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Report Information

Participants

The participants for this meeting were reported in NE1045. For more information see: http://www.nimss.org/seas/50021. NE1545 is a new project that started on October 1, 2015.

Brief Summary of Minutes

The minutes for this meeting were reported in NE1045.  For more information see: http://www.nimss.org/seas/50021.  NE1545 is a new project that started on October 1, 2015.   

Accomplishments

<p>The accomplishments for this meeting were reported in NE1045.&nbsp; For more information see: <a href="../50021">http://www.nimss.org/seas/50021</a>.&nbsp; NE1545 is a new project that started on October 1, 2015. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Publications

<p>The publications for this meeting were reported in NE1045.&nbsp; For more information see: <a href="../50021">http://www.nimss.org/seas/50021</a>.&nbsp; NE1545 is a new project that started on October 1, 2015. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Impact Statements

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Report Information

Participants

Name email Institution
Abit, Sergio sergio.abit@okstate.edu OSU
Amador, Jose jamador@uri.edu URI
Cooper, Jennifer jencooper@ufl.edu UFL
Heger, Sara sheger@umn.edu UMN
Lancellotti, Brittany blancellotti@my.uri.edu URI
Lee, Brad brad.lee@uky.edu UKY
Peixoto, Bianca bpeixoto10@my.uri.edu URI
Safferman, Steven SteveS@msu.edu MSU

Brief Summary of Minutes

1. The meeting began at approximately 1:00 pm Camelback B Room of theSheraton Grand Hotel in Phoenix, AZ. Eight individuals, representing six Land Grant institutions, attended the NE1545 project meeting (participant list is below).  Each representative institution delivered a brief update of NE1545 related activities for the reporting year October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.  Accomplishments of these research and outreach activities are noted in the Accomplishment section of this report.


2. Sara Heger provided an overview of the educational and research activities at the University of Minnesota (UM).  Recently the program has added two additional staff (one full time and one-part time) to assist in workshop delivery and research activities.  In the past year the UM trained over 2,000 septic system professionals including designers, engineers, installers, inspectors, maintainers and service providers.  Five training events were held geared towards community members and citizens.  The UM recently completed two research/outreach grant projects:  The NIFA funded tool for develop community septic system owners guides and the MnDOT funded Phase I evaluation of rest stops, weigh scales and truck stations.  Currently the program is involved in the following projects: optimizing septic tank performance, a Phase II evaluation of MnDOT facilities, reducing chloride from water softeners and impacts of use on tank pumping in the Ottertail Water Management District.


3. Jennifer Cooper from the University of Rhode Island reported on her research indicating that climate change may affect the composition and amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted from the soil treatment area (STA) of onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) in the Northeastern United States. Higher temperatures and water tables can affect treatment by reducing the volume of unsaturated soil and oxygen available for treatment, which may result in greater production of GHGs or a shift towards more potent GHGs (e.g. CO₂ and CH₄), and increasing the global warming potential. We used intact soil mesocosms to quantify the impact of climate change (30 cm elevation in water table, 5°C increase in soil temperature) on the GHG emissions from a conventional and two types of shallow narrow STAs. Conventional STAs receive wastewater from the septic tank, with infiltration occurring deeper in the soil profile. In contrast, shallow narrow STAs receive pre-treated wastewater that infiltrates higher in the soil profile.  Greater production of methane and carbon dioxide were observed from all STA types under climate change, however the increase was more pronounced in the conventional STA.  Production of nitrous oxide decreased under climate change for all STA types, however, the decrease was more pronounced in the shallow narrow STAs.  This may indicate a change in speciation of nitrogen gas from nitrous oxide to dinitrogen gas under climate change.  Under climate change the global warming potential due to GHG release increased for the conventional STAs, but decreased for the shallow narrow STAs.  Our results indicate that climate change can affect production and speciation of GHGs, with effects dependent on the gas and STA type.


4. Sergio Abit from Oklahoma State University presented his output from cooperative extension projects related to OWTS. Three main extension activities were completed: a) establishing a state-wide OWTS Professional Education Program, b) establishing an OWTS Training and Demonstration Facility, and c) Organizing the Inaugural Oklahoma Onsite Wastewater Conference. All of these activities were a collaborative effort of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma Certified Installers Association, and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.


5. Steven Safferman from Michigan State University reported on research associated with Objectives 2 and 4. Specifically, he discussed engineered reactive iron media to uptake and recover phosphorous.  The technology is close to being commercialized by the industrial partner. Compared to chemical treatment, less than 25% of greenhouse gas emissions are estimated.  An update was provided on researching the appropriate organic and hydraulic loading associated with the land treatment of food processing waste.  The advantages relative to greenhouse gas emissions was discussed.  He also discussed progress relative to Objective 4.  The MSUE Comprehensive Onsite Wastewater Management Education Program just initiated a new online program for designers and installers.  Completion of the classes results in 1.6 continuing education credits and/or 16 septage waste education credits.  The first five participants are currently taking the class.


