Draft Epa Code of Practice – Onsite Wastewater Management

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Draft Epa Code of Practice – Onsite Wastewater Management GUIDELINES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT DRAFT EPA CODE OF PRACTICE – ONSITE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT Publication 1364 December 2010 1 DRAFT EPA CODE OF PRACTICE — ONSITE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 — OVERVIEW OF THE ONSITE WASTEWATER FRAMEWORK ........................ 5 1.1 Purpose ...........................................................................................................................5 1.2 Stakeholders .................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Wastewater definitions .....................................................................................................5 1.4 Scope ..............................................................................................................................6 1.4.1 Exclusions ....................................................................................................................................6 1.4.2 Sewered and unsewered areas ...................................................................................................6 1.5 Cumulative impacts ..........................................................................................................7 1.6 Legal framework ..............................................................................................................7 1.6.1 Environment Protection Act 1970.................................................................................................7 1.6.2 State environment protection policies ..........................................................................................8 1.6.3 Planning legislation and policies ..................................................................................................8 1.6.4 Australian Standards ....................................................................................................................9 1.7 Roles and responsibilities ................................................................................................9 1.7.1 EPA Victoria .............................................................................................................................. 10 1.7.2 Local government ...................................................................................................................... 10 1.7.3 Land capability assessors ......................................................................................................... 11 1.7.4 Building surveyors ..................................................................................................................... 12 1.7.5 Onsite wastewater system installers ......................................................................................... 12 1.7.6 Service agents ........................................................................................................................... 13 1.7.7 Property owners and occupiers ................................................................................................. 13 1.7.8 Water corporations .................................................................................................................... 14 1.8 Onsite wastewater treatment system approval processes .............................................. 14 1.8.1 Manufacturers’ certificate of approval process ......................................................................... 15 1.8.2 Property owners’ permit process ............................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 2 — INTRODUCTION TO ONSITE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT .................... 16 2.1 Sewage Management Options ............................................................................................ 16 2.1.1 Unsewered areas ...................................................................................................................... 16 2.1.2 Sewered areas .......................................................................................................................... 16 2.1.3 Onsite and cluster scale options ............................................................................................... 17 2.2 Effluent quality standards ............................................................................................... 18 2.2.1 Primary effluent standard .......................................................................................................... 18 2.2.2 Secondary effluent standard (20/30/10 and 20/30) ................................................................... 18 2.2.3 Advanced secondary effluent standard (10/10/10) ................................................................... 19 2.2.4 Secondary effluent standard with nutrient reduction ................................................................. 19 2.3 Principles of sustainable water resource management ................................................... 22 2.3.1 Waste hierarchy ........................................................................................................................ 22 2.3.2 Environmental sustainability ...................................................................................................... 22 2.3.3 Organic matter and nutrients ..................................................................................................... 22 2.3.4 Salts .......................................................................................................................................... 22 2.3.5 Small blocks .............................................................................................................................. 23 2.3.6 No offsite discharge of wastewater ........................................................................................... 24 2.4 Approved effluent dispersal and recycling systems ........................................................ 24 CHAPTER 3 — ONSITE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT IN UNSEWERED AREAS ............ 26 2 DRAFT EPA CODE OF PRACTICE — ONSITE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT 3.1 Onsite wastewater planning process .............................................................................. 26 3.2 Onsite treatment system options .................................................................................... 27 3.3 Wastewater generation .................................................................................................. 27 3.3.1 Minimum flow rates ................................................................................................................... 27 3.3.2 Increased flow rates .................................................................................................................. 27 3.3.3 High flow rates ........................................................................................................................... 28 3.3.4 Irregular and surge flows ........................................................................................................... 28 3.3.5 Intermittent flows ....................................................................................................................... 