Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

University of Georgia

[Mussie Habteselassie was unable to attend because the city of Griffin, where UGA-Griffin is based, was hit with a tornedo a day before, resulting in internet outage both at work and home. MH sent the PPT presentation MH planned on doing during the meeting to Alissa. It had descriptions of new, on-going and completed projects on septic systems. The completed projects are 1). A low resource method for populating a septic system database for counties using remote sensing and ArcGIS (B. Carr, K. Capps, N. Gaur) and 2) Pike County Plans for the Future by building on the Upper Flint Regional Water Plan (E. Bauske and M. Habteselassie). There is one on-going project - Interactions between trees and soils, and how that is impacted by septic systems (C. Scott and R. Abney) and another new project that started towards the end of last year - Wet Weather Septic System Impact to Surface Water Quality Study (K. Capps, N. Gaur, R. Abney, E. Lipps)

Michigan State University – Steven Safferman

• Focus: high-strength wastewater  from food processing.
  • Showed impact on the impact of biomass growth on the drain field from high strength wastewater and FOG.
  • Presented research on the impact of organic and hydraulic loadings on the removal of COD and nitrate. Results were from a calibrated and verified HYDRUS model. Nitrate removal improved with continuous loading/frequent dosing of high COD wastewater.
  • Shared results from completed research using a gravel contactor (vertical flow, cold weather, constructed wetland) treating craft beverage wastewater. Excellent treatment resulted, with a footprint that was approximately 80% less  than a conventional drain field treatment system adjusted for the higher organic loading. Phosphorus was effectively adsorbed using an engineered media.
  • Research is ongoing using a greenhouse ecosystem for high-strength, food processing wastewater. The footprint is expected to be even smaller than the gravel contactor. 
• Described MSU Extension’s online asynchronous class, Decentralized Wastewater Treatment - Continuing Education for Designers and Installers. The class provides 16 hours of contact time and there were 23 participants during the reporting

North Carolina State University

[Matt Ricker was unable to attend]

University of Tennessee – John Buchanan

• Focus: Drip dispersal of secondary treated wastewater
• Community scale – several hundred in TN (5-15ac size)
• Soils / loading rates in marginal soils (fragipans / morphological characteristics)
• Created permeator 6’x6’ with drip emitter every 12” … can hyperload soil and measure soil moisture (inside & outside application grid) to measure saturation post-dose … now determined loading rate for different soils (different from doing soil description)
• N loading from large drip distribution systems
  • Collecting nitrogen content of soil under systems under long-term drip distribution

Ohio State University – Karen Mancl

Presented a new online course of study to instruct sanitarians and other onsite wastewater professionals to act as a soil practitioner to assess sites for onsite wastewater treatment and assist soil scientists in site evaluations. Eighteen (18) hours of on-line instruction was developed in three segments: soil depth and vertical separation distance, soils in the landscape, and water and soils. In 2022, 11 sanitarians and engineers participated in the online course. Also published new extension bulletin “Low-pressure Piping in Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems for Ohio.” Which won an ASABE Blue Ribbon Award.

• Research Focus: Past project - meat-processing wastewater treatment facility – discharging to stream meets reg. requirements
• Focus: New project - High-salt content wastewater (bacon processor) (seawater strength) treated by sand biofilter systems
  • Septic tank performance affected by high-salt wastewater?
    • No problem adding salt … so water softener discharge might be ok too?
  • Ammonia removal in high salt content – what about urine diverting toilets to reduce ammonium?
    • Ash needed to add to fecal waste of dry toilet to promote composting
    • With proper support/introduction this seems like a viable technology

To better understand the perspectives of communities engaging with urine diversion flush toilets (UDDT) as a potential sanitation solution, diffusion of innovation theory was utilized. This review focused on understanding the opinions of adopters/potential adopters of UDDT from rural settings across low and lower-middle income countries to facilitate adoption and identify areas for consideration and improvement.