6. The meeting concluded at 4:00 pm.

Accomplishments

<p><strong>Accomplishments (by project objective)</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>Outputs </strong></p><br /> <p><strong><em>Project Objective 2 &ndash; Develop new OWTS design criteria for the purposes of climate change adaptation and mitigation</em></strong></p><br /> <p><strong>University of Georgia findings</strong> &ndash; UGA research has been designed to determine what effect OWTS have of stream flow and water quality. Synoptic samples and discharge measurements of 24 watersheds in Metropolitan Atlanta with a range of OWTS density were taken under base flow conditions in spring, summer, and fall of 2011, 2012, and 2013.&nbsp; Our findings show that NO₃^- concentrations showed a linear increase with OWTS density above a threshold of about 100 OWTS per sq.km. There is also evidence that bacteria from OWTS are reaching the streams via groundwater flow during periods when water tables are high.</p><br /> <p>UGA staff continues to serve on an expert panel tasked with estimating the percent of the nitrogen (N) load from OWTS that was lost in the flow path from a typical home to third-order streams as part of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). These losses were referred to as attenuation factors. We developed values for the soil (unsaturated) zone and for the Piedmont and Coastal Plain groundwater zones. For the soil zone, we used the Soil Treatment Unit MODel (STUMOD) to estimate loses due to denitrification for all 12 soil textural classes and then averaged the results over three textural groups. Assuming hydraulic loading at the design rate and a conventional system, the attenuation factors were 16% for sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, and loam soils; 34% for silt loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and silt soils; and 54% for sandy clay, silty clay, and clay soils. Attenuation factors increased in the more clayey soils due to wetter conditions and more losses due to denitrification. These attenuation factors will be used to estimate the contribution of N to the Chesapeake Bay in the Phase 6 TMDL models. A final report has been submitted.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Minnesota</strong> findings &ndash;&nbsp; MnDOT Phase I - &nbsp;UMN published a final report regarding the risk analysis done at MnDOT facilities. This unique study evaluated the 52 existing subsurface OWTS at safety rest areas (SRA) travel information centers, truck stations and weigh scales at MnDOT facilities across MN. This three-year partnership brought together the septic expertise of the UMN with the MnDOT wastewater unit&rsquo;s agency and site knowledge. The goal of the assessments was to evaluate risk and provide a risk analysis ranking system.&nbsp; The project began with an extensive record search where many documents were digitized and a database of information created.&nbsp;&nbsp; The next step was development of a draft assessment protocol, which was pilot tested on five systems and refined based on those experiences.&nbsp; The full assessment included a preliminary review of the site, a facility assessment, effluent sampling, septic tank inspections, evaluation of advanced treatment units when present and an assessment of the soil treatment system.&nbsp; The information from the assessment was used to develop a risk ranking of all systems.&nbsp; This project and process is one that could be modified to evaluate facilities in other states or owned by other entities.</p><br /> <p>Throughout the course of the investigation, data was collected on over a 100 characteristics of the septic system at each of the 52 facilities.&nbsp; Overall, 45 of the 52 wastewater systems evaluated were in average to above average condition. Five facilities were found to be excellent with a score of 5; 14 were found to be above average with some areas for improvement with a score 4; and 26 systems scored 3 or average. The remaining 7 are most in need of repairs and/or replacement with a 2 or &lt;70% of an ideal system score.&nbsp;&nbsp; In addition, all systems with public safety and health issues are viewed to be below average until these issues are rectified.&nbsp; The risk assessment created can be used for planning purposes to prioritize capital upgrades, but only if a sustainable process is created and incorporated into the daily workload.&nbsp; A fact-based, rational, transparent, reproducible and systematic level of service needs to be identified.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>MnDOT Phase II - During the Phase I evaluation of the MnDOT septic system facilities numerous additional research areas arose which will be evaluated in this project.&nbsp; The first objective will be continuation and expansion of field-based verification of groundwater mounding to estimate the influence of larger wastewater treatment systems on groundwater systems.&nbsp; The second objective will continue and expand the water use study. For each of the 52 facilities an operation and maintenance manual will be created.&nbsp; A MnDOT septic system design manual for new projects to follow will be developed based on MnDOT and the state of Minnesota requirements. Toilet paper options for use at safety rest areas (SRA) will be evaluated.&nbsp; This project will also develop an educational display for each of the districts on water and wastewater treatment at SRAs.&nbsp; The impacts of water conditioning on six of the septic systems and the environment will be evaluated.&nbsp; At five other sites flammable waste traps will be tested and evaluated.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Optimizing Septic Tank Performance - </strong>The UMN continues work to on a project to optimize septic tank performance focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and capturing nutrients. This project aims to develop next generation septic systems focusing on nutrient recuperation, bioenergy generation and environmental protection by the implementation of a bio-electrochemical system. This project proposes to plug a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) into current septic tank systems in order to improve the water quality of septic tanks effluents, to recuperate phosphorus that can be used as fertilizer, to increase the production and collection of biogas for the bioenergy application and to decrease the greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. &nbsp;The experimentation to date has been in the lab and will move to the field, and the results obtained will be applied to modify current design of the septic tank systems. The project will evaluate the capital and operational costs of the implementation of such a system and assess the potential benefits. The technology developed during this project could be useful to thousands of rural communities, especially those that do not have access to centralized wastewater treatment facilities.</p><br /> <p><strong>Ottertail Use and Pumping Evaluation - </strong>The UMN is also evaluating the maintenance records of a large sanitary district, evaluating how use in the homes impacts the need for maintenance using records of sludge and scum accumulation. The Otter Tail Water Management District in Otter Tail County, MN is responsible for maintaining approximately 1,700 septic systems for residences in a 55-square mile area in northwestern MN.&nbsp; This study looked for correlations between household practices and the function of individual wastewater treatment systems in order to identify factors contributing high septic system success rates. Homeowner surveys were coupled with septic tank inspection and monitoring records kept by the District in an attempt to identify correlations.&nbsp; The final report will be published in early 2017 and will provide useful insight into management and use impacts on tank pumping and longevity.</p><br /> <p><strong>Reducing Chlorides from Water Softeners in Surface and Groundwater - </strong>A new grant project was initiated evaluating options to reduce chloride loads from water softening devices.&nbsp; Minnesota uses an increasing amount of salt (sodium chloride) to de-ice our roads, parking lots, and sidewalks (increased by 230% between 1991 and 2006) and to soften our water. Deicing salt infiltrates into roadside soils during snowmelt events or directly runs off into surface waters. Water-softening salt is often discharged from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) to surface waters and also from private OWTS directly into adjacent soils. When water is softened to remove hardness, salt is used to regenerate the softener releasing chloride to OWTS and WWTP. Monitoring to date has shown numerous WWTP with discharge concentrations greater than limits for protecting aquatic life. Greater MN may have similar problems, given the prevalence of private OWTS near lakes and streams. While the contribution of chloride from softening is less than from road salt, this may be the &ldquo;low hanging fruit&rdquo; in the reduction of salt use because it is not related to public safety.&nbsp; By better understanding softening salt use, we will determine potential methods required to make significant progress in the reduction of this salt use. Minimizing the impacts of increased use of salt to surface waters and groundwater in MN is necessary because it is impractical and costly to remove it.</p><br /> <p>This project will quantify the current water softening salt loads in MN, assess alternative softening materials and methods and quantify the transport of chloride from de-icing and softening through the soil. This project will enable us to minimize the long-term impacts of de-icing and softening salt on surface waters and groundwater across MN. The outcome of this project is to enhance strategies that improve water quality by providing methods to reduce the chloride load from water softening and developing tools that predict salt movement through the soil. The methods and tools developed during this project will inform state, municipal and private entities using de-icing salt, municipal WWTP operators, and thousands of rural communities.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Rhode Island&nbsp;</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>URI: Water-filled pore space and soil-based wastewater treatment of nitrogen.&nbsp; </strong>Water-filled pore space (WFPS) exerts an important control on microbial N removal in soil-based wastewater treatment.&nbsp; Current understanding of the effects of WFPS on wastewater N removal is from incubation of surface soils with clean, oxygenated water.&nbsp; However, wastewater has high levels of organic C, nutrients, microorganisms, and a low O₂ level, and is treated in subsurface soil horizons with a residence time of hours. We examined how adjusting WFPS with septic tank effluent (STE), sand filter effluent (SFE) or deionized water (DW) affected N₂O and N₂ production in B (silt loam) and C (very gravelly coarse sand) horizon soil.&nbsp; Nitrous oxide production/consumption by soil microorganisms &ndash; normalized by water volume added &ndash; was highest at a WFPS of 0.10 &ndash; 0.30, decreasing with increasing WFPS for all soil and water types.&nbsp; Carbon and NO₃ additions did not affect N₂O production in soil receiving SFE or STE, respectively. When STE, SFE or DW amended with ¹⁵NH₄ was used to adjust WFPS, conversion to N gases was highest (4&ndash;6 % for DW; 1&ndash;2% for STE and SFE) at the lowest WFPS (0.10). Normalized production of ¹⁵N₂ was ~100&times; higher than ¹⁵N₂O, and both decreased exponentially with increasing WFPS. Production of ¹⁵N₂ varied linearly with ¹⁵N₂O for most water and soil types, suggesting strong coupling of processes. Our results differ from those using surface soils and clean water, and suggest that N removal in soil-based wastewater treatment needs to be based on experiments using subsurface horizons and wastewater at relevant timescales.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>URI: Diminished OWTS performance in coastal regions due to climate change.&nbsp; </strong>Climate change may affect the ability of soil-based onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) to treat wastewater in coastal regions of the Northeastern United States. Higher temperatures and water tables can affect treatment by reducing the volume of unsaturated soil and oxygen available for treatment, which may result in greater transport of pathogens, nutrients, and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅) to groundwater, jeopardizing public and aquatic ecosystem health. The soil treatment area (STA) of an OWTS removes contaminants as wastewater percolates through the soil. Conventional STAs receive wastewater from the septic tank, with infiltration occurring deeper in the soil profile. In contrast, shallow narrow STAs receive pre-treated wastewater that infiltrates higher in the soil profile, which may make them more resilient to climate change. We used intact soil mesocosms to quantify the water quality functions of a conventional and two types of shallow narrow STAs under present climate (PC; 20&deg;C) and climate change (CC; 25&deg;C, 30 cm elevation in water table). Significantly greater removal of BOD₅&nbsp;was observed under CC for all STA types. Phosphorus removal decreased significantly from 75% (PC) to 66% (CC) in the conventional STA, and from 100% to 71&ndash;72% in shallow narrow STAs. No fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) were released under PC, whereas up to 17 and 20 CFU 100 mL^-1&nbsp;were released in conventional and shallow narrow STAs, respectively, under CC. Total N removal increased from 14% (PC) to 19% (CC) in the conventional STA, but decreased in shallow narrow STAs, from 6&ndash;7% to less than 3.0%. Differences in removal of FCB and total N were not significant. Leaching of N in excess of inputs was also observed in shallow narrow STAs under CC. Our results indicate that climate change can affect contaminant removal from wastewater, with effects dependent on the contaminant and STA type.</p><br /> <p><strong>URI: Accuracy of Rapid Tests Used for Analysis of Advanced OWTS Effluent.</strong> &nbsp;Rapid tests provide an inexpensive, desirable alternative to standard laboratory analyses for testing advanced onsite wastewater treatment system (OWTS) effluent in the field. Despite their potential utility, their accuracy for analysis of effluent from advanced OWTS has not been assessed. We evaluated the accuracy of an initial suite of rapid tests commonly used to analyze wastewater (test strips for ammonium, pH, nitrate, and alkalinity; pH pocket meter; titration kit for dissolved oxygen (DO)) by comparing values obtained in the field to values obtained using standard laboratory methods. We tested final effluent from three different advanced nitrogen removal OWTS technologies sampled monthly for 7&nbsp;months at 42 different sites within the greater Narragansett Bay watershed in Rhode Island. Significant differences between values obtained using field and laboratory methods were found only for nitrate and pH test strips when the data were analyzed using ANOVA on ranks. However, regression analysis indicated that all test strip-based rapid methods and the DO titration kit produced values that deviated significantly from correspondence with laboratory analyses. When effluent samples were analyzed in the laboratory (to minimize sources of variability) using the same rapid tests, significant differences between rapid tests and standard analysis disappeared for all the tests. Evaluation of a suite of alternative rapid tests for ammonium, nitrate, pH, and alkalinity indicated that test kits for NH₄⁺&nbsp;and multi-analysis test strips for pH provide accurate results in the field. Our results indicate that the accuracy of rapid tests needs to be evaluated under field conditions before they are used to assess effluent from advanced N-removing OWTS.</p><br /> <p><strong>URI: Modeling nitrogen losses in conventional and advanced soil-based OWTS under current and changing climate conditions.</strong> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Most of the non-point source nitrogen (N) load in rural areas is attributed to onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS). Nitrogen compounds cause eutrophication, depleting the oxygen in marine ecosystems. OWTS rely on physical, chemical and biological soil processes to treat wastewater and these processes may be affected by climate change. We simulated the fate and transport of N in different types of OWTS drainfields, or soil treatment areas (STA) under current and changing climate scenarios, using 2D/3D HYDRUS software. Experimental data from a mesocosm-scale study, including soil moisture content, and total N, ammonium (NH₄⁺) and nitrate (NO₃^-) concentrations, were used to calibrate the model. A water content-dependent function was used to compute the nitrification and denitrification rates. Three types of drainfields were simulated: (1) a pipe-and-stone (P&amp;S), (2) advanced soil drainfields, pressurized shallow narrow drainfield (PSND) and (3) Geomat (GEO), a variation of SND. The model was calibrated with acceptable goodness-of-fit between the observed and measured values. Average root mean square error (RSME) ranged from 0.18 and 2.88 mg L^-1&nbsp;for NH₄⁺and 4.45 mg L^-1&nbsp;to 9.65 mg L^-1&nbsp;for NO₃^-&nbsp;in all drainfield types. The calibrated model was used to estimate N fluxes for both conventional and advanced STAs under current and changing climate conditions, i.e. increased soil temperature and higher water table. The model computed N losses from nitrification and denitrification differed little from measured losses in all STAs. The modeled N losses occurred mostly as NO₃^-&nbsp;in water outputs, accounting for more than 82% of N inputs in all drainfields. Losses as N₂&nbsp;were estimated to be 10.4% and 9.7% of total N input concentration for SND and Geo, respectively. The highest N₂&nbsp;losses, 17.6%, were estimated for P&amp;S. Losses as N₂&nbsp;increased to 22%, 37% and 21% under changing climate conditions for Geo, PSND and P&amp;S, respectively. These findings can provide practitioners with guidelines to estimate N removal efficiencies for traditional and advanced OWTS, and predict N loads and spatial distribution for identifying non-point sources. Our results show that N losses on OWTS can be modeled successfully using HYDRUS. Furthermore, the results suggest that climate change may increase the removal of N as N₂&nbsp;in the drainfield, with the magnitude of the effect depending on a drainfield type.</p><br /> <p><strong>URI: Nitrogen transformations in different types of soil treatment areas receiving domestic wastewater.</strong> &nbsp;Removal of N within the soil treatment area (STA) of OWTS is attributed to heterotrophic denitrification, with N lost to the atmosphere as N_2.&nbsp;However, the evidence supporting heterotrophic denitrification as the sole process for N removal is scant. We used&nbsp;¹⁵NH₄⁺&nbsp;to follow N transformations in intact soil mesocosms representing a conventional STA receiving anoxic, C-rich wastewater, and two shallow-placed STAs receiving partially oxygenated, low-C wastewater. Nitrogen losses in the gas phase took place almost exclusively as&nbsp;¹⁵N₂&nbsp;in all STA types. We observed 10²&ndash;10³times higher flux of N₂&nbsp;than N₂O in all STAs, as well as net production of&nbsp;¹⁵N₂&nbsp;and&nbsp;¹⁵N₂O near the infiltrative surface and at greater depths in the soil profile.&nbsp;<em>In situ</em>&nbsp;net production of&nbsp;¹⁵NH₄⁺&nbsp;suggested internal recycling of inorganic N in all STAs. The constraints imposed by differences in availability of electron donors and acceptors and soil physicochemical parameters in different STAs, point to autotrophic N removal processes (<em>e.g.</em>, anaerobic ammonia oxidation, autotrophic denitrification) as playing an important role in N removal. Our results suggest that N removal occurs at all depths of the STA, with losses due to both autotrophic and heterotrophic processes. Optimization of autotrophic N removal processes in the STA warrants further research efforts and may provide improved N removal.</p><br /> <p><strong>URI: Transport of&nbsp;<em>Escherichia coli</em>&nbsp;in a soil-based OWTS under simulated climate change conditions.&nbsp; </strong>Bacteria removal efficiencies in a conventional soil-based wastewater treatment system (OWTS) have been modeled to elucidate the fate and transport of&nbsp;<em>E. coli</em>&nbsp;bacteria under environmental and operational conditions that might be expected under changing climatic conditions. The HYDRUS 2D/3D software was used to model the impact of changing precipitation patterns, bacteria concentrations, hydraulic loading rates (HLRs), and higher subsurface temperatures at different depths and soil textures. Modeled effects of bacteria concentration shows that greater depth of treatment was required in coarser soils than in fine-textured ones to remove&nbsp;<em>E. coli</em>. The initial removal percentage was higher when HLR was lower, but it was greater when HLR was higher. When a biomat layer was included in the transport model, the performance of the system improved by up to 12.0%. Lower bacteria removal (&lt;5%) was observed at all depths under the influence of precipitation rates ranging from 5 to 35 cm, and 35-cm rainfall combined with a 70% increase in HLR. Increased subsurface temperature (23&deg;C) increased bacteria removal relative to a lower temperature range (5&ndash;20&deg;C). Our results show that the model is able to effectively simulate bacteria removal and the effect of precipitation and temperature in different soil textures. It appears that the performance of OWTS may be impacted by changing climate.</p><br /> <p>Six undergraduate, one M.S. and two Ph.D. students, three Research Assistants, and two principal investigators participated in these URI research efforts, which resulted in the publication of 5 peer-reviewed papers (an additional one is in review), one doctoral dissertation, and 11 abstracts.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Tennessee at Knoxville in cooperation with the University of Georgia</strong> used the HYDRUS computer model to simulate chloride (a common conservative constituent in wastewater) movement in three dimensions from an emitter for three weeks under a winter and a summer scenario using typical values for precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in north Georgia. The simulated hydraulic loading rates were based on soil texture and assumed a new housing development that is only partially built out.&nbsp; Based on our results, we recommend increasing the emitter spacing from 60 cm (24 in) to 90 cm (36 in) for Group I (sand, loamy sand, silt, and silt loam) and Group II (sandy loam and loam) soils.&nbsp; Using hydraulic loading rates that are approximately 25% of design, HYDRUS modeling found overlap of effluent plumes from adjacent emitters.&nbsp; One of the primary advantages of drip dispersal is to minimize saturated flow and thus maximize the water contact time with soil particles surfaces.&nbsp; This work indicates that the 60 cm (24 in) placement of laterals and emitters may cause zones of greater soil moisture conditions between the emitters.&nbsp; If creating denitrifying conditions is an objective of the absorption system, then the closer spacing could enhance this process.&nbsp; However, if the primary objective of the dispersal system is to return reclaimed water back into the hydrologic cycle, then increasing the lateral and emitter spacing can be a less costly means of accomplishing that task.</p><br /> <p>Seniors in Biosystems Engineering at the University of Tennessee must complete a senior design course sequence.&nbsp; John Buchanan served as a mentor to one group that designed a sequencing batch reactor that included a moving bed bioreactor.&nbsp; The students designed this reactor to be controlled by ammonia sensors rather than by time.&nbsp; As a batch reactor, the aeration was maintained until the ammonia level dropped below the predetermined concentration.</p><br /> <p><strong>Michigan State University (MSU) findings</strong> &ndash; Land treatment of food processing wastewater can irrigate a crop, provide nutrients, recharge aquifers, reduce energy use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save resources.&nbsp; However, when excessive carbon is land applied, the soil becomes anaerobic and several metals become mobile when reduced.&nbsp; Although aerobic conditions prevent metal mobilization, denitrification is inhibited under this condition.&nbsp; Critical for land application is pretreatment and strategic organic and hydraulic loadings to maximize efficient waste management and minimize environmental impacts.&nbsp; A long-term field study is ongoing that includes direct soil oxygen and moisture monitoring using remote sensors and site visits to make visual observations.&nbsp; Results show that the control of hydraulic and organic loadings prevent metal mobilization. However, with higher levels of oxygen in the soil, nitrate release may have occurred as denitrification is inhibited. Studies using wastewater pretreatment and cropping strategies are being investigated. Modeling efforts are also underway. The outcome is a change in action and condition in that careful operations and design allow food processors to continue using this land application.&nbsp; Additionally, using onsite application of wastewater, as compared to treatment in a traditional activated sludge process, reduces greenhouse gas emissions.&nbsp; Reductions are achieved by not using energy for wastewater aeration, carbon dioxide uptake by the plants grown when using the wastewater, and reduced production of industrial nutrients.</p><br /> <p>To remove and recycle phosphorous, an engineered reactive iron media coated with nano iron was investigated.&nbsp; The media's surface precipitates phosphorus from wastewater in a static column.&nbsp; Such a system requires minimum maintenance, critical for onsite wastewater applications.&nbsp; Phosphorus removal from wastewater is an environmentally critical issue and the recovery of this scarce commodity reduces greenhouse gas emissions, saves funds, and conserves a valuable natural resource.&nbsp; Activities for this objective entailed testing the media that have been produced by MetaMateria Technologies, LLC, (Columbus, OH) and comparing its utility to other methods to remove and recover phosphorus.&nbsp; Performance was evaluated using simulated farm tile drain water and actual wastewater from onsite treatment systems and municipal wastewater treatment plants.&nbsp; In addition to bench-scale and isotherm testing, a field demonstration using a monolith of media wrapped in fiberglass to form a rector was tested.&nbsp; This prototype is envisioned to be representative of an actual production module.&nbsp; These activities help realize the objectives of developing design criteria for a new approach to remove and reuse phosphorus.&nbsp; Results demonstrated that using the media at the lab scale with an EBCT of 1 hour achieved effluent levels consistently below 0.5 mg/L when the initial concentration was just over 1 mg/L. If the wastewater had no pretreatment, with a starting phosphorus levels of about 7 mg/L, a reduction to just under 1 mg/L resulted. During the field test, the level of phosphorus was reduced from approximately 7.2 mg/L to 0.3 mg/L using an EBCT of 1.5 hours.&nbsp; The modeling effort showed that the Langmuir Isotherm provided a very good fit but underestimated the media&rsquo;s capacity. A multiple linear regression model very successfully related the media&rsquo;s capacity to EBCT, breakthrough, and days of operation.&nbsp; Outcomes include change in action and condition. A manuscript is currently being prepared and conference proceedings completed.</p><br /> <p><strong>Rutgers University - </strong>Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCP) are chemicals that have frequent household use.&nbsp; As a consequence, they contribute to the sewage stream where they are partially degraded during the wastewater treatment process, with the untransformed portion ultimately entering the environment.&nbsp; Furthermore, this is a concern if low levels remain in surface or ground water that serve as drinking water.&nbsp; Not only do these compounds have medicinal effects, but they could also behave as endocrine disruptors and have an effect on hormone responses in organisms within ecosystems.&nbsp; There is virtually no research into the fate of these chemicals in OWTS, and only very limited information has been reported in centralized municipal wastewater treatment systems.&nbsp; We have chosen to initially target the fate of PPCPs in the latter environment, as these facilities treat a larger volume of waste with more diverse microorganisms. Once we have identified degradation processes and key microorganisms, we can apply this knowledge to decentralized OWTS.</p><br /> <p>We have evaluated the toxicity of eight PPCPs (naproxen, diphenhydramine, atenolol, bisphenol-A, octylphenol, nonylphenol, triclosan, ibuprofen) to the microbial community of the anaerobic digester.&nbsp; There were a variety of responses, ranging from nearly complete inhibition of methanogenesis to enhanced methane production.&nbsp; Toxicity to methanogens was also varied when metabolites of naproxen and diphenhydramine were tested.&nbsp; We also found that the composition and distribution of the microbial community changed with the addition of individual PPCPs.&nbsp; This is important for predicting the likelihood that parent compounds and degradation products will be found in the environment.&nbsp; It is unlikely to see complete substrate mineralization if specific groups within the microbial community are inhibited by the presence of the PPCPs.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>We are currently refining and continue to enrich cultures that are able to degrade PPCPs.&nbsp; We have identified transformation products of atenolol, naproxen, and diphenhydramine and are characterizing the microbial communities involved in the biotransformation process.&nbsp; This information will help us to identify and track metabolites in the environment. Furthermore, as we understand more about the responsible members of the microbial community, we can begin to identify genes that can be used as biomarkers for these organisms.&nbsp; These data are essential for understanding the fate of these compounds as we begin to apply this knowledge to scenarios such as droughts or increasing ambient temperatures that will result from climate change.</p><br /> <p>One Ph.D., two M.S., one B.S., and three undergraduate students were involved in this Rutgers University research.</p><br /> <p><strong>Activities&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong><em>Project Objective 4 &ndash; OWTS Training and Outreach Education</em></strong></p><br /> <p><strong>University of Georgia</strong> &ndash; On June 13 - 17, 2016 UGA staff held a Level II soils workshop for 27 new Georgia Department of Health employees, including a test at the end.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Minnesota &ndash; </strong>During the reporting period, the UMN trained over 2,000 septic professionals in Minnesota in over 50 training events and also delivered training in SD, ND, IA, WI, IL, at the request of states, counties and professional organizations. &nbsp;UMN developed and implemented new hands-on troubleshooting training focused on advanced technology, collection and cluster systems. UMN staff planned and organized the educational program for a 2015 annual conference in partnership with the MN Onsite Wastewater Association.&nbsp; In addition, staff assisted in the organization and delivery of the NOWRA annual conference in 2015.</p><br /> <p>The UMN along with its partner completed work on the development of community septic system owner&rsquo;s guides (CSOG).&nbsp; This USDA grant funded project has developed a wastewater decision-making tool for consumers to help to transform rural wastewater management by developing a customizable CSOGs. The website H2OandM.com is a web-interface that allows an individual to produce an expert-driven and locally-customized manual (electronic or hard-copy) CSOG for any single family or cluster soil-based OWTS in America. This tool provides users with fundamental information about the operation and management of various wastewater management systems. A OWTS practitioner or decision maker can use this tool to produce a management plan for either a new or existing OWTS. The developer of any given CSOG is able to assemble a professionally designed guide by selecting situation-specific boilerplate language and graphics and inserting customized content to integrate system-specific permit and ordinance requirements. The tool is now available at H2OandM.com</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Tennessee at Knoxville - </strong>J. Buchanan conducted a continuing education workshop for service providers of advanced wastewater treatment systems in TN.&nbsp; Service providers must sit through a 12-hour workshop and pass an examination in order to be certified.&nbsp; Eight people participated in this workshop and became certified Operation and Maintenance professionals in 2016.&nbsp; J. Buchanan was involved with 6 educational sessions during 2016 and spoke to 150 people about septic system installation, operation, and maintenance.&nbsp;&nbsp; The scope of these events ranged from meeting with individuals seeking knowledge about their systems, community-level discussions about high OWTS failure rates, state-level meetings with regulators, engineers and soil scientists, to presentations at national meetings.</p><br /> <p><strong>Oklahoma State University</strong> &ndash; OSU organized its Inaugural Oklahoma Onsite Wastewater Treatment Conference on October 9, 2015. The 153 participants who attended the Conference were composed of Regulators, Sanitarians, Soil Profilers, Certified Installers, Extension Educators and representatives from various Native American Nations.&nbsp; After completing an OSU-led a multi-agency curriculum mapping effort to establish a state-wide OWTS Curriculum, course materials have been developed and tested by delivering to target audiences. Some video modules were also developed. OSU also collaborated with the Department of Environmental Quality in conducting two soil profiler certification courses that served 6 participants. The OSU specialist on OWTS also delivered two seminars to various stakeholders. Three short-term courses designed for Extension Educators (two of which were delivered online) were also conducted during the reporting period. We unveiled the Oklahoma OWTS Training and Demonstration Facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma on September 29, 2016. The facility has above-ground operational mock-ups of the various systems that are permitted in OK.</p><br /> <p><strong>Michigan State University</strong> &ndash; The Michigan State University Extension Onsite Wastewater Education Program continues.&nbsp; The program includes homeowner and professional education events and the production of a public service announcement. &nbsp;Approximately 200 homeowners attended one of the Extension outreach programs.&nbsp; The advantage of OWTS in regard to energy savings is included. A new 16 hour online training module is now on line for designers and installers.&nbsp; Five students are currently enrolled.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Rhode Island</strong> &ndash; During the reporting period, the URI project team delivered 16 talks (6 of which were invited), 6 posters, and 1 webinar to academic and professional audiences throughout the U.S. &nbsp;These OWTS and climate change presentations were delivered at conferences in RI, CT, MA, CA, MN, and VA; reaching scientists, wastewater practitioners, board of health officials, regulatory decision makers and coastal resource managers.&nbsp; In addition, we published 5 peer-reviewed papers and one is in review, one doctoral dissertation, and 11 abstracts. The team delivered a total of 38 workshops/ classes in 4 states in the region, reaching a total of nearly 514 practitioners, decision makers and students. These classes provided continuing education credits needed by over 383 licensed professionals to renew their professional licenses.&nbsp; Classes included indoor and outdoor hands-on venues and ranged from half-day to two-day venues.&nbsp; Four of the classes had qualifying exams.&nbsp; During the report period, URI scientists have provided direct OWTS technical assistance to:&nbsp; Peconic Estuary, NY; Suffolk County Health Dept., NY; and, Westbrook, CT Water Pollution Control Authority. URI conducted required classes which enabled 37 RI and MA wastewater practitioners to receive regulatory jurisdiction approval to design and install bottomless sand filters.</p><br /> <p><strong>Rutgers University &ndash; </strong>During the reporting period two presentations and three posters were presented at professional meetings.&nbsp; Three manuscripts are currently in preparation and two will be submitted by end of 2016.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Publications

Impact Statements

1. Indicators of Impact - URI staff educated 212 wastewater practitioners about advanced OWTS in the NE region (80 of which work in RI), helping to raise the knowledge base and proficiency of these OWTS designers. Approximately, 30% of all OWTS applications that designers submit to the RIDEM are for advanced OWTS. Use of nitrogen removal OWTS are now required in state-designated watersheds that are nitrogen sensitive. This has helped protect these watersheds and groundwater from further degradation.

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Report Information

Participants

Sergio Abit, Oklahoma State Univ.
Jose Amador, Univ. of Rhode Island
Jennifer Cooper, Univ. of Florida
Alissa Cox, Univ. of Rhode Island
Sarina Ergas, Univ. of South Florida
Kabreab Ghebremichael , Univ. of South Florida
Mussie Habteselassie, Univ. of Georgia
Emma Lopez, Univ. of South Florida
Steven Safferman, Michigan State Univ.
Sara Wigginton, Univ. of Rhode Island

Brief Summary of Minutes

1. The meeting began at approximately 1:00 pm. Ten individuals, representing six institutions, attended the NE1545 project meeting.  Each representative institution delivered a brief update of NE1545 related activities for the reporting year October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.  Accomplishments from these research and outreach activities are noted in the Accomplishment section of this report.


2.  presentation and tour of the University of South Florida/Hillsborough County Northwest Water Reclamation Facility (NWWRF) pilot plant was conducted by Sarina Ergas, Emma Lopez, and Kebreab Ghebremichael from USF.  Screened raw wastewater from the NWWRF flows to a septic tank that feeds two pilot scale Hybrid Adsorption Biological Treatment Systems (HABiTS).  Wastewater flow rates are controlled by pumps and timers and effluent is returned to the headworks of the NWWRF.  Both systems are considered “passive” treatment systems, where advanced treatment of onsite wastewater is provided without mechanical aeration or extensive use of pumping.  In Stage 1, a natural zeolite material, clinoptilolite, is used as an NH₄⁺ IX medium in aerobic nitrifying packed bed reactors (PBRs).  In Stage 2, saturated PBRs containing scrap tire chips as a NO₃^- IX medium are combined with sulfur pellets and crushed oyster shells to promote sulfur oxidizing denitrification.  One of the system incorporates effluent recirculation in Stage 1.  Visitors viewed a presentation on the research and review of current data followed by a tour of the facility with representatives from USF and Hillsborough County.