28 3.3.6 Reduced water flows ................................................................................................................. 29 3.3.7 Organic loads ............................................................................................................................ 29 3.4 Daily wastewater flow rates ............................................................................................ 29 3.4.1 Calculations for minimum daily domestic flow rates ................................................................. 29 3.5 Commercial premises .................................................................................................... 30 3.5.1 Organic loads from commercial premises ................................................................................. 30 3.5.2 Daily flow rates for community and commercial premises ........................................................ 31 3.6 Land capability assessment ........................................................................................... 33 3.6.1 LCA procedure .......................................................................................................................... 33 3.6.2 LCA independent review ........................................................................................................... 36 3.7 Onsite recycling and land dispersal options ................................................................... 36 3.7.1 Primary treated effluent land application systems .................................................................... 36 3.7.2 Secondary treated effluent land application systems ................................................................ 37 3.8 Advanced secondary treated greywater effluent (10/10/10) for indoor uses ................... 38 3.9 Setback distances .......................................................................................................... 39 3.10 Reserve areas ................................................................................................................ 41 3.11 System installation, use and maintenance ..................................................................... 41 3.12 Connection to sewer ...................................................................................................... 42 3.12.1 Split systems ............................................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Onsite Wastewater Treatment System (OWTS) Management in Humboldt County
    Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 1 ELIGIBILITY ................................................................................................................................................... 1 PROHIBITIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 2 VARIANCE PROHIBITION AREAS ....................................................................................................................... 2 PART 1 ‐SITE EVALUATION ................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 SOIL PROFILES ...................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 SOIL TESTING ....................................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 DEPTH TO GROUNDWATER DETERMINATIONS ........................................................................................... 6 1.4 REPORTING OF DATA............................................................................................................................. 8 1.5 DEH RESPONSIBILITIES FOR MONITORING WELL NOTIFICATIONS .................................................................... 8 PART 2 ‐DESIGN ..................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • CHAPTER 15 Small Alternative Wastewater Systems
    CHAPTER 15 Small Alternative Wastewater Systems 15.1 Preface 15.2 General Considerations 15.2.1 – Ownership 15.2.2 – Planning 15.3 Design Basis 15.3.1 – Hydraulic Loading 15.3.2 – Engineering Report 15.3.3 – Pollutant Loading 15.4 Preliminary Treatment 15.4.1 – Septic Tank Effluent Pumped (STEP) and Septic Tank Effluent Gravity (STEG) 15.4.1.1 –STEP Tanks 15.4.1.2 – STEG Tanks 15.4.2 – Grinder Pumps 15.4.3 – Grease and Oil 15.5 Secondary Treatment Design 15.5.1 Fixed Media Biological Reactors 15.5.1.1 – Granular Media Reactor 15.5.1.2 – Other Fixed Media Reactors 15.5.1.3 – Distribution and Underdrain System 15.5.1.3.1 – Spacing 15.5.1.3.2 – Sizing of Lines 15.5.1.4 – Recirculation Tank and Pump System 15.5.1.5 – Flow Splitter 15.5.1.6 – Dosing Chamber 15.6 Disinfection and Fencing 15.7 Oxidation Ponds and Artificial Wetlands 15.7.1 Oxidation Ponds) 15.7.2 Basis of Wetland Design 15.8 Lagoons 15.9 Package Activated Sludge Plants APPENDIX Appendix 15 Recirculation Tank / Pump System Example Calculation February 2016 15-1 Design Criteria Ch. 15 DECENTRALIZED DOMESTIC WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS 15.1 Preface This chapter presents the method to determine the proper design for decentralized wastewater treatment systems (DWWTS). DWWTS are systems that are not the traditional, centralized/regionalized wastewater treatment systems. DWWTS treat domestic, commercial and industrial wastewater using water tight collection, biological treatment, filtration and disinfection. These systems typically will utilize land application with either surface or subsurface effluent dispersal.
    [Show full text]
  • Toxicity Reduction Evaluation Guidance for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants EPA/833B-99/002 August 1999
    United States Office of Wastewater EPA/833B-99/002 Environmental Protection Management August 1999 Agency Washington DC 20460 Toxicity Reduction Evaluation Guidance for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants EPA/833B-99/002 August 1999 Toxicity Reduction Evaluation Guidance for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants Office of Wastewater Management U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Notice and Disclaimer The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, through its Office of Water, has funded, managed, and collaborated in the development of this guidance, which was prepared under order 7W-1235-NASX to Aquatic Sciences Consulting; order 5W-2260-NASA to EA Engineering, Science and Technology, Inc.; and contracts 68-03-3431, 68-C8-002, and 68-C2-0102 to Parsons Engineering Science, Inc. It has been subjected to the Agency's peer and administrative review and has been approved for publication. The statements in this document are intended solely as guidance. This document is not intended, nor can it be relied on, to create any rights enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States. EPA and State officials may decide to follow the guidance provided in this document, or to act at variance with the guidance, based on an analysis of site-specific circumstances. This guidance may be revised without public notice to reflect changes in EPA policy. ii Foreword This document is intended to provide guidance to permittees, permit writers, and consultants on the general approach and procedures for conducting toxicity reduction evaluations (TREs) at municipal wastewater treatment plants. TREs are important tools for Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) to use to identify and reduce or eliminate toxicity in a wastewater discharge.
