attend training symposiums. A “sit back and ignore what’s happening” attitude is a one-way ticket to a going-out-of-business sale.

Another advantage is the courtesy booth MOU partners have at various conventions. Look for NAWT under the MOU banner or next to such agencies as the EPA, National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association, National Environmental Health Association, National Environmental Services Center, Water Environment Federation, and the Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment.

NAWT is manning the MOU booth at the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference in San Diego, Calif., on Oct. 13-17. Why not pay us a visit?

It’s a great way to see what our educational training programs are about, and learn how to bring them to your state association or university extension. If you can’t make the show, call us at 800/236-6298 or visit www.nawt.org. Invite us over. We’ll fill the room, because training is what we do best. For more information on the MOU, visit www.us-epamoupartners.org.

Septage/Grease Trap Symposium

Pumpers faced with rising disposal costs, erratic hours at treatment plants, their refusal to accept grease trap waste, and dwindling land application sites will find alternative solutions at the second annual Septage/Grease Trap Waste Treatment Symposium. Held at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg East in Harrisburg, Pa., Sept. 12-13, the event features educational courses and tours of a privately owned treatment facility.

Classroom sessions include case histories from pumpers telling why they built their own treatment plant, what the regulatory issues were and how the facility operates. Vendors will explain why particular components were chosen at that plant and their specific applications.

A session by Robert Marino, a financial advisor from Center Capital Corp., will focus on what to bring to the bank when asking for a loan, and how to present yourself and your business. Other sessions will include polymers, applicable chemicals and their hazards and processing equipment.

Tours of Kline’s Services Inc., a sludge hauling, processing, and land application business in Salunga, will follow the next day. David Kline built the 10,000-square-foot facility to service his 25 vacuum trucks. The plant is permitted to handle 167,000 gpd using three plate-and-frame presses that dewater liquid slurries, reducing separated solids to a dry compressed cake. Pumpers can watch them in action as the trucks offload.

To reduce his sewer fees for discharging high-strength waste, Kline runs the filtrate through four sequential batch reactors. Oxygen bubbling through the wastewater lowers BOD, TSS, and nitrogen levels, making the liquid suitable for discharge into sewers.

The latest addition to Kline’s operation is a solidification or residual waste processing facility to treat car wash waste, printing house inks, and similar products. The waste is dumped into a pit and the water vacuumed off the top. Bulking agents such as sawdust or lime are then added to stiffen the mass for transport to a landfill.

Attendees also can watch vendors demonstrate their equipment at Kline’s Services. They’ll be using sludge, not sawdust and water. The symposium will give pumpers all the necessary information to write a business plan and solve their disposal issues.

Check our Web site at www.nawt.org for the latest updates on NAWT training programs and seminars.