3. Mussie Habteselassie from University of Georgia informed the group that long-time colleague, David Radcliffe, has retired from UGA.  Mussie informed the group of three new publications and three outreach training classes UGA produced during the report period.


4. Sara Wigginton from the University of Rhode Island reported on her research investigating the microbial communities of three nitrogen removing advanced onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) widely used in RI. Microorganisms containing nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) genes were much more abundant than ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) genes within advanced OWTS microbial populations for all advanced N-reducing OWTS designs. The aerated zones within Septic-Tech systems had significantly higher populations of amoA containing microbes than the anaerobic zones of the same tank design. Advantex aerated zones contained significantly higher nosZ populations than FAST tank aerated zones. There were no differences in species diversity or composition between the three different advanced OWTS designs tested. The most prevalent amoA species was Nitrosomonas oligotropha and the most prevalent nosZ species was a Pseudomonas spp. URI’s role in testing layered STAs in collaboration with the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Testing Center (MASSTC) was also discussed. We will be performing similar microbial analyses on layered STAs, as well as monitoring N removal efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions as a function of STA design.


5. Jennifer Cooper (currently at the University of Florida) reported on her continued research with the University of Rhode Island related to DNA sequencing methods to compare the microbial community composition in onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) using intact soil mesocosms.


6. Alissa Cox from the University of Rhode Island reported on two current research projects related to OWTS and climate change – assessing the influence of sea level rise on groundwater tables adjacent to existing OWTS along the Southern RI Coast to assess influence of sea level rise, and evaluation of plant species that can be used with plant-based OWTS designs to help mitigate the impacts of climate change.


7. Sergio Abit from Oklahoma State University presented his output from cooperative extension projects related to OWTS. In addition to the usual stakeholders that were reached by the extension program, he expanded his extension activities to include home builders, realtors, 4H members and summer campers.  He also organized the 2^nd Oklahoma Onsite Wastewater Conference which was attended by 168 participants from various stakeholder groups across the State. He also reported the increasing utilization of the OWTS Training and Demonstration Facility for Tours, Training and classes.


8. Steven Safferman from Michigan State University reported on research associated with Objectives 2 and 3. Specifically, he provided an update on research on the appropriate organic and hydraulic loading associated with the land treatment of food processing waste.  The advantages relative to treatment cost and greenhouse gas emissions was estimated.  Additionally, a new finite element modeling effort using the HYDRUS Wetland Module was discussed.   Included was a comparison of model derived results and data from a laboratory experiment using larger-scale soil trenches. He also discussed progress relative to Objective 4.  The MSUE Comprehensive Onsite Wastewater Management Education Program.  The facilitated online program for designers and installers is now being offered for the third time and approximately 20 professionals have participated.  Completion of the classes results in 1.6 continuing education credits and/or 16 septage waste education credits.   The homeowner programs continues to be offered.  A new folder was developed that is distributed during workshops.  This resource defines onsite wastewater and provides important operational and maintenance procedures.  Also included are a grid to plot the location of structures, drives, and the onsite wastewater system and a maintenance log.  As part of this objective, a short public service announcement was produced for homeowners and policy makers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtppgvPlOCU&feature=youtu.be).