    [Show full text]
  • A Case Study of a Small Diameter Gravity Sewerage System in Zolkiewka Commune, Poland
    water Article A Case Study of a Small Diameter Gravity Sewerage System in Zolkiewka Commune, Poland Tadeusz Nawrot *, Radosław Matz, Ryszard Błazejewski˙ and Marcin Spychała Department of Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Pi ˛atkowskaSt. 94A, 60-649 Pozna´n,Poland; [email protected] (R.M.); [email protected] (R.B.); [email protected] (M.S.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +48-61-848-77-29 Received: 31 July 2018; Accepted: 27 September 2018; Published: 29 September 2018 Abstract: This article presents a small diameter gravity sewerage system in a rural area. In this system, domestic wastewater was preliminarily treated in septic tanks equipped with outlet filters, so the effluent features were similar to those of clear water. Additionally, some outlets were equipped with floating-ball check valves to avoid backflow. One of the pressure mains was used as a gravity collector conveying septic tank effluent in the direction of the pumping station during pump idle time. The operation of the system was simulated using SWMM computer code. The simulation results were validated for data obtained from part of a sewerage system in Kolonia Zolkiew and Rozki village consisting of two pumping stations and 86 serviced households using polyethylene pipes of outer diameter 50–63 mm. The results of the measurement of the outflows from one pumping station are presented. The simulation results showed good agreement with the empirical data, especially after several simulation days. The greatest discrepancy during the start-up period was the consequence of the initial conditions describing the empty pipework.
    [Show full text]
  • Saskatchewan Onsite Watewater Disposal Guide
    Saskatchewan Onsite Wastewater Disposal Guide Third Edition November 2018 saskatchewan.ca TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................................... i Table of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................... ix 1 Definitions and Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. x 2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 2.1 Disclaimer ................................................................................................................................ 1 2.2 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... 1 2.3 Special Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... 2 3 Goals & Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 3 4 Other Regulations/Bylaws .................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Sewer System Management Plan
    SEWER SYSTEM MANAGEMENT PLAN Marshall Community Wastewater System March 2016 Updated March 2018 Updated August 2018 Prepared by Environmental Health Services Staff and Questa Engineering Corporation Marin County Environmental Health Services 3501 Civic Center Drive, Suite 236 San Rafael, CA 94913 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 I. GOALS 1 II. ORGANIZATION 1 III. LEGAL AUTHORITY 2 IV. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM 3 V. DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE PROVISIONS 3 VI. OVERFLOW EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN 3 VII. FATS, OILS, AND GREASE CONTROL PROGRAM 4 VIII. SYSTEM EVALUATION AND CAPACITY ASSURANCE PLAN 4 IX. MONITORING, MEASUREMENT AND PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS 5 X. SSMP PROGRAM AUDITS 5 XI. COMMUNICATION PROGRAM 5 Attachment A: Spill Prevention and Emergency Response Plan Attachment B: Summary of Monitoring and Reporting Program Requirements 2 Marshall Community Wastewater System SEWER SYSTEM MANAGEMENT PLAN INTRODUCTION This document constitutes the Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP) for the Marshall Community Wastewater Treatment System (Facility.) It has been prepared pursuant to State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Order No. 2006-0003-DWQ, Statewide General Waste Discharge Requirements for Sanitary Sewer Systems, and Order No. WQ-2013-0058- EXEC, Amending Monitoring and Reporting Program for Statewide General Waste Discharge Requirements for Sanitary Sewer Systems. The Facility serves approximately 50 homes and a few commercial properties in the community of Marshall, an unincorporated area of Marin County located along the eastern shore of Tomales Bay. The Facility includes wastewater collection, treatment, and subsurface disposal of effluent. Wastewater is collected from septic tanks serving and located at individual residential and commercial properties, conveyed by approximately two miles of 2 to 3-inch pressurized pipelines to a community treatment system, and then discharged to a community leachfield.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Do Onsite Wastewater Septic Systems Fail
    Why Do Onsite Wastewater (Septic) Systems Fail? Ask yourself: Under normal water use (wastewater be achieved without maintenance, including removal of flow) conditions … accumulated solids. • Are sewage drains sluggish? The breakdown of wastes, especially solids, begins in • Does sewage back up into the facility? the septic tank. However, wastewater treatment requires a • Have you had a wet, smelly spot in your yard? properly functioning absorption field. The field typically • Does your septic system discharge at the surface is either rock-filled trenches with perforated pipe or such as road ditch, draw, storm sewer, or stream? gravelless trenches, usually with chambers. • Is the system connected to a drain tile? The correct system size is determined by the amount of wastewater flow and the soil properties in the dispersal If you answered yes to any of these questions, your field. If the wastewater flow is greater than the soil can onsite wastewater system is failing. It is not treating accept, it often surfaces in the field or backs up into the and dispersing sewage in a safe, sanitary manner. Other house. A properly designed, constructed, maintained, evidences of onsite systems not working effectively and protected onsite system should treat wastewater include persistent bacteria or excess nitrate in nearby effectively for 20 to 40 years or more. However, wells and excessive aquatic plant growth in surface water. premature failure sometimes occurs. In Kansas, wastewater can legally be discharged only to a permitted community sewer and treatment facility or to a Causes of Septic System Failure permitted onsite wastewater system. Onsite systems must Common causes of system failure are inappropriate be located, designed, and operated in compliance with system selection, improper design, construction mistakes, the local sanitary code or the minimum state standards in physical damage, inadequate maintenance, and hydraulic Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), or organic overload.