Purdue University – Halis Simsek

• Focus: Centralized wastewater treatment
  • N reduction
  • Using bacteriophage to reduce bulking and foaming in primary clarifier
  • Using cyanophage to reduce cyanobacterial blooms & associated toxins
  • PCPP
  • electrochemical treatment of different wastewater streams

University of Minnesota

[Sara Heger was unable to attend]

Rutgers University – Abbie Porter

• Focus: Microbial degradation of man-made compounds (pharmaceuticals, PCPs) transformations during waste treatment.
• Focused on anaerobic digestion (in methanogenic conditions)
• Studying naproxen (Aleve) transformations / degradation (produces methane)
  • Methanogen-enriched cultures amended with naproxen: Differences in microbial
  • communities & methane production if cultures amended with polystyrene vs. aluminum media
  • Next steps – looking for functional genes associated with these processes to determine if they can serve as indicators of pharmaceutical and personal care product biotransformations. Looking at genes associated with these processes

University of South Florida – Sarina Ergas, Daniel Delgado, Jaihi Hua

• DD’s Project – Focus: Biological N removal in passive OWTS in regions with seawater flushed toilets (Belize, Laughing bird caye national park) in areas with little freshwater available
  • Causing algal growths on coral reefs
  • Novel nitrification-denite system (passive; compatible with seawater-flushed toilets)
    • Column experiment; different salinities (high and low)
    • Ag waste products – banana stem / sugarcane bagasse as C (electron donor) source in microcosms
  • JH’s Project – Focus: life cycle assessment of advanced OWTS in FL
    • Septic-sewer conversions vs advanced OWTS for protecting water quality – environmental + economic sustainability assessments
    • Exploring different systems, single vs clustered(community) systems, maintenance challenges, final dispersal options.

University of Rhode Island – Alissa Cox & Owen Placido

• New England Onsite Wastewater Training Program – technical training & continuing education for professionals in onsite industry & related arenas (regulatory, municipal, etc.).
  • Ongoing effort to develop self-paced online training to augment existing in-person courses
  • Retirement of G. Loomis
• Research Focus: Performance of advanced N-reducing onsite wastewater treatment systems
  • Ongoing quarterly sampling of existing proprietary systems
  • Sampling newly installed non-proprietary layered N-reducing soil treatment areas – collaboration with local town; goal: document performance & gain regulatory approval
  • Analysis for wastewater quality parameters, N reduction / final effluent total N concentrations & loading, PFAS
  • Retirement of J. Amador

General discussion / Action items

• Announcement by Sarina Ergas: Special Collections (ASCE journals):
  • Ongoing: Journal of Sustainable Built Environment (OWTS theme) https://ascelibrary.org/jswbay/onsite_decentralized_wastewater_systems
  • New: Joint - Journal of Water Resources, Planning & Management and Journal of Sustainable Built Environment (Water equity theme) https://ascelibrary.org/pb-assets/images/CUSTOM%20PAGES/FILES/WR%20Special%20Collection%20Equity-1664205278907.pdf
• Discussion: best way to meet annually – resume meeting at conferences annually?
  • Problem: not all go to same conference. Meeting participation via zoom has been higher in last 3 years than in previous in-person events
  • Suggestion: Ask group for conference nominations (NOWRA, SSSA, NEHA, WEFTEC mentioned during meeting), then vote as a group + plan to rotate conferences each year.
  • Suggestion: Add remote/virtual option to augment in-person meeting.
  • Action Item: Alissa to request suggestions & set up poll for group to determine preferences & possible rotation
• Request: central resource for recent publications from group
  • Action Item: Alissa to set up Google Drive folder & share in follow-up email

Project Objective 1 - Improve our understanding of the interactions among wastewater, soils, biogeochemical cycles and processes and treatment performance (contaminant removal) of existing and novel wastewater treatment technologies in different geographic regions and landscapes over time and considering climate change.