9. Details of the efforts noted above are included under Objectives 2 and 4 in the Outputs Section of this report.


10. The meeting concluded at 4:00 pm.

Accomplishments

<p><strong>Outputs </strong></p><br /> <p><strong><em>Project Objective 2 &ndash; Develop new OWTS design criteria for the purposes of climate change adaptation and mitigation</em></strong></p><br /> <p><strong>University of Minnesota findings &ndash;&nbsp; MnDOT Phase II</strong></p><br /> <p>During previous research with the Minnesota Department of Transportation additional research areas arose which will be evaluated in this project.&nbsp; The key aspects are:</p><br /> <ol><br /> <li>Evaluating water tables and groundwater mounding at 20 existing systems with a combination of automated water level recorders and analog hand monitoring between early April through mid-November. Questions to answer - what level of vertical separation to a periodically saturated condition is maintained at each of these sites; and does the groundwater below these systems mound up either during high wastewater discharge times or wet climatic periods.</li><br /> <li>This project evaluated the how well varying toilet papers and related products break down in a septic tank. Twelve paper product samples were subjected to anaerobic digestion to identify their anaerobic biodegradability for methane yield using a standardized test.&nbsp;</li><br /> </ol><br /> <p><strong>MnDOT Reuse</strong></p><br /> <p>This project will evaluate the potential and effectiveness of wastewater reuse at MnDOT facilities.&nbsp;&nbsp; This project will evaluate when reuse makes sense from a regulatory, environmental, economic and management perspective at truck washing/storage facilities and safety rest areas.&nbsp; Sampling of various streams will be done to identify challenges related to various uses.&nbsp; Recommendations will be provided on the most appropriate applications for reuse and the challenges with implementation. The possibility of reusing wastewater for anti-icing and pre-wetting after removal of sediment and oil will be evaluated along with options for domestic wastewater treatment</p><br /> <p><strong>Optimizing Septic Tank Performance</strong></p><br /> <p>A project was completed to develop an alternative (microbial electrochemical) septic tank configuration focusing on nutrient recuperation to mitigate the environmental footprint of septic systems. The one-liter bench scale tanks proved the phosphorus removal (between 20.7% and 98.3% of removal efficiency at 0.5 to 0.88 V voltage applications) and recovery from sewage via the improved phosphorus precipitation on electrodes and the improved phosphorus settling in sludge. Methane production in microbial electrochemical septic tank was boosted by electrode assistance, and the largest difference occurred at 0.88 V, increased from 180 mL by 107% at 25 &deg;C, and from 15 mL by 360% at 15 &deg;C, potentially serving as a bioenergy source if being utilized. The 20-L lab-scale prototypes treating real wastewater demonstrated that when operating the reactor at 15&nbsp;&ordm;C, the most appropriate Eap seems to be 1.7&nbsp;V to achieve the best quality of the effluent (the lower phosphorous and the lower organic content). When operating reactors at 25&nbsp;&ordm;C, the most suitable Eap seems to be between 1.1-1.3&nbsp;V. The quality of the effluent for the reactor operated at 15&deg;C was on average 195 mg/L of total COD, 104&nbsp;mg/L of soluble COD, 2.7 mg/L of total P, 1.7 mg/L of soluble P and 810 mg/L of total solids. The effluent quality of the reactor operated at 25&deg;C was on average 102 mg/L of total COD, 61 mg/L of soluble COD, 2.5 mg/L of total P, 0.5 mg/L of soluble P and 1000 mg/L of total solids.&nbsp; We tested this novel design with a 100-gal pilot-scale system at the Saint Paul Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant of Metropolitan Council Environmental Services, and demonstrated the technology application in close-to-real operating conditions of typical septic tanks in Minnesota. Two treatment conditions, i.e., electrodes with a voltage application of 0.82 V and 1.13 V, respectively, achieved phosphorus removal efficiency of 28.2% and 41.6%. At 1.13 V, the treatment achieved 34.3% of soluble phosphorus removal and 56.3% of particulate phosphorus removal. There was a generally lower phosphorus removal efficiency in the pilot-scale tank than in bench scale experiments. The most possible explanations to the discrepancy can be the different patterns of feeding/sampling cycle, liquid flow and the decreased power consumption per volume of liquid being treated.</p><br /> <p><strong>Ottertail Use and Pumping Evaluation</strong></p><br /> <p>The Otter Tail Water Management District (OTWMD) in Minnesota provided a unique study opportunity for the analysis of household practices and maintenance needs of septic systems. This study looked for correlations between household practices and the functioning of individual OWTS in order to identify factors contributing to successful septic system performance. Homeowner surveys were coupled with septic tank inspection and monitoring records kept by the OTWMD since 1981. The frequency at which septic tank pumping occurred and the average length of time between septic pumping events were evaluated for both seasonal and full time residences. A Kruskal-Wallis Test was used to identify factors that had significant impact on septic tank pumping frequency. There were 28 household factors that were tested against the two pumping categories. Of the 56 factors tested, 17 were found to have an impact on sludge and scum accumulation. The septic tank pumping frequency and average time between septic tank pumping were both impacted by: the presence of a water softener, washing machine, hot tub, dishwasher, property use (i.e., seasonal/fulltime), and fixture leaks. The average time between septic tank pumping was impacted by:&nbsp; having well water, the number of adults and children at the residence, having a sump pump, and the use of long-term prescription medications. The time range between pumping varied from an average of 4.9 years for full time residents to 8.9 years for those only using the property during the summer months.&nbsp;&nbsp; An assessment every 2-4 years is still recommended to evaluate the need for pumping and to evaluate other system and use issues that can affect long-term system performance.</p><br /> <p><strong>Reducing Chlorides from Water Softeners in Surface and Ground Water</strong></p><br /> <p>This project is initiating evaluating options to reduce chloride loads from water softening salts often discharged from wastewater treatment plants to surface waters and also from private septic systems directly into adjacent soils. When water is softened to remove hardness, salt is used to regenerate the softener releasing chloride to septic systems and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This project will quantify the current water softening salt loads in Minnesota, assess alternative softening materials and methods and quantify the transport of chloride from de-icing and softening through the soil. This project will enable us to minimize the long-term impacts of de-icing and softening salt on surface waters and groundwater across Minnesota.&nbsp;&nbsp; The outcome of this project is to enhance strategies that improve water quality by providing methods to reduce the chloride load from water softening and developing tools that predict salt movement through the soil. The methods and tools developed during this project will inform state, municipal and private entities using de-icing salt, municipal wastewater treatment system operators, and thousands of rural communities and property owners with subsurface sewage treatment systems in Minnesota.&nbsp; </p><br /> <p><strong>University of Rhode Island </strong></p><br /> <p><strong>Groundwater Tables along Southern RI Coast.&nbsp; </strong>During the reporting period, URI scientists collected/compiled groundwater table data from Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (OWTS) permit applications submitted to RI Department of Environmental Management for homes situated on sandy soils along the coastal zone.&nbsp; Groundwater tables do appear to be rising, with an overall trend of 1.3 cm / year rise along southern RI coast.&nbsp;&nbsp; To assess loss of vertical separation distance from OWTS drainfield bases to groundwater, six groundwater monitoring wells with water table capacitance loggers were installed in the study coastal study area to collect long-term data on groundwater table fluctuation.&nbsp; Wells installed in barrier beach locations show a clear tidal influence on groundwater level, with plotted elevations showing sharp peaks.&nbsp; Wells installed in back barrier locations show wider peaks in groundwater elevations, but not the same magnitude nor timing of tidal cycle.&nbsp; Additional wells will be installed during the next report period.&nbsp; In collaboration with USDA NRCS, Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) was conducted at two study sites (Dec. 2016 and Apr. 2017) to find OWTS drainfield components and their relation to groundwater tables at sites located on barrier beaches.&nbsp; GPR proved to be an effective tool to determine OWTS component locations and groundwater elevation in sandy coastal soils.&nbsp; Additional GPR evaluations will be conducted in the next report period.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Plant-based Mitigation Experiments.&nbsp; </strong>Greenhouse experiments with 5 species of plants were conducted to assess which plants can withstand being sub-surface irrigated with septic tank effluent and help attenuate nutrients in wastewater.&nbsp; This type of plant-based soil treatment area is being evaluated as a potential climate change mitigation measure for at-risk coastal areas.&nbsp; Plant candidates include: turfgrass mix (<em>Poa</em> spp.), phragmites (<em>Phragmites australis</em>; non-native), New England aster (<em>Symphyotrichum novae-angliae</em>), seaside goldenrod (<em>Solidago sempervirens</em>), and switchgrass (<em>Panicum virgatum</em>).&nbsp; This research will continue in the next report period assessing nutrient attenuation and characterizing microbial communities in mesocosm-scale drainfield replicates. </p><br /> <p><strong>Full Scale Assessment of Non-Proprietary Passive Nitrogen Removing Septic Systems</strong>. In collaboration with the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Testing Center (MASSTC), the URI Laboratory of Soil Ecology and Microbiology (URI LSEM) is designing experiments to test the nitrogen removal potential of layered soil treatment areas (STA). Unlike typical STAs that are placed on sand or native soils meeting certain design requirements, layered STAs consist of an 18&rdquo; layer of sawdust/sand under 18&rdquo; of sand.&nbsp; These low-profile leaching systems are designed to increase sequential nitrification (in a sand layer) and denitrification (in a sand layer mixed with sawdust) as septic tank effluent percolates through. The cellulosic amendment (sawdust) in the lower layer of the STA will provide organic C that serves as a carbon and energy source for heterotrophic denitrification.</p><br /> <p>Twelve onsite septic systems with different temporal use patterns and soil types within the watershed of Buzzards Bay, MA will be selected as sites for installation of experimental layered STAs. The main objectives of this project are to: (1) Monitor layered STA effectiveness using monthly effluent and environmental data collected by MASSTC personnel to determine differences in STA system performance as a result of system design, media specifications, water quality parameters, and environmental conditions (2) Survey STAs for microorganisms involved in N transformations (ammonia oxidation, nitrous oxide reduction, and anaerobic ammonia oxidizing) to elucidate the roles these organisms play in N removal from wastewater (3) Monitor STAs for greenhouse gas emissions to examine the sources of N₂O production, and elucidate the mechanisms of gaseous N removal as N₂ and N₂O using a ¹⁵N tracer experiment, (4) Relate microbial and greenhouse gas data to nitrogen efficiency data.</p><br /> <p>During the reporting period (first year of the project), URI LSEM prepared a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), which has been approved by the EPA (QA Tracking #: RFA 17077) that will ensure that quality data are collected, maintained, and reported. Additionally, we have developed and tested methods and established standard operating procedures for nucleic acid-based microbial community analyses, including DNA extraction, identification of primers, PCR, quantitative PCR, and sequencing of relevant genes. The data produced from this project will be used to develop guidelines and policies for the siting, design, installation, best practices, operation and maintenance of layered STA systems, with the overall goal of reducing nitrogen pollution in the Cape Cod and other N sensitive coastal watersheds. Because of their shallow placement, these layered STAs may prove to be a cost effective N mitigation option in coastal environments that are at risk for sea level / groundwater rise due to climate change.</p><br /> <p><strong>Evaluation of Nitrogen Concentration in Final Effluent of Advanced Nitrogen-Removal Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (OWTS)</strong></p><br /> <p>Advanced nitrogen (N)-removal OWTS are installed in coastal areas throughout the USA to reduce N loading to groundwater and marine waters. However, final effluent total nitrogen (TN) concentration from these systems is not always routinely monitored, making it difficult to determine the extent to which they contribute to N loads. We monitored the final effluent TN concentration of 42 advanced N-removal OWTS within the Greater Narragansett Bay Watershed, RI between March 2015 and August 2016. The compliance rate with the State of RI final effluent standard (TN &le; 19 mg N/L) was 64.3, 70.6, and 75.0% for MicroFAST, Advantex AX 20, and SeptiTech systems, respectively. The median (range) final effluent TN concentration (mg N/L) was 11.3 (0.1&ndash;41.6) for SeptiTech, 14.9 (0.6&ndash; 61.6) for Advantex, and 17.1 (0.6&ndash;104.9) for FAST systems. Variation in final effluent TN concentration was not driven by temperature; TN concentrations plotted against effluent temperature values resulted in R2 values of 0.001 for FAST, 0.007 for Advantex, and 0.040 for SeptiTech systems. The median effluent TN concentration for all the systems in our study (16.7 mg N/L) was greater than reported for Barnstable County, MA systems (13.3 mg N/L), where systems are monitored quarterly. Depending on technology type, ammonium, nitrate, alkalinity, forward flow, biochemical oxygen demand, and effluent temperature best predicted effluent TN concentrations. Service providers made adjustments to seven underperforming systems, but TN was reduced to 19 mg N/L in only two of the seven systems. Advanced N-removal OWTS can reduce TN to meet regulations, and monitoring of these systems can enable service providers to proactively manage systems. However, improvement of performance may require recursive adjustments and long-term monitoring.</p><br /> <p><strong>Treatment Performance Optimization of Advanced Nitrogen Removal OWTS</strong></p><br /> <p>OWTS can serve as a source of nitrogen (N) to coastal watersheds.&nbsp; Because excessive N loads pose a serious eutrophication threat to coastal ecosystems, advanced OWTS technologies have been used to mitigate their impact on these ecosystems by reducing N inputs.&nbsp; Advanced N-removal OWTS are designed to facilitate the processes of biological nitrification and denitrification before the effluent is applied to the soil treatment area and percolates to the groundwater.&nbsp; In this study, we selected 50 existing advanced N-removal OWTS in the town of Charlestown, RI to determine the capacity of six different N-removal OWTS technologies &ndash; (Orenco Advantex AX20, Orenco Advantex RX30, BioMicrobics MicroFAST, and Norweco Singulair Models TNT, 960, and DN) to meet the Rhode Island Dept. of Environmental Management&rsquo;s standard for final effluent total N concentration of 19 mg/L or less.&nbsp; Twenty-four of the systems are for houses occupied year-round, while 26 are for seasonally-occupied houses.&nbsp; The year-round systems are sampled quarterly and the seasonal systems are sampled four times over the summer occupancy period.</p><br /> <p>For all systems, field measurements are made of effluent pH, temperature, and concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO), ammonium (NH₄⁺), and nitrate (NO₃^-) in the final effluent.&nbsp; Final effluent samples are also analyzed in the laboratory for pH, alkalinity, biochemical oxygen demand, NH₄⁺, NO₃^-, and total N.&nbsp; Microbial analyses will also be performed targeting two genes that help facilitate nitrogen removal: ammonia monooxygenase (<em>amoA</em>) and nitrous oxide reductase (<em>nosZ</em>).&nbsp; Samples from all systems will be analyzed both at the beginning and the end of the summer to investigate how home occupancy pattern influences microbial communities, as well as the role that those communities play in nitrogen removal.&nbsp; Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions from the advanced systems will be measured.&nbsp; Because it is a byproduct of the nitrogen removal process, as well as a harmful greenhouse gas, these measurements will primarily target nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions.</p><br /> <p>Overall, these data will allow us to quantify the rate of compliance with state effluent standards as a function of technology, seasonality/temperature, and home occupancy pattern, and help in identifying those conditions that may be adjusted within each technology to optimize N-removal treatment performance.&nbsp; Optimizing performance of these technologies will be an important climate change mitigation tool for at-risk coastal zones.</p><br /> <p><strong>Microbial Community Composition in OWTS.&nbsp; </strong>We used high throughput DNA sequencing methods to compare the 16S (bacterial and archaeal) and 18S (eukaryotic) microbial community composition in OWTS using intact soil mesocosms from Kingston, RI.&nbsp; We compared microbial communities between three different technologies: conventional pipe and stone (P&amp;S), and alternative systems pressurized shallow narrow drainfield (SND) and Geomat &reg; (GEO).&nbsp; We evaluated microbial communities under four different soil conditions:&nbsp; native soil (no wastewater introduction), present climate and water tables (at current regulation levels and 20&deg;C soil temperatures), climate change conditions (30 cm elevation in water table and 25&deg;C&nbsp; soil temperature), and a storm surge event (samples taken 48h after saturation with ocean water from the top of the columns). &nbsp;Additionally, we sampled at various depths below the infiltrative surface (5 to 75 cm below) to quantify differences in microbial treatment at scales relevant to OWTS. </p><br /> <p>Sterile soil samples were taken at each sample depth/technology/climate and stored at -80&deg;C until analysis.&nbsp; We performed DNA extraction using Mo-Bio Power Soil DNA kits, we amplified the DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using either 16S or 18S primers to amplify our selected region, and we performed gel electrophoresis to ensure proper amplification or our DNA fragment. Samples were sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq at the University of Rhode Island Genomics Sequencing Center in Kingston, RI.&nbsp; To date, we have processed our sequencing data using the Qiime2 platform and are currently preparing the results for publication. </p><br /> <p><strong>University of Tennessee at Knoxville</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>Using Advanced Oxidation Processes to Remove Trace Organic Compounds from Reclaimed Water</strong></p><br /> <p>A reliable source of safe, clean water is a prerequisite for the production of fresh fruits and vegetables.&nbsp; Fresh produce is particularly susceptible to being contaminated by poor-quality water because it receives very little post-harvest processing and is often consumed raw.&nbsp; A potential source of safe irrigation water is reclaimed water, or the use of highly-treated domestic wastewater.&nbsp; The assumption is that the wastewater would be free of suspended solids, have a very low oxygen demand, have no odors, and have pathogens (tertiary treatment).&nbsp; A particular concern with this level of treatment is that many pharmaceutical compounds, such as hormones and antibiotics, are recalcitrant to the biological treatment process (oxygen demand reduction).&nbsp; Because of this concern, an additional level of wastewater treatment must be devised &ndash; quaternary treatment &ndash; the removal of trace organics to ensure the safe use of reclaimed water.</p><br /> <p>Methods for trace organic compound removal include chemical oxidation (chlorine) and photo-oxidation (ultraviolet light).&nbsp; The objective of this project is to gain new knowledge about using a combination of oxidizers to remove certain trace organic compounds.&nbsp; Peroxyacetic acid (PAA) is a strong oxidizer commonly used in Europe as a disinfectant.&nbsp; Ultraviolet light is gaining in popularity in the U.S. for providing disinfection.&nbsp; Each of this methods have advantages and disadvantages; by using these two methods in tandem there may be a symbiotic effect that improves the performance of both.&nbsp; The combination of chemical oxidizers and UV light is called Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP).&nbsp; Most AOP research has been conducted on the H₂O₂/UV combination.&nbsp; This project proposes to use PAA as the chemical oxidizer.&nbsp; Commonly called peracetic acid (or ethaneperoxoic acid), this compound is the peroxide of acetic acid and is typically purchased as a quaternary equilibrium mixture containing acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid and water.&nbsp; The peracetic acid solution has two peroxides &ndash; hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid.&nbsp; Peroxides are compounds that include a pair of oxygen atoms that are attached by a single covalent bond or O₂^-2.&nbsp; This is different from molecular oxygen that is a pair of double bonded oxygen atoms (O₂). Peroxides are relatively unstable.&nbsp; The single-bonded oxygen pair is a higher energy state and so there is a strong tendency to revert to molecular oxygen.&nbsp; This process makes peroxides strong oxidizers.&nbsp; Operating a UV source downstream from PAA injection can potentially break the chemical bond between the two oxygen atoms in PAA, and sequentially forms additional hydroxyl radicals.&nbsp; Hydroxyl radicals are strong oxidizers.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>A bench-scale, continuous-flow treatment system was constructed to simulate point-of-use water treatment for the purpose of irrigation.&nbsp;&nbsp; A solution with 1 ppm of triclosan was used to evaluate the treatment system performance.&nbsp; The PAA injection rates were 1 ppm and 5 ppm, and the UV exposures were approximately 35,000 and 50,000 &micro;W s cm^-2.</p><br /> <table><br /> <tbody><br /> <tr><br /> <td colspan="8" width="624"><br /> <p>Table 1.&nbsp; Preliminary results of removing 1 ppm of triclosan from water using PAA/UV.&nbsp; The values given are the percent reduction and are the average of three replicates.</p><br /> </td><br /> </tr><br /> <tr><br /> <td width="79"><br /> <p>Minutes of oxidation</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>1 ppm of PAA</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>5 ppm of PAA</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>Low UV Intensity</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>High UV Intensity</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>1 ppm PAA plus Low UV</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>1 ppm PAA plus</p><br /> <p>High UV</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>5 ppm PAA plus High UV</p><br /> </td><br /> </tr><br /> <tr><br /> <td width="79"><br /> <p>10</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>33</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>26</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>3</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>26</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>14</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>31</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>54</p><br /> </td><br /> </tr><br /> <tr><br /> <td width="79"><br /> <p>20</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>40</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>36</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>28</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>40</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>17</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>38</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>68</p><br /> </td><br /> </tr><br /> <tr><br /> <td width="79"><br /> <p>30</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>25</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>38</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>42</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>40</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>23</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>38</p><br /> </td><br /> <td width="78"><br /> <p>69</p><br /> </td><br /> </tr><br /> </tbody><br /> </table><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>The AOP process seems to increase the overall remove efficiency and the removal rates as compared to PAA alone and UV alone. </p><br /> <p><strong>Non-Steady State Operation of Subsurface Drip Dispersal Systems</strong></p><br /> <p>For more than 20 years, manufacturers of irrigation equipment have been modifying drip irrigation tubing for use as an effluent dispersal system.&nbsp; Depending on the brand, the tubing has been modified to resist the buildup of biofilm, prevent the clogging of emitters, and provide uniform distribution with pressure-compensating emitters.&nbsp; However, many onsite wastewater regulatory jurisdictions are still hesitant to allow this method to be used to distribute.&nbsp; A particular concern is how the distribution system responds during pressurization and de-pressurization, and if the non-steady state conditions will significantly affect distribution uniformity.&nbsp; While under pressure, the emitter production rate is very predictable and dependable; however, little is known about rate of drainage from the tubing once the water pressure is released.&nbsp; As a means of compensating for this lack of knowledge, many regulators require that the tubing must be placed on contour with very little variance.&nbsp; Certainly, the tubing should be placed on or near contour, but the question remains as what is a reasonable tolerance?</p><br /> <p>Using two common brands of drip tubing, we conducted a study that evaluated how the residual water remaining in the tubing after cessation of pumping discharges from the emitters.&nbsp; Ninety-two meters (300 ft) of tubing was mounted above the ground on various slopes (no slope to 10% slope) and buckets were placed under the emitters.&nbsp; The results are dependent on the brand of tubing - one brand would allow all the residual water to drain from the tubing, while the second brand will stop discharging when the head pressure on the emitter is reduced to approximately 20 cm.&nbsp; These results are still being evaluated and will be published during 2018.</p><br /> <p><strong>Senior Capstone Project</strong></p><br /> <p>John Buchanan provided a capstone experience to three senior civil engineering students using a common small-community wastewater treatment problem.&nbsp; A rural school in a neighboring county has a packaged activated sludge plant used to provide wastewater treatment.&nbsp; The school is the single wastewater source and is the entity responsible for the NPDES permit.&nbsp; This site is in perpetual violation of the BOD and ammonia limits stated in their permit.&nbsp; This project is ongoing, but preliminary results suggest that the packaged plant is under-loaded and cannot maintain a sufficient mixed liquor suspended solids concentration needed to provide treatment.</p><br /> <p><strong>Ohio State University (OSU)</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>Reuse of reclaimed wastewater through onsite spray irrigation</strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">&nbsp;</span></p><br /> <p>Research on winter reuse of reclaimed wastewater was conducted in Ohio.&nbsp; Issues evaluated were impact on plants, equipment protection, pathogen control, and pollutant runoff potential from cold soil.</p><br /> <p><strong>Treatment of high salt content wastewater</strong></p><br /> <p>Salt levels in wastewater become an issue from water treatment systems that use salt, food processing that involves curing or pickling and with fresh water scarcity, the use of high salt-content waste for toilet flushing.&nbsp; Research is looking at the impact of salt on wastewater treatment using sand bioreactors.</p><br /> <p>Lab scale unsaturated sand/gravel columns were intermittently dosed, treating the high-strength wastewater in a single pass. Turkey processing wastewater served as the control, and 3 g/L and 6 g/L of table salt were added to wastewater for treatments in duplicate laboratory columns. BOD₅ and NH₃-N removal was measured during the 74-day experiment. The BOD₅ removal was achieved and maintained over 99% after day 21 at all salt levels. Over 99% NH₃-N removal was achieved after day 32. It was concluded from this study that sand/gravel bioreactors were able to treat high-strength, high salinity up to 0.6%.&nbsp; Research is continuing at higher salt levels.</p><br /> <p><strong>Michigan State University (MSU) findings</strong> &ndash; Land treatment of food processing wastewater can irrigate a crop, provide nutrients, recharge aquifers, reduce energy use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save resources.&nbsp; However, when excessive carbon is land applied, the soil becomes anaerobic and several metals become mobile when reduced.&nbsp; Although aerobic conditions prevent metal mobilization, denitrification is inhibited under this condition.&nbsp; Critical for land application is pretreatment and strategic organic and hydraulic loadings to maximize efficient waste management and minimize environmental impacts.&nbsp; A long-term field study is ongoing that includes direct soil oxygen and moisture monitoring using remote sensors and site visits to make visual observations.&nbsp; Results show that the control of hydraulic and organic loadings prevent metal mobilization. However, with higher levels of oxygen in the soil, nitrate release may have occurred as denitrification is inhibited. Studies using wastewater pretreatment and cropping strategies are being investigated. Modeling efforts are also underway. The outcome is a change in action and condition in that careful operations and design allow food processors to continue using this land application.&nbsp; Additionally, using onsite application of wastewater, as compared to treatment in a traditional activated sludge process, reduces greenhouse gas emissions.&nbsp; Reductions are achieved by not using energy for wastewater aeration, carbon dioxide uptake by the plants grown when using the wastewater, and reduced production of industrial nutrients.</p><br /> <p>The use of finite element modeling using the Hydrus Wetland Module is demonstrating the potential to simulate land application of wastewater under numerous scenarios.&nbsp;&nbsp; Results to date show good agreement between the model output and experimental data on the fate of carbon and nitrogen.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of South Florida (USF) findings</strong> - A combination of ion exchange (IX) and biological treatment has the potential to provide enhanced treatment under the variable N loading conditions observed in OWTs (Hirst et al., 2013; Krayzelova et al., 2014).&nbsp; During periods of high loading, cation (NH₄⁺) or anion (NO₃^-) loads in excess of the system biodegradation capacity are adsorbed by the medium.&nbsp; During low loading periods, the ions are desorbed and utilized by the microbial population.&nbsp; IX materials, such as natural zeolites (e.g. chabazite and clinoptilolite), have the ability to adsorb NH₄⁺ (Wen et al., 2006).&nbsp; Hirst et al. (2013) showed that addition of clinoptilolite in the nitrification stage of a passive N removal OWTs resulted in 94% removal of TKN.&nbsp; The use of the combined IX/nitrification process coupled with sulfur oxidizing denitrification resulted in average effluent TN &lt; 3 mg/L (Hirst et al., 2013).&nbsp; In a similar manner, scrap tires have a high IX capacity for NO₃^- (Lisi et al., 2004), and can be bioregenerated by denitrification (Krayzelova et al., 2014).&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>The goal of this research is to improve N removal performance and decrease reactor size requirements in OWTs using Hybrid Adsorption Biological Treatment Systems (HABiTS). Bench, pilot scale and modeling studies of a two stage HABiTS process are being conducted at the University of South Florida as part of the EPA Center for Reinventing Aging Infrastructure for Nutrient Management.&nbsp; In Stage 1, a natural zeolite material, clinoptilolite, is used as an NH₄⁺ IX medium in aerobic nitrifying packed bed reactors (PBRs).&nbsp; In Stage 2, saturated PBRs containing scrap tire chips as a NO₃^- IX medium are combined with sulfur pellets and crushed oyster shells to promote sulfur oxidizing denitrification.</p><br /> <p><strong>Activities&nbsp; </strong></p><br /> <p><strong><em>Project Objective 4 &ndash; OWTS Training and Outreach Education</em></strong></p><br /> <p><strong>University of Minnesota &ndash; </strong>UMN trained over 2,000 septic professionals in Minnesota in over 50 training events and also delivered training in numerous other states.&nbsp; Staff planned and organized the educational program for 2016 annual Minnesota Onsite Wastewater Association conference.&nbsp; In addition, staff assisted in organizing and delivering the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association annual conference in 2016.&nbsp; Three online courses were developed with NOWRA to provide additional opportunities for education.&nbsp; UMN is working with MnDOT on additional educational activities to raise public awareness about keeping solid waste from entering the septic systems at rest stops, and the complexities of water management systems.&nbsp; In the next report period, the H2OandM.com (developed through past NIFA grant) will be used to develop customized septic system owner&rsquo;s guides to deal with the complexity of the 52 MnDOT systems and sites.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Georgia</strong> &ndash; In Mar. 2017 UGA staff held a Level II soils workshop for 19 new Georgia Department of Health (DPH) employees, including a test at the end. &nbsp;In May 2017 UGA staff held a second Level II soils workshop for 25 new GADPH employees. &nbsp;Thirty-four new GADPH employees attended a required Level II soils course and examination, providing them with essential training needed for their professional advancement.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Tennessee at Knoxville - </strong>J. Buchanan was involved with 6 educational sessions during 2017 and spoke to 688 people about septic system installation, operation, and maintenance.&nbsp;&nbsp; The scope of these events ranged from meeting with individuals seeking knowledge about their systems, community-level discussions about high septic system failure rates, state-level meetings with regulators, engineers and soil scientists, to presentations at national meetings.</p><br /> <p><strong>Ohio State University &ndash;</strong>The updated version of the OSU Soil Treatment System bulletin was presented at the Dec.2016 Green &amp; Sustainable Wastewater Treatment conference &ndash; 80 installers and local regulators attended.&nbsp; A new 6-hour online soils course has been developed, is being tested, and ofered in 2018.&nbsp; The course is the first segment in an eight-segment curriculum that is under development.&nbsp; It will be offered both as Extension courses and an OSU 3-credit course for students. </p><br /> <p><strong>Oklahoma State University</strong> &ndash; OSU organized its 2nd Oklahoma Onsite Wastewater Treatment Conference on November 10, 2016. The 168 participants who attended the Conference were composed of Regulators, Sanitarians, Soil Profilers, Certified Installers, Extension Educators and representatives from various Native American Nations. OSU also started developing 5-minute informational videos about OWTS that were used for extension activities and by the Oklahoma Water Resources Center. OSU also collaborated with the Department of Environmental Quality in conducting two soil profiler certification courses that served 6 participants. The OWTS specialist also delivered two seminars at conferences. A total of five OWTS-related talks were presented to various stakeholders including: realtors, home builders, 4-H members, summer campers, and extension educators. A total of 84 people were given tours at the Oklahoma Onsite Wastewater Training and Demonstration Facility.</p><br /> <p><strong>Michigan State University</strong> &ndash; The Michigan State University Extension Onsite Wastewater Education Program continues.&nbsp; The program includes homeowner and professional education events and the production of a public service announcement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtppgvPlOCU&amp;feature=youtu.be).&nbsp; The 16 hour online training module for designers and installers currently has ten&nbsp; students enrolled. </p><br /> <p><strong>University of Rhode Island</strong> &ndash; The URI project team delivered 14 talks (2 of which were invited) and 7 posters to academic and professional audiences relative to OWTS and climate change at conferences in RI, CT, MA, CA, AZ, FL; reaching scientists, wastewater practitioners, board of health officials, regulatory decision makers and coastal resource managers.&nbsp; In addition, we published 3 peer-reviewed papers, and one MS thesis, delivered a total of 31 workshops/ classes in 3 states in the region, reaching a total of nearly 750 practitioners, decision makers and students. These classes provided continuing education credits needed by over 540 licensed professionals to renew their professional licenses.&nbsp; Three of the classes had qualifying exams.&nbsp; We provided direct OWTS technical assistance to: Suffolk County Health Dept., NY and RI Department of Environmental Management.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Arizona - </strong>UAZ is working with practitioners to develop need-to-know statements for septic tank technicians (pumpers), installers, designers, operation and maintenance providers, and inspectors.&nbsp; A one-day workshop and four two-hour webinars have been used to obtain statewide and industry wide participation.&nbsp; Fifty-eight contacts in UA Extension, Arizona County Health Departments, and ADEQ received timely educational materials from ACE Onsite Wastewater Education Program and are more aware of the services that the program can and do provide.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of South Florida - &nbsp;</strong>USF conducted a tour of the USF/Hillsborough County Northwest Water Reclamation Facility (NWWRF) pilot plant on November 6, 2016.&nbsp; The participants included Hillsborough County staff, USF students and faculty, faculty and students from other universities (Michigan State, University of Central Florida), local consulting engineers, and regulatory agency staff.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Publications