    [Show full text]
  • DESIGN STANDARDS for WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS in the LAKE GEORGE BASIN March 2015
    DESIGN STANDARDS FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS IN THE LAKE GEORGE BASIN March 2015 www.dec.ny.gov Foreword The Clean Water Act (CWA) was enacted to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s surface waters. This was to be done by reducing direct pollutant discharges into waterways, financing municipal wastewater treatment facilities, developing technology necessary to eliminate the discharge of pollutants and by managing polluted runoff. In New York State, Article 17 of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL), “Water Pollution Control,” was enacted to protect and maintain both surface and groundwater resources. It authorized the creation of the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Program to protect New York's water resources. Pursuant to ECL Article 17 Section 1709, surface water discharges of sewage or treated sewage effluent to Lake George or other surface waters within the Lake George drainage basin are prohibited. Subsurface discharges of less than 1,000 gallons per day from an On-site Wastewater Treatment System (OWTS), without the admixture of industrial or other waste, are regulated by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and administered by local municipalities. Subsurface discharges of 1,000 gallons per day or more from an OWTS, without the admixture of industrial or other waste, must be covered by a SPDES permit issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). Design standards for large Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) have been updated independently by the Great Lakes-Upper Mississippi River Board of State and Provincial Public Health and Environmental Managers (GLUMRB) and the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC).
    [Show full text]
  • Effluent Sewer Technology Saves Excavation Cost on Rehab Project
    Page 1 of 3 Save Article Instructions Close Effluent Sewer Technology Saves Excavation Cost on Rehab Project By Bob Smith Older sewers are often plagued with inflow and infiltration (I&I), increasing flow and potentially overloading pump stations and treatment plants. Because of the difficulty of finding and correcting sources of I&I -- especially sources on private property -- and because of the high cost of replacing or repairing gravity sewers, communities often deal with this problem by simply accepting increased I&I and upsizing the treatment plant to accommodate the extra water. A simpler solution is to replace the gravity collection system with an effluent sewer system. Effluent sewers use small diameter (2-in.) pipe that can be “sleeved through” larger, failing gravity pipes using trenchless technology. For a Rhode Island developer, this particular benefit eliminated an unpredictable excavation cost and made a 2008 sewer rehab feasible. Wickford Village Apartments is a privately owned affordable-housing development in North Kingstown, RI. Converted in 1976 from military housing, the development consists of 70 one-bedroom units, 27 two-bedroom units, and 32 three- bedroom units, plus a community center and the Town’s police and fire station. Originally, the development was served by a gravity sewer with a large pump station that fed central septic tanks, with effluent going to a leach field. The AdvanTex Treatment System installed at Wickford Village includes eight AX100 pods, shown here during installation. Each pod is filled with hanging textile sheets, through which effluent recirculates. Click here to enlarge image null file://M:\Website documents\Whats New\s-effluent-sewer-technology-saves-excavation-cost-on-rehab-pr..