Ohio State University (OSU)

Novel wastewater treatment technologies. In water stressed areas, flush toilets using fresh water are unsustainable. A large gap between the current state of sanitation and the Sustainable Development Goal of access to and sustainable management of sanitation for all by 2030. To better understand the perspectives of communities engaging with urine diversion flush toilets (UDDT) as a potential sanitation solution, diffusion of innovation theory was utilized. This review focused on understanding the opinions of adopters/potential adopters of UDDT from rural settings across low and lower-middle income countries to facilitate adoption and identify areas for consideration and improvement. Using the diffusion of innovation theory to frame direct feedback from adopters/potential adopters highlights barriers and facilitators to adoption as perceived in communities. The results illustrate that infrastructure, price and compatibility are main barriers. The former two aspects relate to the supply-side of diffusion of innovation theory and point to areas for propagators to improve the likelihood of adoption. Compatibility, along with the main facilitator of relative advantage, express the adopters’ perception of and demand for the innovation. Knowing the specific issues and benefits as perceived by the adopter can assist in identifying areas where UDDTs may diffuse quickly.

North Carolina State University (NCSU)

Impacts of sea level rise and soil salinization on functionality of onsite waste treatment systems in rural communities. Sea level rise in North Carolina has begun to flood permitted septic systems and cause failures due to lack of vertical separation distance and soil salinization. Soil salinization significantly alters the soil/drainfield microbial community and biogeochemistry of coastal soils. These shifts in soil properties can degrade onsite effluent treatment over time and cause water quality impairments. In 2022 our research team partnered with the Climate Adaptation Through Agriculture and Soil Management initiative at NCSU to run laboratory experiments quantifying the microbial shifts in coastal soils of NC in response to chronic saltwater flooding. Soil materials from the common Hydeland soil series were packed into mesocosms (n = 16) and flooded with brackish water at an interval of 10 times per year, equivalent to regional projections of annual nuisance flooding by 2050. Initial data is being generated and the experiment will be completed by Ph.D. student Julia Janson in 2023. Results from this study will provide valuable soil information to coastal communities that rely on septic systems to protect human health and water quality.

Michigan State University (MSU)

Computational fluid dynamics modeling of the transport of nutrients applied to soil is ongoing.  The amount of phosphorus applied to crop land that leached below the rootzone has been correlated to precipitation intensity, soil type, soil horizon, and quantity of nutrient applied.  A manuscript is in progress.

University of Minnesota (UMN)

The UMN is continuing to evaluate water tables and groundwater mounding at 27 existing and new cluster systems with automated water level recorders year- round.   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.

A paper has been prepared on research related to chemicals of emerging concern (CEC) sampling is occurring at three highway safety rest areas and a land application site to determine design parameters affecting treatment.  A graduate student is also evaluating CEC in a greenhouse study evaluating impacts of high rainfall events upon the removal and persistence in the soil, wheat plant and effluent from soil columns.  

Septage samples are being collected and analyzed for a range of typical contaminates to determine if historic data is accurate for this sources with concentrated toilet flushing.  Another study is evaluating a bioaugmentation project on a rest area to see if reduced solids buildup and how it impacts water quality parameters.

Rutgers University

Microbial Metabolomics and Genetics Associated with Biodegradation of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products During Wastewater Treatment (A. Porter, L. Young). Our work examines the removal of micropollutants to improve water quality and produce tools for monitoring water quality. Micropollutants are chemicals that are found at very low concentrations and include household chemicals like pharmaceuticals and personal care products. These chemicals are either washed down the drain or flushed down the toilet and end up as components in wastewater. If these chemicals are not fully degraded by the microorganisms in wastewater treatment systems, they may be released into the environment with unknown consequences. We are studying pharmaceutical biodegradation activity in enrichment cultures to understand the biodegradation potential of household pollutants by anaerobic microorganisms. Using naproxen as a model pharmaceutical compound, we explored the effects of different materials as surfaces for microbial attachment and biofilm formation. We have shown that the microbial community composition changes when there are surfaces for attachment, however, the function of the community appeared to be unaffected. Our next steps are to genetically characterize the microbial community that is responsible for pharmaceutical biotransformation to determine whether the presence of genetic markers can be used to trace the presence of the compounds and whether they indicate biogeochemical cycling of carbon by these organisms.