<p>Abit, S.M. and E. Hollarn. Basic Septic System Rules for Oklahoma. PSS-2918.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Amador, J.A., G. Loomis, B. Lancellotti, K. Hoyt, E. Avizinis, and S. Wigginton. 2017.&nbsp;<a href="http://nbep.org/publications/NBEP-17-178.pdf">Reducing nitrogen inputs to Narragansett Bay: Optimizing the performance of existing onsite wastewater treatment technologies.</a>&nbsp;Final Report to the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program and the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, Lowell, MA.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;<br /> Brannon, E., S.&nbsp;Moseman-Valtierra, B.&nbsp;Lancellotti, S.&nbsp;Wigginton, J. A.&nbsp;Amador, J.&nbsp;McCaughey, and G.&nbsp;Loomis. 2017.&nbsp;Comparison&nbsp;of N₂O emissions and gene abundances between wastewater nitrogen removal systems.&nbsp;J. Environmental Quality&nbsp;46:931-938.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Chen, Feng. 2016. Evaluating the performance of sand/gravel bioreactors in treatment of high strength, high salinity wastewater. Master&rsquo;s Thesis, The Ohio State University. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?7071194303911::NO:10:P10_ETD_SUBID:114155</p><br /> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><br /> <p>Dong, Y., Safferman, S. I., Ostahowski J., Herold, T., Panter, R. 2016. Enzyme Pretreatment of Fats, Oil, and Grease from Restaurant Waste to Prolong Drain Filed Effectiveness.&nbsp; Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 52(1)55-63.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Hoghooghi, N., Radcliffe, D., Habteselassie, M.Y., Clarke, J. 2016. Confirmation of the impact of onsite wastewater treatment systems on stream base-flow nitrogen concentrations in urban watersheds of metropolitan Atlanta, GA. J. Environmental Quality 45:1740-1748.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Hoghooghi, N., Radcliffe, D., Habteselassie, M.Y., Jeong, J. 2017. Modeling the effects of onsite wastewater treatment systems on nitrate loads using SWAT in an urban watershed of metropolitan Atlanta, GA. J. Environmental Quality 46:632-640.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Lancellotti, B.V. 2016.<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Performance evaluation of advanced nitrogen removal onsite wastewater treatment systems.<strong>&nbsp;</strong>M.S. Thesis, University of Rhode Island, 95 pages.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Lancellotti, B.V., G. Loomis, K. Hoyt, E. Avizinis, and J.A. Amador. 2017.&nbsp;Evaluation of Nitrogen Concentration in Final Effluent of Advanced Nitrogen-Removal Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (OWTS).&nbsp;Water, Air &amp; Soil Pollution&nbsp;228:383-298.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Mancl, K. 2016. Gray Water Recycling in Ohio. Ohio State University Fact Sheet. AEX-GW1.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Mancl, K. 2016. Simple Gray Water Systems: Type 1. Ohio State University Fact Sheet. AEX-GW2.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Mancl, K. 2017. Septic Tank- Soil Treatment Systems. Ohio State University Extension Bulletin 939.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Nelson, Taylor.&nbsp;2016.&nbsp;Water Use at Minnesota Rest Areas.&nbsp;Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/185075">http://hdl.handle.net/11299/185075</a>.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Nelson, T.&nbsp; and S. Heger. 2017. Impacts of water use practices in the home on septic tank pumping. National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association Annual Conference Proceedings, Dover, Delaware.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Park, E., K. Mancl, O. Tuovinen, M. Bisesi and J. Lee. 2016. Ensuring safe reuse of residential wastewater: Reduction of microbes and genes using peat biofilter and batch chlorine in an on-site treatment system. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 121:1777-1788.doi:10.1111/jam.13288</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Perez, B. N., J. R. Buchanan, J. N. DeBruyn, K. Colbaugh, and W. E. Hart.&nbsp; 2017.&nbsp; Removal of trace organic compounds in domestic wastewater using recirculating packed-bed media filters.&nbsp; &nbsp;Transactions of the ASABE.&nbsp;60(5): 1593-1605.&nbsp;(doi: 10.13031/trans.12176)</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Rodriguez-Gonzalez, L., K. Payne, M. Trotz, D. Anderson, and S.J. Ergas. 2017. Hybrid Adsorption Biological Treatment Systems for enhanced onsite N removal. <em>WEF Nutrient Symposium</em>, June 12-14, 2017<em>,</em> Ft. Lauderdale FL.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Rodriguez-Gonzalez, L., K. Payne, M. Trotz, D. Anderson, and S.J. Ergas. 2016. Hybrid Adsorption and Biological Treatment System (HABiTS) for enhanced nitrogen removal in onsite wastewater treatment systems.<em>13th IWA Specialized Conference on Small Water &amp; Wastewater Systems</em>, Athens, Greece. September 14-16, 2016.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Sowah, R., Habteselassie, M.Y., Radcliffe, D., Bauske, E., Risse, M. 2017. Isolating the impact of septic systems on fecal pollution in streams of suburban watersheds in Georgia, United States. Water Research 108:330-338.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Zamalloa, C. and Heger., S. 2017. Biodegradability analysis of toilet paper under anaerobic conditions. National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association Annual Conference Proceedings, Dover, Delaware.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Impact Statements

1. Expanding employment opportunities – Creating new jobs for new people entering the field and expanded employment opportunities for those already in the field helps ensure a strong and sustainable future for wastewater professionals. Indicators of impact – UMN training classes conducted in MN and IA, has created over 200 new septic system professional certifications and/or licenses during the reporting time period. Seventeen OWTS professionals took the URI wastewater inspector training classes, passed their proficiency exams, and can now conduct inspections RI communities. Forty-three professionals took URI classes required by RI or MA regulatory agencies in order to design and install bottomless sand filters. Twenty-four onsite wastewater professionals took the URI installer prep course to prepare them for the RIDEM installers licensing exam - 22 passed the exam and received an installer’s license, required to install OWTS in RI. Nine onsite wastewater professionals took the URI course to prepare them for the RIDEM designer licensing exam, of which 7 passed the exam and received a designer’s license, required to design OWTS in RI. URI staff educated 264 wastewater practitioners about advanced OWTS in the Northeast region (101 of which work in RI), helping to raise the knowledge base and proficiency of these OWTS designers. Approximately, 30% of all OWTS applications that designers submitted during the report period to the RIDEM are for advanced OWTS. Use of nitrogen removal OWTS are now required in state-designated watersheds that are nitrogen sensitive. This has helped protect these watersheds and groundwater from further degradation. After taking the UAZ class and passing a proficiency test, 150 professionals now know how to inspect an OWTS for the Arizona Transfer of Ownership Inspection Program and are eligible to participate as an inspector for the statewide program. Thus, 150 professionals either expanded their business model or were able to continue conducting business in this area. After taking a UAZ class and passing a written and field practicum exam, thirty-one practitioners (both regulators and in-the-field professionals) know more about conducting soil and site evaluation for OWTS, can use the Arizona code to conduct the evaluations, and are able to conduct these evaluations as part of their jobs.

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Report Information

Participants

Brief Summary of Minutes

1. The NE 1545 meeting began at 2:30 pm. Sixteen individuals, representing twelve institutions, attended the meeting (see table below for list of attendees; member institutions indicated with an “*”).  Each representative institution delivered an update of NE1545 related activities for the reporting year October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.  Accomplishments from these research and outreach activities are noted in the Accomplishment section of this report.


2. Jose Amador from the University of Rhode Island updated the group on PhD student Bianca Ross’ research project evaluating treatment performance of N removal treatment technologies being used in Rhode Island.  


3. Sara Wigginton, PhD student from the University of Rhode Island, reported on her research investigating full-scale layered STAs in collaboration with the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Testing Center (MASSTC). Sara presented a summary of the nitrogen removing performance and greenhouse gas emissions from a layered STA research site. Future plans for microbial analysis of the site was also discussed. Additionally, plans to monitor additional sites, including a seasonally used STA, was discussed.


4. Alissa Cox, PhD student from the University of Rhode Island, updated the meeting attendees about her research project related to OWTS and climate change – assessing the influence of sea level rise on groundwater tables and OWTS along the Southern RI Coast.


5. Sara Heger from the University of Minnesota provided an overview of septic system related education and research activities occurring in Minnesota and the Midwest.  The presentation focused on a recently completed evaluation of water softener contribution to chloride contamination in Minnesota.


6. Jennifer Cooper (currently at the University of Nebraska) reported on her continued research with the University of Rhode Island related to DNA sequencing methods to compare the microbial community composition in onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) using intact soil mesocosms.


7. Younsuk Dong reported on research associated with Objectives 2 and 3. He provided a Hydrus Constructed Wetland (CW) 2D model of wastewater land application systems. The importance of mathematical modeling on wastewater land application system, and calibration and validation procedures, using bench-scale soil trenches, were discussed. The result of multiple scenarios including impact of dosing frequency, COD influent concentration, and hydraulic and organic loadings on carbon degradation and denitrification were discussed. In addition, he provided an update on research on the land treatment of food processing wastewater, the advantages relating to treatment energy cost and potential greenhouse gas emission were estimated. Outreach programs for wastewater professionals and homeowners were also discussed (details in Objective 4).


8. Brad Lee at the University of Kentucky reported on practitioner and homeowner outreach education activities being done to address OWTS issues in rural communities in Appalachia.


9. Daniel Delgado from University of South Florida described the projects currently being conducted along with Sarina Ergas related to hybrid adsorption biological treatment systems to reduce nitrogen removal from OWTS.