    [Show full text]
  • Orenco® Effluent Sewers FAQ Overview & Economics
    Orenco® Orenco® Effluent Sewers FAQ Overview & Economics Are effluent sewers an experimental technology? No. About 600 Orenco Effluent Sewers have been installed for municipal and commercial applications throughout the U.S. and Canada. The first effluent sewers were installed in the early 1980’s and Orenco has designed effluent sewer equipment and tracked many of its effluent sewer communities for more than 30 years. How do effluent sewer costs compare to those of other collection systems? The following tables provide a cost summary of capital, installation, and operational costs for effluent, grinder, gravity, and vacuum sewers, according to WERF’s Wastewater Planning Model, Version 1.0, www.werf.org/:/c/DecentralizedCost/Decentralized_Cost.aspx. Model output is based on a 200-unit example. Table 1. WERF Wastewater Planning Model: Effluent and Grinder Sewers Cost Description Effluent Sewer Grinder Sewer Cost of Collection Network $516,179 to $774,268 $525,950 to $788,925 Installation Cost of On-Lot $2,625 to $3,938 $4,291 to $6,436 Total Installation Cost $1,041,232 to $1,561,848 $1,384,090 to $2,076,135 Total System Cost / Connection $5,206 to $7,809 $6,920 to $10,381 Annual On-Lot O&M $63 to $78 $224 to $336 Table 2. WERF Wastewater Planning Model: Vacuum and Gravity Sewers Cost Description Vacuum Collection Gravity Sewer Cost of Collection Network $2,120,188 to $3,180,283 $3,092,330 to $4,638,494 Installation Cost of On-Lot $3,761 to $5,641 $726 to $1,088 Total Installation Cost $2,120,188 to $3,180,283 $4,638,494 to $5,001,322 Total System Cost / Connection $10,601 to $15,901 $23,192 to $25,007 Annual On-Lot O&M Maintained by Utility $16 to $24 Do effluent sewers require mandatory connections? Not if the funding agency doesn’t require it.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 DESIGN and CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS
    Chapter 2 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS FOR SEPTIC TANKS, SOIL ABSORPTION SYSTEMS, AND OTHER SMALL WASTEWATER SYSTEMS Section 1. Authority. This regulation is promulgated pursuant to the Wyoming Administrative Procedures Act, W.S. 16-3-101 et seq.; the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act, W.S. 35-11-101 through W.S. 35-11-2004; and W.S. 35-1-301 through 35-1-309. Specifically, W.S. 35-11-301 states that no person, except when authorized by permit, shall: construct, install, modify, or operate any small wastewater facility. W.S. 35-11-304 states that to the extent requested, authority to enforce and administer W.S. 35-11-30 I (a) (iii) and (v) shall be delegated to qualifying municipalities, water and sewer districts or counties. Section 2. Objective. This Chapter contains the minimum standards for the design and construction of small wastewater systems that are defined by W.S. 35-11-103(c)(ix). The following situations will require the application package to be sealed, signed, and dated by a professional engineer (PE): non-domestic wastewater from commercial and industrial facilities, high strength wastewater, individual permits to construct, or standard soil absorption systems with a soil percolation rate that is either less than 5 minutes per inch (mpi) or more than 60 minutes per inch (mpi). These standards pertain to permits required pursuant to Chapters 3 and 25, Wyoming Water Quality Rules and Regulations. The installation of all components of a small wastewater system require a permit to construct. Permits to construct are specified throughout this chapter as individual permits to construct, described in Chapter 3, Section 6 Wyoming Water Quality Rules and Regulations.
    [Show full text]
  • 20-Year Life Cycle Analysis of an Effluent Sewer
    ! Bill Cagle1*, Terry Cargil2, Roger Dickinson2 1 Orenco Systems®, Inc., Sutherlin, Oregon 2 City of Lacey, Washington *Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT A well-balanced O&M program for municipal effluent sewer (STEP) systems results in customer satisfaction and low life cycle costs. Too little maintenance — a “reactive maintenance” approach — leads to premature equipment failure and dissatisfied customers. However, too much maintenance can increase costs unnecessarily. Having tried both approaches over the course of 24 years, the City of Lacey, Washington, worked with its STEP equipment manufacturer to develop an O&M protocol that provides customers with service that is both satisfactory and economical, even when compared with O&M costs of other wastewater collection systems, such as gravity sewers. With substantially lower up-front capital and repair/replacement costs, and with O&M costs that are virtually the same as those of gravity sewers, the life cycle costs of Lacey’s STEP sewer are clearly lower than those of a typical gravity sewer. KEYWORDS: life cycle analysis, STEP sewer, effluent sewer, gravity sewer, City of Lacey, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, repair and replacement (R&R) costs, preventive maintenance, Full Service Maintenance (FSM), Bioxide Injection INTRODUCTION — LACEY’S STEP HISTORY The City of Lacey, Washington was an early adopter of a decentralized sewer technology known as STEP (Septic Tank Effluent Pump) sewers, in which raw sewage is captured in a watertight, underground tank at each property, and only filtered liquid effluent is pumped through shallowly buried, small-diameter collection lines to a treatment facility. Lacey has owned and operated STEP sewers since 1989.
    [Show full text]