University of Georgia (UGA)

A low resource method for populating a septic system database for counties using remote sensing and ArcGIS (B. Carr, K. Capps, N. Gaur). Research has shown that septic system density and age are the two main factors determining this wastewater infrastructure's risk potential to watersheds. Septic system records housing this information continue to be maintained on paper copies in most counties in the United States, and the lack of a digitized septic system database makes it near impossible to evaluate the impact of this vast potential non-point pollution source on water quality. Our conversations with counties in Georgia, Alabama and Oregon reveal the acute necessity for such a dataset but they lack resources required to create this dataset which will typically take several thousand hours for any county. Therefore, our objective is to develop a low resource remote sensing and GIS-driven algorithm that automates the digitization of septic system location and age in an ArcGIS framework. We developed and tested the algorithm for a small area of Jackson county, Georgia (~ 102 square km). We classified high resolution RGB aerial imagery by applying the supervised Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm.  A segmentation of the image was created for both object detection and training for the SVM.  The trained dataset utilized nine National Land Cover Database (NLCD) classes.  An accuracy assessment of the classified image resulted in 34 out of 56 correctly identified systems (buildings), giving this class accuracy 61%, with an overall kappa score of 75% for the entire classification.  All necessary GIS layers, imagery, and geoprocessing tools were combined in a model to develop the automated algorithm to be shared with others involved in maintaining soil health and water quality.  These results are being extended for the entire county and validated with previously identified and geolocated septic system for 200 sub-divisions in Jackson County, Georgia, as well as data collected from the qPublic database.

Pike County Plans for the Future by building on the Upper Flint Regional Water Plan (E. Bauske and M. Habteselassie). This project was concluded last year. It developed a 30-year water resources management plan was developed for Pike County in ga in way that was fully supportive of the Upper Flint Regional Water Plan.  The Plan was developed in collaboration with a consulting company and Pike Water Planning Committee that included members representing all the cities in the County. The Plan projects future demands for water, wastewater treatment, and septage handling, recommends best alternatives, and establishes preliminary cost-estimates. It also took inventory of the existing facilities and their performances, including septic systems. The Plan included an extensive list of 58 action items designed to study and improve existing water and wastewater infrastructure. Examples of action items include sharing and building GIS data of water and wastewater infrastructure as well as developing and disseminating outreach programs on septic systems. The County is mainly rural and heavily dependent on septic systems for wastewater treatment and disposal.

Interactions between trees and soils, and how that is impacted by septic systems (C. Scott and R. Abney). This project investigates how trees respond to shifts in soil biogeochemistry and saturation within septic leach fields at varying levels of use and functionality by 1) evaluating their impact of stressed leach fields on soil nutrient availability for urban trees and 2) evaluating the impact of septic leach fields on physical properties that impact soil hydrology. It is done at seven sites with a paired-site approach in Athena Clark area.

Wet Weather Septic System Impact to Surface Water Quality Study (K. Capps, N. Gaur, R. Abney, E. Lipps) - This is a new project. The study will employ time-sensitive sampling techniques to assess the effects of rain events on interactions between septic system characteristics (e.g., system age and density) on surface water conditions. The specific research questions include: 1) Can we attribute declines in surface water quality with rainfall events in watersheds dominated by septic infrastructure, 2) If increases in fecal coliform bacteria and the HF138 marker are detected, are they related to corresponding changes in conductivity, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations? 3) If additional system specific data (e.g., exact location, age, maintenance records, etc.) are integrated into the data collected from the 2019 study and analyzed using our proposed methods, what else can we learn about the relationships between surface water quality parameters and septic infrastructure from the data collected in that study? 4) If changes in water quality due to rainfall events are documented in the watershed, are they maintained long enough to forgo the need for immediate sample collection in response to changing discharge?