10. Details of the efforts noted above are included under Objectives 2 and 4 in the Outputs Section of this report.


11. The meeting concluded at 6:00 pm.

Accomplishments

<p><strong><em>Project Objective 2 &ndash; Develop new OWTS design criteria for the purposes of climate change adaptation and mitigation</em></strong></p><br /> <p><strong><em>&nbsp;</em></strong></p><br /> <p>University of Minnesota findings &ndash; &nbsp;Working with MnDOT OSTP is evaluating water tables and groundwater mounding at 20 existing systems with automated water level recorders between early April through mid-November.&nbsp; This data is being used to evaluating what level of vertical separation to a periodically saturated condition is maintained at each of these sites; and does the groundwater below these systems mound up either during high wastewater discharge times or wet climatic periods.</p><br /> <p>Chemicals of emerging concern (CEC) sampling is occurring at four safety rest areas and a land application site to determine design parameters affecting treatment.&nbsp; Samples were collected prior to soil treatment, in the soil itself beneath the systems and in monitoring wells and evaluated for CECs.&nbsp;&nbsp; The water samples were also analyzed for general wastewater contaminants.</p><br /> <p>The soil treatment areas (STA) from one rest area was sampled and analyzed to determine the soil microbial populations (metagenomics) using next generation (DNA) sequencing.&nbsp; The goal is to compare STA microbiology, natural soil microbiology after the system has been in operation for one year, and then at year two after pretreatment is added.</p><br /> <p>A study was conducted to characterize water softeners in five MnDOT rest area and assess their impacts on septic system chloride levels.&nbsp; The objectives of this study were to compare facilities and evaluate the impacts of softener type, softener settings, softener age, and water quality on chloride levels in the septic system.&nbsp; Chloride levels in the rest area septic systems were found to be high, ranging from 488-1730 mg/L.</p><br /> <p>Reuse of wash down water from salt truck washing is being evaluated for wastewater reuse at MnDOT facilities.&nbsp;&nbsp; This project evaluated when reuse makes sense from a regulatory, environmental, economic and management perspective at truck washing/storage facilities and safety rest areas.&nbsp; Sampling of various streams were collected in the winter of 2018.&nbsp; Recommendations where provided on the most appropriate applications for reuse and the challenges with implementation. The possibility of reusing wastewater for anti-icing and pre-wetting after removal of sediment and oil was evaluated along with options for wastewater treatment. Moving forward a pilot treatment system is under design.</p><br /> <p>High chloride levels in surface waters and groundwater are an emerging concern in Minnesota, as they can negatively impact aquatic and plant life.&nbsp; Previous research has shown that road salt is a major source of chloride, particularly in urban areas, but chloride discharge from water softener use, another major source, has not been quantified and therefore was evaluated. A mass budget was performed for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with chloride monitoring data to estimate chloride discharged from household and commercial water softeners relative to other household, commercial, and industrial sources.&nbsp; At the statewide level, household and commercial water softening were estimated to contribute 65% of WWTP chloride discharge.&nbsp; Industries were also major sources, contributing 22% of the estimated chloride load of statewide WWTPs.&nbsp; Human excreta, household product use, background chloride concentrations, chlorination, and other commercial processes contributed relatively small amounts of chloride, less than 5% of the chloride load.&nbsp; The results of the chloride budget show that water softeners are major sources of chloride and indicate that increasing efficiency of water softener salt use could be a viable strategy to manage chloride levels in wastewater and receiving waters.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Rhode Island </strong></p><br /> <p><strong>The influence of climate change on OWTS in the coastal zone.&nbsp; </strong>We are<strong> r</strong>esearching the impacts coastal storm events have on near-shore OWTS along the southern RI coast to better understand how groundwater table dynamics affect OWTS function. There are 17,760 OWTS in this coastal region. During the reporting period, using flood maps created by the USACE, we estimated that roughly 3,000 to 4,000 OWTS would be affected by a 1-in-25 Year to a 1-in-500 Year flood event, in which at least half of the affected OWTS would require repairs of some sort. Repairs would range from minor in nature to complete system replacements, costing anywhere between $1 to over $30K per system, depending on the nature of the damage.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Based on data extracted from regulatory agency OWTS permit applications, we determined that coastal groundwater tables are rising at an average rate of 14 mm per year, though a system&rsquo;s relative landscape position (proximity to ocean or salt pond) and location along the coast (town) affect these rates significantly. Major drivers of rising groundwater tables include groundwater imports (via municipal water or out-of-basin imports), increased annual precipitation and sea level rise. Factors lowering groundwater tables include evapotranspiration, discharge to salt ponds and groundwater extraction, though these values are poorly constrained. Current coastal community resiliency plans are not adequately addressing either threat (storms or groundwater table rise) with respect to OWTS, which could result in significant environmental degradation and public health risks. The methods we used for our analyses could be applied to many coastal communities in the US and abroad, and present an important consideration for the sustainability of coastal communities and their adaptation to climate change.</p><br /> <p><strong>Assessment of Non-proprietary Passive Nitrogen Removal Septic Systems.&nbsp; </strong>In collaboration with partners in Massachusetts (MASSTC), we are conducting experiments to test the nitrogen removal potential of layered soil treatment areas (STA). These leaching systems increase sequential nitrification (in a sand layer) and denitrification (in a sand layer mixed with sawdust) as septic tank effluent percolates through to groundwater. Four layered systems, including one extensively instrumented system, are currently being monitored. The main objectives of this project are to: (1) Monitor layered STA effectiveness (2) Survey STAs for microorganisms involved in N transformations, and (3) Monitor STAs for greenhouse gas emissions to examine the sources of N₂O production.<strong>&nbsp; </strong>During the reporting period, we intensively instrumented a research site where every 30 minutes we monitor temperature and moisture content at four depths in the layered STA using data loggers. We also collected five monthly subsurface greenhouse gas emissions and preliminary data analysis was performed. Additionally, greenhouse gas flux was collected at the ground surface over the layered and adjacent control STAs, and we collected four soil cores (2 control and 2 layered STAs) to perform microbial community, physical, and chemical analyses. The microbial community DNA extracts for initial media material, native soil, and the July sampling event have been performed. Additionally, we performed organic carbon analysis on soil cores. Analysis of the nitrogen removing performance data indicates that the layered STA removes 65-98% of total N, compared to 11-88% in the control STA.</p><br /> <p><strong>Treatment Performance Optimization of Advanced Nitrogen Removal OWTS</strong></p><br /> <p>N-removal OWTS are designed to facilitate nitrification and denitrification before effluent is applied to the soil treatment area. We selected 47 N-removal OWTS in the town of Charlestown, RI to determine the capacity of 6 different technologies (Orenco AX20, Orenco RX30, BioMicrobics FAST, and Norweco Singulair) to meet the RI regulatory standard for final effluent total N concentration of 19 mg/L or less.&nbsp; Twenty-four of the systems (sampled quarterly) serve houses occupied year-round, while 23 systems (sampled monthly&nbsp; 4 times in summer) serve seasonally-occupied houses.&nbsp; Investigating the impact of home occupancy pattern on effluent TN will allow us to assess if seasonal systems require any microbial &ldquo;ramp-up&rdquo; time before they are capable of N removal.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Technology type and/or home occupancy pattern does not appear to affect NO₃^- concentration, however, effluent NH₄⁺ is significantly influenced by technology type.&nbsp; Specifically, Norweco systems reported higher NH₄⁺ levels and significantly higher&nbsp; &nbsp;alkalinity and BOD₅ values than all other technologies, suggesting that Norweco systems are not nitrifying sufficiently.&nbsp; Home occupancy pattern does not appear to significantly influence effluent TN, nor does there appear to be any microbial ramp-up time associated with seasonally-used systems.&nbsp; However, effluent TN does vary across technologies.&nbsp; Specifically, Norweco systems are reporting significantly higher TN concentrations than AX20 systems.&nbsp; Sixty-eight percent of AX20, 50% of RX30, 67% of FAST, and 25% of Norweco systems have median TN values less than 19 mg/L.</p><br /> <p>Service providers are required to visit N-removal OWTS twice per year for O&amp;M purposes.&nbsp; These visits focus on operational function, and service providers are not required to quantify effluent TN concentrations.&nbsp; Service providers need a quick and effective method of measuring effluent TN in order to ensure that the systems are not exceeding regulatory standards.&nbsp; We evaluated a portable photometer as a reliable method for assessing real-time effluent N concentrations.&nbsp; While the photometer is not capable of directly quantifying effluent TN, it can measure NH₄⁺ and NO₃^- concentrations.&nbsp; By comparing measurements made using the photometer with those made using standard laboratory methods, we found that not only is the photometer accurately measuring NH₄⁺ and NO₃^- concentrations, but by summing these inorganic N concentrations, it is capable of reliably estimating effluent TN concentrations.&nbsp; The photometer can be used indoors or outdoors as a quick and cost-effective &ldquo;triage&rdquo; method for identifying underperforming systems.</p><br /> <p><strong>Nitrogen loading from OWTS in the Greater Narragansett Bay, RI Watershed</strong></p><br /> <p>Knowledge of the N load from OWTS, an important part of water infrastructure in the USA, helps identify drivers of excess N and develop strategies to lower N inputs. We determined the mass N load from 42 advanced N removal OWTS (3 different technologies) and 5 conventional OWTS within the RI part of the Greater Narragansett Bay watershed. The median N load (g N/system/day) followed the order: conventional systems (31.1) &gt; AX-20 (10.8) &gt; FAST (10.1) &gt; SeptiTech (9.6), and was positively correlated with flow. Results of a Monte Carlo simulation estimated the N load from the current distribution of conventional and advanced systems (105,833 systems total; Current scenario) to the watershed at 1,217,539 kg N/year. Compared to the Worse Case scenario (100% conventional OWTS), advanced OWTS currently prevent 53,898 kg N/year from entering the watershed. The per capita N load (kg N/capita/year) from OWTS under the current scenario is 4.68, and 1.47 for a local wastewater treatment plant (WTP) with biological N removal (BNR). Replacing 5,150 conventional OWTS yearly with the most effective OWTS technology would result in a per capita N load from OWTS equivalent to that for a WTP with BNR after ~15 years, with a yearly cost of $174.24 per additional kg of N removed. Increasing the proportion of advanced OWTS that achieve the final effluent standard of 19 mg TN/L &mdash; through monitoring and recursive adjustment &ndash; would reduce the time and cost necessary to achieve parity with the WTP.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Nebraska at Lincoln &ndash; Microbial Community Composition in OWTS.&nbsp; </strong>We used high throughput DNA sequencing methods to compare the 16S (bacterial and archaeal) and 18S (eukaryotic) microbial community composition in OWTS using intact soil mesocosms from Kingston, RI.&nbsp; We compared microbial communities between three different technologies: conventional pipe and stone (P&amp;S), and alternative systems pressurized shallow narrow drainfield (SND) and Geomat &reg; (GEO).&nbsp; We evaluated microbial communities under four different soil conditions:&nbsp; native soil (no wastewater introduction), present climate and water tables (at current regulation levels and 20&deg;C soil temperatures), climate change conditions (30 cm elevation in water table and 25&deg;C&nbsp; soil temperature), and a storm surge event (samples taken 48h after saturation with ocean water from the top of the columns).&nbsp; Additionally, we sampled at various depths below the infiltrative surface (5 to 75 cm below) to quantify differences in microbial treatment at scales relevant to OWTS.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Sterile soil samples were taken at each sample depth/technology/climate and stored at -80&deg;C until analysis.&nbsp; We performed DNA extraction using Mo-Bio Power Soil DNA kits, we amplified the DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using either 16S or 18S primers to amplify our selected region, and we performed gel electrophoresis to ensure proper amplification or our DNA fragment. Samples were sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq at the University of Rhode Island Genomics Sequencing Center in Kingston, RI.&nbsp; To date, we have processed our sequencing data using the Qiime2 platform and are currently preparing the results for publication.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>Non-Steady State Operation of Subsurface Drip Dispersal Systems</strong></p><br /> <p>The combination of using subsurface drip dispersal with the natural movement of water within the soil is a means of achieving uniform application and enhancing final treatment of wastewater.&nbsp; Pressure-compensated (PC) emitters are the foundation of drip irrigation because of their ability to provide a constant water emission over a range of pressures.&nbsp; Depending on the brand and model, emission rates range from under one-half gallon per hour to just over one gallon per hour per emitter.&nbsp; When placed in the soil and operated in a dose/rest sequence, the application rate provided by a drip irrigation system is sufficiently low enough that the soil matrix potential can pull water away from the emitter and the soil surrounding the emitter becomes non-saturated before the next dose.&nbsp;&nbsp; The design basis for a drip irrigation system used to disperse effluent is to determine a hydraulic loading rate that will minimize soil saturation and prevent effluent breakout on the soil surface.&nbsp;&nbsp; Part of the design process is to select a combination of instantaneous loading (the emitter emission rate under steady state conditions) and resting time needed to redistribute the soil moisture.&nbsp; An element that is frequently neglected in the design process is the water movement within the drip tubing during non-steady state conditions.&nbsp;&nbsp; The hydraulic isolation of individual laterals prevents water from a higher lateral from moving down to a lower lateral when the pump is switched off.&nbsp; However, there is still water movement within the individual laterals.&nbsp; It is difficult, if not impossible, to place a drip lateral perfectly on contour &ndash; so there is a tendency for water remaining in the tubing to flow to the lowest point along the lateral.&nbsp; The PC emitters are not rated for pressures less than 7 to 10 pounds per square inch (psi) and thus the flow rate from these emitters during drain-down conditions is unknown.&nbsp; This project set out to determine how the emitters respond under low-pressure conditions and to estimate how this non-steady state water flow affects application uniformity.&nbsp; Two types of drip lines were evaluated, a 0.6 gallon per hour PC emitter from Netafim (08WRAM.6-24V500) and a 1.02 gallon per hour PC emitter from Wasteflow PC by Geoflow (WFPC16-4-24).&nbsp; These lines were suspended above ground so the water could be captured from the emitters and so that the lines could be placed on different slopes.&nbsp; This research will open a dialog as to whether the differences that are found are significant to the design and operation of effluent dispersal using drip irrigation.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Ohio State University (OSU)</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>Reuse of reclaimed wastewater through onsite spray irrigation - </strong>Research on winter reuse of reclaimed wastewater was conducted in Ohio. Issues evaluated were impact on plants, equipment protection, pathogen control, and pollutant runoff potential from cold soil. &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>Treatment of high salt content wastewater - </strong>Salt levels in wastewater become an issue from food processors that use salt for curing or pickling.&nbsp; With fresh water scarcity, the use of high salt-content water for toilet flushing is also an option. Research is looking at the impact of salt on wastewater treatment using sand bioreactors.</p><br /> <p>Lab scale unsaturated sand/gravel columns were intermittently dosed, treating the high-strength wastewater in a single pass. Turkey processing wastewater served as the control, and 3 g/L, 6 g/L, 13 g/L and 35 g/L of salt were added to wastewater for treatments in duplicate laboratory columns. COD (94%) and ammonia (95%) removal was achieved and maintained over a 1 year period with sand/gravel bioreactors treating salt levels up to 13 g/L.&nbsp; Clogging occurred in the 13 g/L and 35 g/l when bioreactors were loaded at 4 cm per day.</p><br /> <p>Another lab scale experiment is underway treating high salt septic tank effluent with sand bioreactors.&nbsp; The experiment is examining the treatment of high and low ammonia wastewater to evaluate the use of seawater to flush toilets with and without urine diversion.&nbsp; Early in the experiment TOC (96%) and ammonia (99%) removal was achieved with no system clogging at loading rates on 4 cm/day.</p><br /> <p><strong>Michigan State University (MSU) findings</strong> &ndash; Land treatment of food processing wastewater can irrigate a crop, provide nutrients, recharge aquifers, reduce energy use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save resources.&nbsp; However, when excessive carbon is land applied, the soil becomes anaerobic and several metals become mobile when reduced.&nbsp; Although aerobic conditions prevent metal mobilization, denitrification is inhibited under this condition.&nbsp; Critical for land application is pretreatment and strategic organic and hydraulic loadings to maximize efficient waste management and minimize environmental impacts.&nbsp; A long-term field study continues and includes direct soil oxygen and moisture monitoring using remote sensors to ensure aerobic conditions.&nbsp; Finite element modeling using Hydrus Wetland Module is being conducted and is demonstrating the potential to simulate land application of wastewater under numerous scenarios.&nbsp;&nbsp; Calibration and verification studies are ongoing.&nbsp; The outcome is a change in action and condition in that careful operations and design allow food processors to continue using land application.&nbsp; Additionally, onsite application of wastewater, as compared to treatment in a traditional activated sludge processes, reduces greenhouse gas emissions.&nbsp; Reductions are achieved by not using energy for wastewater aeration, carbon dioxide uptake by the plants grown when using the wastewater, and reduced production of industrial nutrients for the crops.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Cornell University - Changes in agricultural land use, withdrawal and recharge to groundwater in watersheds affected by water and sewer line extensions.&nbsp; </strong>Sewer and water extensions have impacts on ground and surface water recharge, with implications for water use with changing climate. Withdrawal and discharge of water within one basin helps maintain recharge to groundwater for subsequent in-basin uses. Extensions of water and sewer lines may have impacts on NYS Ag land use. We are studying agricultural land use trends with sewer/water extensions to gain a better estimate withdrawal/recharge rates in impacted basins.&nbsp; During the report period we obtained water and wastewater data from the Genesee County Planning Department, including water and sewer plant locations, mapped water and sewer lines, and data layers such as aquifer and watershed boundaries. We have developed a procedure that will drive queries of the GIS project being developed with the County water and wastewater data and the lateral extensions mapping.&nbsp; Going forward, we will obtain water and wastewater use data from selected plants in the County to use in calculations of withdrawal and discharge. We will develop and assess the results of queries of the GIS project on this limited number of service areas.</p><br /> <p>We will also begin plans to expand the project to one other county in NY state &nbsp;and to another state involved in the Multistate project.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>University of South Florida (USF) findings</strong> - The goal of this research is to improve N removal performance and decrease reactor size requirements in OWTS using Hybrid Adsorption Biological Treatment Systems (HABiTS). Bench, pilot scale and modeling studies of a two stage HABiTS process were conducted at the University of South Florida as part of the EPA Center for Reinventing Aging Infrastructure for Nutrient Management.&nbsp; Ion exchange materials, such as natural zeolites (e.g. chabazite and clinoptilolite), have the ability to adsorb NH₄⁺.&nbsp; In this study, zeolite and scrap tires had a high ion exchange capacity for NO₃^- and provided consistent low effluent N concentration despite highly variable loading rates and long idle periods. &nbsp;Recirculation was shown to improve Stage 1 ammonia removal and sulfur pellets were a good electron donor in Stage 2 denitrification.<strong>&nbsp; </strong></p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong><em>Project Objective 4 &ndash; OWTS Training and Outreach Education</em></strong></p><br /> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>University of Kentucky</strong> &ndash; The Cooperative Extension Service (CES) partnered with the Red River Watershed and Red Bird Watershed coordinators and the US Forest Service to deliver two educational programs to 63 Appalachia homeowners about proper septic system operation, maintenance and troubleshooting. &nbsp;The CES also delivered a similar program to 22 homeowners in Campbell County, Kentucky, which includes several Cincinnati bedroom communities with decentralized wastewater treatment systems.&nbsp; The University of Kentucky also trained 7 regional regulatory personnel in a week long introductory soils and septic system training course.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>University of Minnesota &ndash; </strong>UMN trained over 2,000 septic professionals in Minnesota in over 50 training events and delivered training in numerous other states with over 1,000 attendees.&nbsp; Staff planned and organized the educational program for the 2017 annual Minnesota Onsite Wastewater Association conference.&nbsp; In addition, staff assisted in organizing and delivering the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association annual conference in 2017.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>The H2OandM.com (developed through past NIFA grant) was used to develop customized septic system owner&rsquo;s guides to deal with the complexity of the 52 MnDOT systems and sites.</p><br /> <p>Through work with MnDOT, researchers identified the rest areas best suited to educate the public about proper septic operation and maintenance. The OSTP team developed an education and outreach signage plan that discourages non-organic waste disposal into MNDot septic systems and educates the public about proper septic system treatment and use.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health, the UMN is developing and presenting education materials to increase the knowledge regarding chemical of emerging concern (CEC) for those served and managing septic systems.&nbsp; <strong>&nbsp;</strong>A vast majority of these homes on a septic system use a private well for their drinking water.&nbsp; There is the potential for CEC from septic systems to be affecting drinking water wells. This project focuses on educating septic system owners, septic system professionals and those managing wells with a source water protection plan.&nbsp; During the reporting period, a factsheet was developed and 8 classes offered for homeowners (235 in attendance) and 6 for septic system professionals (420 in attendance).</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture - </strong>J. Buchanan was involved with 12 educational sessions during 2018 and spoke to 1,118 people about septic system installation, operation, and maintenance.&nbsp;&nbsp; The scope of these events ranged from meeting with individuals seeking knowledge about their systems, community-level discussions about high septic system failure rates, state-level meetings with regulators, engineers and soil scientists, to presentations at national meetings.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Ohio State University &ndash; </strong>Three onsite wastewater workshops were presented reaching 68 watewater professionals and one workshop was conducted reaching 15 property owners.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Michigan State University</strong> &ndash; The Michigan State University Extension Comprehensive Onsite Wastewater Management Education Program is a facilitated online program for designers and installers and approximately 13 professionals participated during this reporting period. Completion of the classes results in 1.6 continuing education credits and/or 16 septage waste education credits.&nbsp; A homeowner OWTS program continues to be offered. A folder for homeowners defines onsite wastewater and provides important operational and maintenance procedures. Included in the homeowner folder is a grid to plot the location of structures, drives, and the onsite wastewater system and a maintenance log. In addition, a free webinar was offered for landowner, businesses, homeowners, and riparian owners to help educate them about how onsite wastewater systems work, the maintenance it requires, and how to keep the system operating at peak efficiency avoiding overloads, failure, and costly replacements.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>University of Rhode Island</strong> &ndash; The URI project team delivered 14 talks (2 of which were invited) and 7 posters to academic and professional audiences relative to OWTS and climate change at conferences in RI, CT, MA, CA, AZ, FL; reaching scientists, wastewater practitioners, board of health officials, regulatory decision makers and coastal resource managers.&nbsp; In addition, we published 3 peer-reviewed papers, and one MS thesis, delivered a total of 31 workshops/ classes in 3 states in the region, reaching a total of nearly 750 practitioners, decision makers and students. These classes provided continuing education credits needed by over 540 licensed professionals to renew their professional licenses.&nbsp; Three of the classes had qualifying exams.&nbsp; We provided direct OWTS technical assistance to: Suffolk County Health Dept., NY and RI Department of Environmental Management.</p><br /> <p><strong>University of South Florida - &nbsp;</strong>USF staff conducted tours of their pilot OWTS for wastewater consultants, regulators, municipal utility staff, faculty and students, and FOWA members.&nbsp; USF staff participated in 14 presentations, 4 posters, and a panel discussion at the WEF Nutrient Symposium in Ft. Lauderdale</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Publications

<p>Amador, J.A., J.H. Gorres, B.V. Lancellotti, and G. W. Loomis. 2018. Nitrogen loading from onsite wastewater treatment systems in the Greater Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island, USA) Watershed:&nbsp; Magnitude and reduction strategies. Water, Air and Soil Pollution 229:65.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Conroy, K., L. Wang, O. Tuovinen, Z.T. Yu and K. Mancl. 2018. Microbial Communities in Sand Bioreactors Treating High Salt Content Food Industry Wastewater. WEFTEC 2018. 8 pages.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Conroy, K., F. Chen and K. Mancl. 2018. Sand Bioreactors for treatment of high salt content wastewater. Annual International Meeting ASABE. Publication Number 1800047.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Dong, Y., Safferman, S., Miller, S., Hruby, J., Bratt, D. 2017. Effectiveness of Food Processing Wastewater Irrigation. WEFTEC 2017, Chicago, IL, pp 3859-3866.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Dong, Y., and Safferman, S. 2018. Finite Element Modeling of Domestic and Food Processing Wastewater Land Application Treatment Systems. Annual International ASABE Meeting, Detroit, MI, July 31, 2018.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Dong, Y., Safferman, and S., Nejadhashemi, A.P. 2018. Computational Modeling of Wastewater Land Application Treatment Systems to Determine Strategies to Improve Carbon and Nitrogen removal. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, Submitted on August 19, 2018.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Griffin, J. and K. Mancl. 2017. Onsite reuse of reclaimed wastewater in winter to determine potential for pollutant runoff. Ohio Journal of Science. 117(2):74-84.</p><br /> <p>Heger, Sara and C. Gilbertson.&nbsp; 2018. Protecting our Water Takes Good Drinking&nbsp;Water&nbsp;and&nbsp;Septic&nbsp;Systems.&nbsp; WRC Factsheet, St. Paul, MN Access online at:&nbsp; &nbsp;https://septic.umn.edu/sites/septic.umn.edu/files/septic_and_wells_cec_final.pdf</p><br /> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><br /> <p>Mancl, K., R. Kopp and O. Tuovinen. 2018. Treatment of meat-processing wastewater with a full-scale, low-cost sand/gravel bioreactor system. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 34(2):403-409. Doi.org/10.13031/aea.12683.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Nelson, T. and S. Heger. 2017.&nbsp; Water Use at Minnesota Rest Areas.&nbsp; UMN Center for Transportation Studies:&nbsp; CTS 17-01.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Ross, B. N., G. W. Loomis, K. P. Hoyt, and J. A. Amador. 2018. User-based photometer analysis of effluent from advanced nitrogen-removal onsite wastewater treatment systems. Water, Air Soil Pollution 229:389.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Rowan, M., K. Mancl, C. Bucy. 2018. On-site Sprinkler Irrigation of Treated Wastewater in Ohio. Extension Bulletin 912. The Ohio State University.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Safferman, S., Smith, J., Dong, Y., Saffron, C., Wallace, J., Binkley, D., Thomas, M., Miller, S., Bissel, E., Booth, J., Lenz, J. 2017, Resources from Wastes: Benefits and Complexity. Journal of Environmental Engineering.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Wigginton, S., E. Brannon, P. J. Kearns, B. Lancellotti, A. Cox, G.W. Loomis, and J.A. Amador. 2018. Nitrifying and denitrifying bacterial communities in advanced N-removal onsite wastewater treatment systems. Journal of Environmental Quality&nbsp; 47:1163-1171.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Zamalloa, C. and Heger. S. 2017. Biodegradability analysis of toilet paper under anaerobic conditions. National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association Annual Conference Proceedings, Dover, Delaware.</p>

Impact Statements

1. 3. Expanding employment opportunities – Creating new jobs for new people entering the field and expanded employment opportunities for those already in the field helps ensure a strong and sustainable future for wastewater professionals. Indicators of Impact - UMN – In both Minnesota and Iowa, new septic professionals have gained over 300 new certifications and/or licenses during the reporting time period. Of the reported 537,354 existing systems in Minnesota, 15,250 systems or 2.8% of existing systems were evaluated for compliance in 2017. Of the 10,906 SSTS installed in 2017, 6,197 were replacement systems. Replacement systems represent existing sewage “disposal systems” that are replaced due to either failing to protect groundwater (FTPGW), or if the system is an imminent threat to public health and safety (ITPHS) as identified through inspections resulting from various local triggers such as: point-of-sale (POS), land use permits, building permits, conditional use permits, variances, and complaints. The volume of wastewater generated for these systems brought into compliance is estimated around 424 million gallons per year. Seventy-eight LGUs, 14 of which are counties, reported that they track maintenance activities for septic systems. Regarding property transfer requirements, 167 LGUs (60 counties) reported having a POS inspection trigger. Trends observed since 2002 suggest improvements in rural wastewater treatment. Since 2002, LGUs have issued 187,766 SSTS construction permits (over 96,000 of these systems were replacement systems). This means over one-third (35%) of Minnesota’s 537,354 septic systems are less than 16 years old. The number of estimated compliant systems has increased over the past ten years, from 334,500 systems in 2007 to 434,068 systems in 2017. URI – Seventeen onsite wastewater professionals took the URI wastewater inspector training classes, were tested and passed their exams, and received OWTS Inspector Registrations which are required in order to conduct inspections in several Rhode Island communities having wastewater management programs. Forty-three professionals took required classes needed to receive RI or MA regulatory agency permission to design and install bottomless sand filters. Twenty-four onsite wastewater professionals took the URI installer preparation course to prepare them for the RIDEM installers licensing exam - 22 passed the exam and received an installer’s license, required to install OWTS in RI. Nine onsite wastewater professionals took the URI course to prepare them for the RIDEM designer licensing exam, of which 7 passed the exam and received a designer’s license, required to design OWTS in RI. URI staff educated 264 wastewater practitioners about advanced OWTS in the Northeast region (101 of which work in RI), helping to raise the knowledge base and proficiency of these OWTS designers. Approximately, 30% of all OWTS applications that designers submit to the RIDEM are for advanced OWTS. Use of nitrogen removal OWTS are now required in state-designated watersheds that are nitrogen sensitive. This has helped protect these watersheds and groundwater from further degradation. UTK - Training program allowed 13 people to become certified to operate and maintain advanced onsite wastewater treatment units.

