Since 2014, Total Site Services of Haliburton, Ontario, has offered septic system installation, service and pumping in addition to a slate of services that includes drilling, blasting, excavation and installation of water wells and geothermal systems.

However, the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the septic service business is based on the land application of septage on nearby acreage owned by the company.

Total Site Services was recently approved for the addition of a lagoon system on the property, to allow storage of septage during seasons where land spreading isn’t possible. The lagoon will be constructed in four earthen-walled cells lined with clay and geotextile.

“The lagoon will give us more flexibility in the shoulder seasons,” says company owner Pat Casey. “Whether it’s raining, snowing or there’s frost in the ground, it expands the seasons where we can pump.”

The Municipality of Dysart favored rezoning, in part because its own municipal sewage treatment system was approaching full capacity.

“As part of the application, we offered to build a cell in the lagoon that will be reserved for the town, in case their sewage treatment plant goes down,” Casey says. “We could handle all of the septage generated in Haliburton County at our operation.”

Active in the industry

The province’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has been considering changes to its Nutrient Management Act, which governs land application of septage. Total Site Services has been actively working with the Ontario Association of Sewage Industry Services (OASIS) to develop an industry voice to help guide that process. In 2017, the company attended the Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT) Show to meet with OASIS members and discuss potential strategies regarding the issue.

One possible change to the regulations could involve the requirement that septage be treated to some degree before land application. Casey is already prepared for that eventuality.

“We can use one of the cells to transition into septage treatment if regulation by the ministry tells us to go in that direction,” he says. “We can install whatever equipment might be required by law and pretreat prior to application.”

Once the lagoons are built, the company plans to install trash pumps and retractable hose reels that will allow land application of septage — either treated or untreated — straight from the lagoons.

“It will be a very efficient system,” Casey says.