WISCONSIN - First POWTS evaluator certification
The Wisconsin Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association held its first Private Onsite Wastewater Treatment System evaluation course last month. The association developed a two-day training session that involved classroom and field training.
Classes covered ethics, policies and requirements, evaluator/client relationships and responsibilities, evaluation procedures from data collection through final reports, and other topics. The class concluded with the certification exam. The association intends to offer the course around the state. For more information, call 608/256-7757 or visit www.nowra.org.
VIRGINIA - Changing roles
The Virginia Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association Conference and Trade Show is Nov. 11-14 at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. The theme is New Rules, New Opportunities and New Partnerships: Exploring the Changing Roles of Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems. Educational offerings include sessions on business management, regulations, and technical practices. Jim Converse, Ph.D., is presenting A to Z of Onsite Wastewater, a NOWRA course for installers and inspectors. The NSF test is the following day. Call Crystal at 540/740-3329 or visit www.nowra.org/vowra.
ONTARIO - Rural Waste Water Treatment Expo
The Ontario Association of Sewage Industry Services is hosting its first Rural Waste Water Treatment Expo at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville on Oct. 18-19. The organization’s annual two-day conference follows. The District of Muskoka has invited attendees to tour its Golden Pheasant wastewater treatment plant, septage receiving station and a pilot biosolids composting site. Call 877/202-0082 or visit www.oasisontario.on.ca.
PENNSYLVANIA - Stormwater percolation testing
A Sewage Enforcement Officer, or SEO, in Northeast Pennsylvania was asked by a consultant to do stormwater percolation testing in municipalities where he was not employed. State regulations don’t address that activity, prompting the officer to ask in an e-mail to colleagues if they had any experience in this area.
Jack L. McSherry III, P.E., SEO, who writes engineering policy, replied that officers conducting such tests are “subject to the same restrictions as a testing lab and cannot act independently under their SEO license. This may seem odd, as it is the same perc test, yet it is the law. Therefore, the test must be under the review of a Professional Engineer. The consultant who hires the officer can act as the supervising P.E.
“All SEO work is engineering, yet not all engineering can be done by the SEO. Officers must operate within the special legislative box. To consult outside it could result in state charges. The fee for stormwater percolation testing is usually an hourly rate, often based on what officers charge townships to attend meetings.”