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Report Information

Participants

Name email Institution
Amador, Jose jamador@uri.edu URI*
Cooper, Jennifer Jcooper8@unl.edu UNL
Cox, Alissa alibba@uri.ed URI*
Dong, Younsuk dongyoun@msu.edu MSU*
Grantham, Deb dgg3@cornell.edu Cornell*
Habteselassie, Mussie mussieh@uga.edu UGA*
Lee, Brad brad.lee@uky.edu UKY*
Ricker, Matt mcricker@ncsu.edu NCSU*
Ross, Bianca bpeixoto10@uri.edu URI*
Wigginton, Sara sarawigginton@gmail.com URI*

Brief Summary of Minutes

1. The NE 1545 meeting began at 2:30 pm. Ten individuals, representing seven institutions, attended the meeting (see table below for list of attendees; member institutions indicated with an “*”, remote participants marked with an “¯”).  Each member institution delivered an update of NE 1545 related activities for the reporting year October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.  Accomplishments from these research and outreach activities are noted in the Accomplishment section of this report.

Name	email	Institution
Amador, Jose	jamador@uri.edu	URI*
Cooper, Jennifer¯	Jcooper8@unl.edu	UNL
Cox, Alissa	alibba@uri.edu	URI*
Dong, Younsuk	dongyoun@msu.edu	MSU*
Grantham, Deb¯	dgg3@cornell.edu	Cornell*
Habteselassie, Mussie	mussieh@uga.edu	UGA*
Lee, Brad	brad.lee@uky.edu	UKY*
Ricker, Matt	mcricker@ncsu.edu	NCSU*
Ross, Bianca	bpeixoto10@uri.edu	URI*
Wigginton, Sara	sarawigginton@gmail.com	URI*

2. Brief summary of the meeting presentations and discusison:

• Matt Ricker from NC State University discussed first steps accomplished since joining NE1545 in summer 2019. They’ve hired a non-thesis Master’s student to work on a project to understand spatial relationships among existing on-site systems, soil types, and coastal zone flooding. Other ongoing research at NCSU includes evaluating saprolite effectiveness in removing pathogens from wastewater. Matt reported some challenges to onsite program, including lack of funding and discontinuation of tenure-track faculty and extension positions to support onsite programs. NC state group is interested in exploring how systems are affected during/after flood events, how coastal plain systems are likely to be affected by sea level rise and saltwater intrusion. Additionally, the group is interested in understanding how current system types perform in the shallow soils of the NC mountain/piedmont region, and what alternative (and economical) systems might be developed for these areas.


• Younsuk Dong from Michigan State University gave an overview of a research project assessing land treatment of food processing wastewater. He also presented research from a project assessing a low-cost gravel filter wastewater treatment system for small wineries. The group at MSU is also using a HYDRUS constructed wetland 2D model to simulate land treatment of wastewater. The group has identified some challenges in Michigan’s design criteria for land-applied wastewater, that do not account for site or wastewater-specific variables. They are hoping that modeling can be offer a viable alternative to field experiments to inform and update criteria, though the limited available data and difficulty calibrating models makes this challenging.


• Mussie Habteselassie from the University of Georgia informed the group about research efforts, including the evaluation of nutrient and bacteria transport from shoreline OWTS to Lake Lanier in GA. The cooperative extension at UGA have also worked to improve their onsite field demonstration infrastructure, and created cross-section shadowboxes to illustrate how different drainfield technologies are designed to function for training purposes. UGA is interested in mapping septic systems in sensitive areas across GA, and monitor water quality and assessing impacts of OWTS in Pike County, GA.


• Jose Amador, Alissa Cox, Bianca Ross and Sara Wigginton presented accomplishments from the University of Rhode Island for the past year. Jennifer Cooper described a recent publication that describes the effect of water-filled pore space on greenhouse gas emissions in soils treating wastewater. Bianca described research that shows that a photometer is a cost-effective and practical method of assessing total N concentrations of effluent in the field. In addition, she informed the group about her research about the N removal treatment performance of proprietary technologies. Alissa discussed research on sea level rise and changes in groundwater tables in coastal communities, and how these are affecting septic system drainfields. She also discussed some modeling efforts aimed at predicting damage to systems after different magnitudes of storm events. Sara Wigginton described research efforts aimed at understanding the performance of a passive layered soil treatment area designed to remove nitrogen. Jose reported on using IRIS (indicator of redox in soils) rods painted with manganese oxide in septic systems for assessing reducing conditions similar to those required for denitrification to occur. Additionally, the cooperative extension outreach arm of URI described a new course developed to share recent research findings with professionals and stakeholders in the onsite wastewater community.


• Brad Lee from the University of Kentucky described some of the research efforts underway in KY, and mentioned that there is a lot of interest in developing the onsite infrastructure in Appalachia, which is characterized by soils generally considered “poorly suitable” for septic systems.


• Finally, the group discussed whether to submit a proposal for a NE 2045 Multi-state onsite wastewater system project, and what the focus should be. A few ideas were discussed, and plans were made to collect more feedback from the wider NE 1545 community before committing to next steps.

3. The meeting concluded at 5:45 pm.

Accomplishments

<h2>Project Objective 1 - Improve our understanding of the interactions among wastewater, soils, and climate variables</h2><br /> <h3>Ohio State University (OSU)</h3><br /> <p><strong>Reuse of reclaimed wastewater through onsite spray irrigation. </strong>Research on winter reuse of reclaimed wastewater was conducted in Ohio. Issues evaluated were impact on plants, equipment protection, pathogen control, and pollutant runoff potential from cold soil. A new wastewater irrigation demonstration system was installed for a farm house on an Ohio Farm Bureau demonstration farm in the western Lake Erie watershed.&nbsp; The onsite spray system replaces direct discharge of septic tank effluent from the century old farmhouse.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Treatment of high salt content wastewater. </strong>Salt levels in wastewater become an issue from food processors that use salt for curing or pickling.&nbsp; With fresh water scarcity, the use of high salt-content water for toilet flushing is also an option. Research is looking at the impact of salt on wastewater treatment using sand bioreactors.</p><br /> <p>Research on using reverse osmosis to remove salt and nutrients from treated food processing wastewater was conducted.&nbsp; The overall objective was to analyze the effectiveness of nutrient removal from wastewater effluent by membranes. The focus was on analyzing the relationship comparing wastewater strength with membrane fouling rates and pollutant removal efficiencies. A lab-scale reverse osmosis system was set up with pressure capabilities of up to 1000 psi. Four flat-sheet membranes were run for varying effluent quality conditions to observe effective removal of salt, inorganic nutrients, and turbidity. Two membranes were run at 400psi and two were run at 800psi. Sand bioreactor effluents and activated sludge effluents were tested with and without the addition of salt with DI water used as a control. Membranes tested at 800 psi had greater and more consistent removal rates. The most efficient membrane shows removals in all categories of at least 85%.</p><br /> <h3>North Carolina State University (NCSU)</h3><br /> <p><strong>Understanding spatial relationships among existing on-site systems, soil types, and coastal zone flooding. </strong>Millions of people live in coastal regions of the eastern United States, and many of them rely on on-site wastewater treatment systems to effectively treat wastewater and protect water quality. The functionality of on-site systems can be adversely affected by predicted coastal climate change via increased flooding, salinization of soils, and rising ground water tables. Our research will quantify the location of existing on-site systems in North Carolina and allow for prediction of climate change impacts to these systems.</p><br /> <p>We have begun to identify potential research sites by county in coastal North Carolina. We have identified 17 possible counties to work with that have available GIS data for our research analyses. These counties have a combined total estimated 2017 population of 901,843. We have gathered necessary GIS data for advanced geospatial analyses (including available ground water table heights, salinity data, soil survey units, county parcels, LiDAR, etc.). We have hired a non-thesis master of soil science (MR) student to begin the GIS analyses to correlate risk of flooding, salinization, and ground water rise to existing on-site systems in a subset of these identified counties. The GIS analyses will be completed by the summer of 2020.</p><br /> <h3>University of Rhode Island</h3><br /> <p><strong>Assessment of Non-proprietary Passive Nitrogen Removal Septic Systems.&nbsp; </strong>In collaboration with partners in Massachusetts (MASSTC), we are conducting experiments to test the nitrogen removal potential of layered soil treatment areas (STA). These leaching systems increase sequential nitrification (in a sand layer) and denitrification (in a sand layer mixed with sawdust) as septic tank effluent percolates through to groundwater. We are monitoring three residential layered systems for (1) N removal (2) microorganisms involved in N transformations, and (3) greenhouse gas emissions. All STA were constructed with a control (conventional) STA beside them filled only with sand and receiving the same wastewater; this design allowed us to make comparisons with a STA like those currently installed in Massachusetts. We collected monthly subsurface greenhouse gas concentrations from this site from May 2018-July 2019. During the reporting period we collected greenhouse gas emission data from each site during the spring and summer of 2019; during these sampling events we also collected four soil cores (2 control and 2 layered STA) at each site.</p><br /> <p>Analysis of the final effluent nitrogen removing performance data indicates that the layered STA meet state N regulations in 80% of samples collected, compared to 20% of control samples. We observed no significant differences between greenhouse gas emissions from the layered and control STAs. The microbial community DNA extracts for initial media material, native soil, and all sampling events have been performed. During the reporting period, we completed all the lab analyses necessary for this part of the project and are currently performing data analysis.</p><br /> <p><strong>Groundwater tables in near-shore areas compromising separation distance for majority of coastal septic systems. </strong>We concluded research efforts investigating how groundwater tables along the southern RI coast are impacting drainfield separation distance (the distance from the drainfield&rsquo;s infiltrative surface to the groundwater table) in near-shore areas. Using long-term groundwater monitoring wells, coupled with ground-penetrating radar surveys of 10 different drainfields, we determined that 20% had adequate separation distance throughout the year, while 50% had inadequate separation distance at least some of the time, and 30% never had adequate separation distance. At one site, during a small coastal storm event, the water table reached the infiltrative surface of the drainfield. These findings corroborate research performed by URI on historic near-shore groundwater tables, which indicated that over time, groundwater tables appear to be rising. Next steps are to share this information with regulatory agencies to inform a discussion on improving the regulation-specified method of groundwater table elevation determination, as current methods are not accurate in near-shore areas. The methods we used for our analyses could be applied to many coastal communities in the US and abroad, and present an important consideration for the sustainability of coastal communities and their adaptation to climate change.</p><br /> <p><strong>Impact of soil water-filled pore space on greenhouse gas emissions.</strong>&nbsp; Microbial removal of C and N in soil-based wastewater treatment involves emission of CO2, CH4, N2O, and N2 to the atmosphere. Water-filled pore space (WFPS) can exert an important control on microbial production and consumption of these gases. We examined the impact of WFPS on emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O, and N2 in soil microcosms receiving septic tank effluent (STE) or effluent from a single-pass sand filter (SFE), with deionized-distilled (DW) water as a control.</p><br /> <p>Incubation of B and C horizon soil for 1 h (the residence time of wastewater in 1 cm of soil) with DW produced the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which varied little with WFPS. In B and C horizon soil amended with SFE emissions of N2O increased linearly with increasing WFPS. Emissions of CO2 from soil amended with STE peaked at WFPS of 0.5&ndash;0.8, depending on the soil horizon, whereas in soil amended with SFE, the CO2 flux was detectable only in B horizon soil, where it increased with increasing WFPS. Methane emissions were detectable only for STE, with flux increasing linearly with WFPS in C horizon soil, but no clear pattern was observed with WFPS for B horizon soil. Emissions of GHG from soil were not constrained by the lack of organic C availability in SFE, or by the absence of NO3 availability in STE, and addition of acetate or NO3 resulted in lower emissions in a number of instances. Emission of 15N2 and 15N2O from 15NH4 took place within an hour of contact with soil, and production of 15N2 was much higher than 15N2O. 15N2 emissions were greatest at the lowest WFPS value and diminished markedly as WFPS increased, regardless of water type and soil texture. Our results suggest that the fluxes of CO2, CH4, N2O, and N2 respond differently to WFPS, depending on water type and soil texture.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <h2>Project Objective 2 &ndash; Identify the biogeochemical and physical processes that control contaminant removal from wastewater and how these are impacted by climate variability and climate change</h2><br /> <h3>University of Georgia (UGA)</h3><br /> <p><strong>Evaluation of nutrient and bacteria transport from shoreline OWTS to Lake Lanier in GA.</strong> We are starting a study to determine if shoreline OWTS on Lake Lanier, the drinking water source for much of Metro Atlanta, are contributing N, P, or E. coli to the lake. The project is funded by the Gwinnett County Water Resources Department which uses Lake Lanier as the source for all its drinking water. We have installed groundwater wells along the shoreline at 7 home sites that vary in age of system, distance from the drainfield to the lake, and annual water use. The wells have been sampled monthly. In addition, we have installed 5 check-dams and weirs with automated samplers in convergent flow areas to sample stormwater runoff. We will also install wells and a runoff station at a control site with no development. We have developed a HYDRUS hillslope model that accurately predicts the Cl and N concentrations at one of the home sites. Georgia Tech is a partner in the study and will be doing lake sampling in the coves with OWTS and in the control cove. The project will run for 1 year starting in November 2019. Preliminary results from 6 of the home sites indicate nitrate may be in the 4 to 6 mg/L range at homes with distances less than about 70 m. Concentrations of total P are below 0.1 mg/L and we have found no evidence of E. coli.</p><br /> <h3>Michigan State University (MSU)</h3><br /> <p>Land treatment of food processing wastewater can irrigate a crop, provide nutrients, recharge aquifers, reduce energy use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save resources. However, when excessive carbon is land applied, the soil becomes anaerobic and several metals become mobile when reduced. Although aerobic conditions prevent metal mobilization, denitrification is inhibited under this condition. Critical for land application is pretreatment and strategic organic and hydraulic loadings to maximize efficient waste management and minimize environmental impacts. A long-term field study continues and includes direct soil oxygen and moisture monitoring using remote sensors to ensure aerobic conditions. Finite element modeling using Hydrus Constructed Wetland 2D is being conducted and is demonstrating the potential to simulate land application of wastewater under numerous scenarios.&nbsp; Calibration and verification studies are ongoing. The outcome is a change in action and condition in that careful operations and design allow food processors to continue using land application.</p><br /> <p>Many Michigan wineries use land application for wastewater management, but new regulatory recommendations require more land so a compact alternative is desirable to prevent the loss of vineyard space to wastewater treatment area. To reduce treatment area, gravel bed vertical flow constructed wetlands (GBVFCWs) were studied to remove high concentrations of BOD and nitrogen from winery wastewater. The GBVFCWs consist of three subsurface gravel cells connected in series that utilize aerobic and anoxic conditions to promote biological degradation. A bench-scale GBVFCW was constructed and operated. At 68&deg;F and at various loading frequencies, the GBVFCW removed an average of 99% COD, 62% nitrate, 94% total nitrogen, and ammonia to levels below detection limits. Nearly all treatment occurred within the first cell, indicating that aerobic and anoxic environments were present within the cell. A HYDRUS Constructed Wetland 2D model is being evaluated for its potential use in this application. Based on this research, GBVFCWs are a compact and effective option for winery wastewater treatment.</p><br /> <p>Additionally, onsite application of wastewater, as compared to treatment in a traditional activated sludge processes, reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Reductions are achieved by not using energy for wastewater aeration, carbon dioxide uptake by the plants grown when using the wastewater, and reduced production of industrial nutrients for the crops.</p><br /> <h3>University of Minnesota (UMN)</h3><br /> <p>Working with MnDOT, OSTP is evaluating water tables and groundwater mounding at 25 existing systems with automated water level recorders between early April through mid-November.&nbsp;&nbsp; This data is being used to evaluating what level of vertical separation to a periodically saturated condition is maintained at each of these sites; and does the groundwater below these systems mound up either during high wastewater discharge times or wet climatic periods.</p><br /> <p>Chemicals of emerging concern (CEC) sampling is occurring at four highway safety rest areas and a land application site to determine design parameters affecting treatment.&nbsp; Samples were collected prior to soil treatment, in the soil itself beneath the systems and in monitoring wells and evaluated for CECs.&nbsp;&nbsp; The water samples were also analyzed for general wastewater contaminants.&nbsp; A year one report was prepared.&nbsp; The work will continue for 3 more years.</p><br /> <p>The soil treatment areas (STA) from one highway rest area was sampled and analyzed to determine the soil microbial populations (metagenomics) using next generation (DNA) sequencing.&nbsp; The goal is to compare STA microbiology, natural soil microbiology after the system has been in operation for one year, and then at year two after pretreatment is added.</p><br /> <p>High chloride levels in surface waters and groundwater are an emerging concern in Minnesota, as they can negatively impact aquatic and plant life. Work continues to evaluate at the watershed scale the chloride sources and potential reduction from different sources.</p><br /> <h3>University of Rhode Island (URI)</h3><br /> <p><strong>Assessment of advanced nitrogen-removal onsite wastewater treatment systems in Charlestown, RI </strong>Advanced N-removal OWTS are designed to facilitate nitrification and denitrification of wastewater before final effluent is applied to the soil treatment area and percolates to the groundwater.&nbsp; In this study, we selected 48 advanced N-removal OWTS in the town of Charlestown, Rhode Island to determine the capacity of 6 different N-removal OWTS technologies (Orenco Advantex AX20, Orenco Advantex RX30, BioMicrobics MicroFAST, and Norweco Singulair Models TNT, 960, and DN) to meet the RI Dept. of Environmental Management&rsquo;s standard for final effluent total N (TN) concentration of 19 if seasonal systems require any microbial &ldquo;ramp-up&rdquo; time before they are capable of N removal.&nbsp; The year-round systems are sampled quarterly and the seasonal systems are sampled four times (monthly) over the summer (June through September) occupancy period.</p><br /> <p>Thus far, we have found that home occupancy pattern does not influence TN concentrations in the final effluent.&nbsp; Contrary to our initial beliefs, there does not appear to be any sort of microbial ramp-up time mg/L or less.&nbsp; Twenty-one of the systems serve houses occupied year-round, while 27 serve seasonally-occupied houses.&nbsp; Investigating the impact of home occupancy pattern on effluent TN will allow us to assess associated with seasonally-used systems.&nbsp; However, technology type does significantly influence effluent ammonium and TN concentration; it does not influence nitrate concentrations.&nbsp; Specifically, Norweco systems reported higher NH₄⁺ and TN concentrations than all other technologies.&nbsp; This, in combination with the significantly higher alkalinity and BOD₅ values reported by Norweco systems, suggests that Norweco systems are not nitrifying sufficiently.&nbsp; Sixty-four percent of AX20 systems, 44% of RX30s, 100% of FASTs, and 0% of Norweco systems have final effluent median TN values less than RIDEM&rsquo;s standard of 19 mg/L.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Using IRIS tubes as an indicator of denitrification.</strong>&nbsp; Advanced onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) and soil treatment areas are used to remove nitrogen from wastewater. These systems rely on sequential nitrification and denitrification to remove nitrogen in gaseous forms: N2 and N2O. Determining the extent to which denitrification takes place in these systems is a complex, time-consuming task. Manganese oxide reduction takes place at a redox value close to that for denitrification. We gathered preliminary data on the use of IRIS (indicator of reduction in soil) tubes coated with manganese oxide to assess the redox conditions in an advanced N-removal OWTS.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>We found that loss of color &ndash; indicative of Mn reduction &ndash; from the IRIS tubes took place in the anoxic and hypoxic compartments after in situ incubation for 7 days, whereas no loss of color was observed in oxic compartments. Laboratory experiments shows that loss of color from IRIS tubes submerged in anoxic wastewater was evident after 30 min. Our results suggest that IRIS tubes coated with manganese oxide paint may be a quick, inexpensive indicator of redox conditions that support denitrification.</p><br /> <h3>University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture</h3><br /> <p><strong>Optimum Placement of Drip Irrigation Laterals for Effluent Treatment and Dispersal. </strong>A subsurface drip dispersal system is comprised drip emitters that are incorporated into polyethylene tubing.&nbsp; The emitter spacing along the tubing and the placement of the tubing in parallel rows (laterals) provides a grid of discrete emission points across a soil treatment area.&nbsp; This grid is often quantified by the area serviced by an individual emitter.&nbsp; In other words, if the laterals are spaced 24 inches on center and the emitters are spaced every 24 inches along the lateral, then each emitter is said to add water to a land area of four square feet.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>In Tennessee, the appropriate spacing of this grid is a hotly debated topic.&nbsp; Having more emitters per unit area would seem to be appropriate to maximize the contact between the effluent and the soil.&nbsp; However, soil-moisture tension can redistribute moisture between emitters, lessening the need for a tight emitter spacing.&nbsp; Further, if the effluent is pretreated before land application, a fair question is whether the role of the soil is more of a dispersal activity rather than a treatment activity.&nbsp; An additional factor is the hydraulics of having additional laterals across the soil treatment area.&nbsp; At the startup and termination of a drip dispersal cycle, the tubing must fill with effluent and subsequently drain out &ndash; resulting in nonsteady state effluent application. Additional laterals means additional nonsteady state volume will be applied, increasing the non-uniformity of the application.&nbsp; Finally, the additional tubing required for a tight grid spacing increases the cost of the system.</p><br /> <p>Tennessee has greater than 200 decentralized wastewater treatment and dispersal systems that utilize drip systems with emitters that are spaced 24 inches along the lateral and the laterals are spaced 60 inches on center &ndash; resulting in a 10 square feet per emitter arrangement.&nbsp; Recently, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Division of Water Resources proposed a rule that will mandate a grid arrangement of four square feet per emitter.&nbsp; This required grid spacing will be more expensive to install and many members of the regulated community assert that no additional environmental benefit will be gained with the increased installation cost.</p><br /> <p>In order to gain knowledge about the implication of the proposed rule, Buchanan applied for and was awarded $20,000 from the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center to study how soil-water moves between emitters and laterals.&nbsp; A field plot has been established at the East Tennessee Research and Education Center near Knoxville, Tennessee.&nbsp; This plot contains four treatments based on the distance between laterals:&nbsp; 2-foot, 3-foot, 4-foot and 5-foot spacing.&nbsp; The drip tubing has emitters spaced at 24 inches and the emitters are rated for 0.6 gallon per hour.&nbsp; Soil moisture sensors have been placed at the mid-point between laterals to determine if moisture from adjacent laterals is moving horizontally to fill in the area between laterals.&nbsp; The soil moisture sensors are positioned 8 and 18 inches below the soil surface.&nbsp; This plot is located in a Waynesboro clay loam soil that would typically have a design hydraulic loading rate of 0.10 gallon per day per square foot.&nbsp; For this study, the hydraulic loading rate is 0.20 gallon per day per square foot and is dosed eight times per day.&nbsp; This study will monitor the soil moisture status between the laterals for at least a year to gain information during wet and dry seasons.</p><br /> <h2>Project Objective 3 - Develop models that describe and predict how wastewater renovation processes are affected by climate variables at different spatial and temporal scales.</h2><br /> <h3>University of Rhode Island (URI)</h3><br /> <p><strong>Modeling the effects of storm damage to near-shore septic systems along southern RI coast. </strong>We have created a model using existing flood maps for different storm recurrence interval probabilities and mean parcel elevation to predict which septic systems would be affected/damaged to varying extents along the southern Rhode Island (RI) coast should a storm affect the area. Septic systems were predicted to face serious impacts (extensive repairs / complete replacement required in the aftermath of a storm event), moderate impacts (minor repairs required to restore full system functionality) or ephemeral impacts (no lasting impacts once storm waters recede), based on proximity to the Atlantic ocean and mean parcel elevation. Repairs could cost anywhere between $1 to over $30K per system, depending on the nature of the damage. The model was validated using damage descriptions of system damage sustained during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 in Charlestown and Westerly, RI. Currently, the model predicts damage to systems with ~70% accuracy, underestimating damage on up to 20% of systems. The model could be improved by incorporating more parameters and details, including actual system elevation, surrounding microtopography, system type and better damage descriptions in the aftermath of storms. Current coastal community resiliency plans are not adequately addressing the threat posed by storms with respect to OWTS, which could result in significant environmental degradation and public health risks. The methods we used for our analyses could be applied to many coastal communities in the US and abroad, and present an important consideration for the sustainability of coastal communities and their adaptation to climate change.</p><br /> <h2>Project Objective 4 &ndash; Develop and deliver educational and outreach materials to inform practitioners and the public about the performance, management, operation, maintenance and health issues related to OWTS in light of climate variability and climate change.</h2><br /> <h3>University of Arizona</h3><br /> <p>As an Extension Specialist (outreach professional), I educate and train onsite wastewater treatment practitioners in the soil and site evaluation, design, installation, operation and management, and inspection of onsite wastewater treatment systems, and inform homeowners and users of onsite wastewater treatment systems how to better manage their systems to prolong their useful life while protecting human health and the environment. This is done through formal training classes (1 to 2 days each) and seminars for homeowners. Exit surveys are conducted to obtain knowledge gained for the homeowners. Exams are given in several of the trainings for practitioners.</p><br /> <h3>University of Georgia</h3><br /> <p><strong>A study update from Dr. Gary L. Hawkins. </strong>In Georgia, the following workshops/field days were held: A). Two workshops for homeowners (26 attendants), B). A field day for industry, GA Department of Public Health (DPH) personnel and manufacturers (106 attendants). The field day was designed and co-sponsored by the Georgia On-Site Wastewater Association (GOWA). The participants received updates on Georgia Regulations (1.5 hours) and an outdoor portion where DPH personnel and manufacturers explained different parts of OWTS and distribution systems including: pump trucks, ATU units, dosing systems and floats, installation of different Georgia approved distribution systems, and how the different distribution systems operate.&nbsp; There were 98 persons registered, approximate number of Installers/pumpers/designers was 78, DPH personnel was 9 (from State level to County level), 11 manufacture representatives, 2 GOWA personnel, and 5 University of Georgia faculty and staff. At least the 78 installers/pumpers/designers received certification credits to renew their license.&nbsp; These certifications are maintained by the GOWA association.</p><br /> <h3>Michigan State University (MSU)</h3><br /> <p>The Michigan State University Extension Comprehensive Onsite Wastewater Management Education Program is a facilitated online program for designers and installers. Completion of the classes results in 1.6 continuing education credits and/or 16 septage waste education credits. A homeowner OWTS program continues to be offered. A folder for homeowners defines onsite wastewater and provides important operational and maintenance procedures. Included in the homeowner folder is a grid to plot the location of structures, drives, and the onsite wastewater system and a maintenance log. In addition, a free webinar was offered for landowner, businesses, homeowners, and riparian owners to help educate them about how onsite wastewater systems work, the maintenance it requires, and how to keep the system operating at peak efficiency avoiding overloads, failure, and costly replacements.</p><br /> <h3>Ohio State University (OSU)</h3><br /> <p><strong>Reuse of reclaimed wastewater through onsite spray irrigation.</strong> A new extension online/hybrid course on Soil and Site Evaluation for Onsite Wastewater Treatment was completed and piloted in fall 2019.&nbsp; The course has 3 online segments &ndash; 6 CEUs each, followed by 3 field labs &ndash; also 6 CEUs each. For the pilot offering 2 sanitarians from the Ohio Department of Health, one county sanitarian and 1 contractor completed the first online segment.&nbsp; The complete 6-session course is scheduled for full offering starting in June 2020.</p><br /> <h3>University of Kentucky (UKY)</h3><br /> <p><strong>Septic System Operation and Maintenance Workshops for Appalachia Residents. </strong>In partnership with the US Forest Service, Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA), East Kentucky PRIDE and EPA 319 funding through Kentucky Division of Water for the Red River Watershed Restoration Project, the University of Kentucky delivered community septic system outreach programs to 21 residents interested in septic system repairs/replacements.&nbsp; These programs focused on operation and maintenance of residential septic systems as well as how to identify septic system issues.&nbsp; The efforts are focused on households below the poverty level in the following watersheds, Swift Camp Creek and its unnamed tributary, Calaboose Creek, and Red Bird River.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Training of Septic System Regulatory Personnel.</strong> Through a partnership with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services - Department for Public Health, The University of Kentucky trained 15 regulatory personnel in how to describe soils for siting septic systems over three workshops.&nbsp; These week-long workshops include hands-on field exercises and an examination at the end of the workshop to determine proficiency.&nbsp;</p><br /> <h3>University of Minnesota (UMN)</h3><br /> <p>UMN trained over 2,000 septic professionals in Minnesota in over 50 training events and delivered training in numerous other states with over 1,000 attendees.&nbsp; Staff planned and organized the educational program for 2020 annual Minnesota Onsite Wastewater Association conference.&nbsp; In addition, staff assisted in organizing and delivering the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association annual conference in 2019.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health, the UMN is developing and presenting education materials to increase the knowledge regarding chemical of emerging concern (CEC) for those served and managing septic systems.&nbsp;&nbsp; A vast majority of these homes on a septic system use a private well for their drinking water.&nbsp; There is the potential for CEC from septic systems to be affecting drinking water wells. This project focuses on educating septic system owners, septic system professionals and those managing wells with a source water protection plan.&nbsp; During the reporting period, a factsheet was developed and 9 classes offered for homeowners (495 in attendance) and 6 for septic system professionals (523 in attendance).</p><br /> <h3>University of Rhode Island (URI)</h3><br /> <p>The URI project team delivered 23 talks (12 of which were invited) and 4 posters to academic and professional audiences relative to OWTS and climate change at conferences in RI, CT, MA, NY, CA, ME, and Dublin, Ireland.&nbsp; Graduate student, Alissa Cox, was awarded best oral presentation at New England Water Symposium and best poster presentation at SSSA meeting. Our audience reached scientists, wastewater practitioners, board of health officials, regulatory decision makers and coastal resource managers.&nbsp; In addition, we published 2 peer-reviewed papers, and one book, delivered a total of 22 workshops/ classes in two states in the region, reaching 503 practitioners, decision makers and students. These classes provided continuing education credits needed by nearly 325 licensed professionals to renew their professional licenses.&nbsp; Three of the classes had qualifying exams.&nbsp; We provided direct OWTS technical assistance to Suffolk County Health Dept., NY and RI Department of Environmental Management.</p><br /> <h3>University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture</h3><br /> <ol><br /> <li>Buchanan was involved with 14 educational sessions during 2019 and spoke to 938 people about septic system installation, operation, and maintenance. The scope of these events ranged from meeting with individuals seeking knowledge about their systems, community-level discussions about high septic system failure rates, state-level meetings with regulators, engineers and soil scientists, to presentations at national meetings.</li><br /> </ol>

Publications

<h3>Ohio State University (OSU)</h3><br /> <p>Mancl, K. and M. Rowan. 2019. Spray Irrigation of Reclaimed Wastewater for Rural Homes. Ohio State University Extension. AEX-758.&nbsp; <a href="https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/AEX-758">https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/AEX-758</a> (Fact Sheet)</p><br /> <p>Henderson, K. 2019. Reverse Osmosis as a Chemical-Free Technology for the Removal of Nutrients from Cured Meat Processing Wastewater. MA Thesis. The Ohio State University.</p><br /> <p>Henderson, K., and K. Mancl. 2019. Reverse osmosis treating cured meat processing wastewater for removal of inorganic nutrients and salt. ASABE. Publication Number 190035.</p><br /> <h3>University of Minnesota (UMN)</h3><br /> <p>Distel, J., Heger, S., and S. Larson.&nbsp; 2019.&nbsp; Analysis of contaminants of emerging concern with On-site wastewater treatment systems &ndash; year 1.&nbsp; National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association Annual Conference Proceedings, Loveland, CO.</p><br /> <p>Heger, S., Doro, J., Rutter, M. Gustafson, D. and S. Larson. 2019.&nbsp; Investigating wastewater reuse at MnDOT truck stations.&nbsp; Minnesota Department of Transportation - MN/RC 2019-22.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Overbo, A., Heger, S., Kyser, S., Asleson, B., and J. Gulliver.&nbsp; 2019.&nbsp; Chloride contributions from water softeners and other domestic, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sources to Minnesota waters.&nbsp; University of Minnesota. https://www.wrc.umn.edu/sites/wrc.umn.edu/files/overbo_finaldraftchloridebudgetreport_jan2019_1.pdf</p><br /> <p>Overbo, A., and S. Heger.&nbsp; 2019. Costs and benefits of household water softening: a review.&nbsp; University of Minnesota, Water Resources Center. https://www.wrc.umn.edu/sites/wrc.umn.edu/files/overbo_watersofteningcostbenefit_jan2019.pdf</p><br /> <p>Heger, S. Doro, J. and S. Larson. 2019. Investigating Flammable Waste Trap Solids at MnDOT Truck Stations.&nbsp; University of Minnesota, Water Resources Center. <a href="https://septic.umn.edu/sites/septic.umn.edu/files/mndot_flammable_waste_trap_2019.pdf">https://septic.umn.edu/sites/septic.umn.edu/files/mndot_flammable_waste_trap_2019.pdf</a></p><br /> <h3>Michigan State University (MSU)</h3><br /> <p>Dong, Y., S. I. Safferman, A. P. Nejadhashemi. 2019. Wastewater land application modeling using Hydrus CW2D calibrated and validated by volumetric water content and treatment performance from laboratory bench-scale drain fields. ASCE Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment 5(4):414-424.</p><br /> <p>Dong, Y., S. I. Safferman, A. P. Nejadhashemi. 2019. Computational modeling of wastewater land application treatment systems to determine strategies to improve carbon and nitrogen removal. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 54(7):657-667.</p><br /> <h3>University of Rhode Island (URI)</h3><br /> <p>Amador, J.A., and G.W. Loomis. 2018. Soil-based Wastewater Treatment. American Society of Agronomy, Inc.; Soil Science Society of America, Inc.; Crop Science Society of America, Inc., Madison, WI. 353pp.</p><br /> <p>Anderson, F.L., J.A. Cooper, and J.A. Amador. 2019. Laboratory-Scale Evaluation of the Effects of Water-Filled Pore Space on Emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O, and N2 from Soil-Based Wastewater Treatment. Water, Air, Soil Pollut. 230(10): 245. doi: 10.1007/s11270-019-4294-7.</p><br /> <p>Cox, A.H., G.W. Loomis, and J.A. Amador. 2019. Preliminary Evidence That Rising Groundwater Tables Threaten Coastal Septic Systems. J. Sustain. Water Built Environ. 5(4): 04019007. doi: 10.1061/JSWBAY.0000887.</p>

Impact Statements

1. Indicators of Impacts - University of Minnesota (UMN) Of the reported 575,726 existing systems in Minnesota, 14,923 systems or 2.6% of existing systems were evaluated for compliance in 2018. Of the 10,311 SSTS installed in 2018, 5,436 were replacement systems. Replacement systems represent existing sewage “disposal systems” that are replaced due to either failing to protect groundwater (FTPGW), or if the system is an imminent threat to public health and safety (ITPHS) as identified through inspections resulting from various local triggers such as: point-of-sale (POS), land use permits, building permits, conditional use permits, variances, and complaints. The volume of wastewater generated for these systems brought into compliance is estimated around 372 million gallons per year. Eighty-one local government units (LGUs), 13 of which are counties, reported that they track maintenance activities for septic systems. Regarding property transfer requirements, 166 LGUs (61 counties) reported having a POS inspection trigger. Trends observed since 2002 suggest improvements in subsurface wastewater treatment. Since 2002, LGUs have issued 197,685 SSTS construction permits (over 100,000 of these systems were replacement systems). This means over one-third (34%) of Minnesota’s 575,726 septic systems are less than 17 years old. The number of estimated compliant systems has increased over the past ten years, from 334,500 systems in 2007 to roughly 463,500 systems in 2018. University of Rhode Island (URI) Staff educated 250 wastewater practitioners about advanced OWTS in the Northeast region helping to raise the knowledge base and proficiency of these OWTS designers. Approximately, 30% of all OWTS applications that designers submit to the RIDEM are for advanced OWTS. Use of nitrogen removal OWTS are now required in state-designated watersheds that are nitrogen sensitive. This increased designer knowledge level has helped protect these watersheds and groundwater from further degradation.

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