University of South Florida (USF)

Biological Nitrogen Removal in Passive Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems for Seawater-Flushing Toilets (Sarina J. Ergas, Maya Trotz):  This study is being conducted in the context of Laughing Bird Caye National Park (LBCNP), in Belize where reactive nitrogen has led to excess algal growth that negatively impacts coral reef ecosystems. A complicating factor at LBCNP is the use of seawater for toilet flushing, due to the lack of available freshwater resources. Seawater is used to flush toilets in a number of coastal regions including Hong Kong, Avalon (California), Marshall Islands, and Kiribati. Seawater chemistry can make wastewater treatment more difficult and interferes with microorganisms involved in biological nitrogen removal (BNR). The goal of our research is to test the viability of using BNR in passive onsite wastewater treatment systems that treat wastewater generated from seawater-flushing toilets. This will inform the design of a full-scale onsite wastewater treatment system at LBCNP. Our passive onsite BNR systems rely on 2-stage biofilters, with passive aeration in the first stage to promote nitrification and second-stage submerged biofilter containing a solid phase electron donor to promote denitrification.  Bench scale column and batch reactors were set up in our laboratory and operated with domestic wastewater (~ 50 mg /L total inorganic nitrogen) amended with ocean salts to increase wastewater salinity. Stage-1 biofilters achieved 78% conversion of ammonia to NOx (Nitrite plus Nitrate) at 3% salinity. For Stage-2 biofilters, locally available agricultural waste products, sugarcane bagasse and banana stem, were tested alongside conventional solid-phase electron donors, elemental S⁰ and pine woodchips. Pine woodchips and banana stem achieved the highest denitrification rates, with a zero-order denitrification kinetics of 31 and 34 mg-N/L·day respectively at 3% salinity. The results indicate that passive BNR systems are a technically feasible alternative for regions where seawater is used for toilet flushing.

University of Rhode Island (URI)

Piloting N-reducing nonproprietary layered soil treatment areas. In FY 2021, we partnered with the Town of Charlestown, RI to gain regulatory approval to pilot a novel, non-proprietary advanced N-reducing OWTS drainfield option in RI, which presents an inexpensive alternative to currently approved proprietary technologies for N reduction. Four pilot systems were installed to serve private residences in coastal Charlestown, RI to replace substandard or failing conventional OWTS in June and July of 2022, funded by a combination of municipal and competitive federal grants our team was awarded. We provided technical oversight and review of the plans and installation of these systems, and have been monitoring their performance since installation. Preliminary data (monthly sampling of each of the four installed systems) indicates that these systems are performing well in terms of N-reduction, and that if two additional years’ of data collection continue to indicate good N-reduction performance, the RI Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) could approve this technology for wider use in RI.

Monitoring the performance of proprietary advanced N-reduction technologies. Building on past research efforts to document the real-world performance of existing advanced OWTS technologies installed and operated in private residences, we continue to conduct quarterly sampling of effluent leaving 19+ advanced proprietary technologies (including both media filter and aerobic treatment unit technologies approved in RI) with our municipal partners. Lab analyses indicate that many systems are capable of meeting the regulatory requirements and are discharging effluent concentrations at or below 19mg/L of Total N, but some systems do not. We continue to search for predictors of system performance that are easily assessed in the field to inform maintenance best practices for professionals in the industry.

Project Objective 2 - Examine watershed-level impacts of septic systems on water quality and other environmental parameters in suburban, rural and coastal areas.

Michigan State University (MSU)

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. MSU’s long-term research on soil monitoring at a wastewater irrigation site used by a major food processor continues.  This system remotely monitors soil oxygen, temperature, and moisture levels.  There are also over 40 water monitoring wells that provide parameters that are correlated to sensor readings.  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 occur as denitrification is inhibited.  Cover crops research at this site has been initiated to control nitrogen.  The emphasis is on selecting the most suitable plants as maintaining cover crops in the wet soil can be challenging.

An additional laboratory study is examining the impact of fertilizer types on the movement of nutrients.  Various wastewater biosolid’s management practices were examined, including dewatering, digestion, pelletizing, and torrefying.  The impact of the nutrient form is also being correlated to the soil microbial community.  All laboratory column testing and analyses and microbial community evaluations are complete.  Multiple manuscripts are currently being prepared.

University of South Florida (USF)

Environmental and Economic Assessments of Septic-to-Sewer Conversions and Advanced Onsite Treatment Systems in Florida (Qiong Zhang, Mahmood Nachabe, Sarina J. Ergas) In Florida huge investments are being made in septic-to-sewage conversions and advanced onsite treatment systems to reduce harmful algal blooms, eutrophication and groundwater contamination.  However, little has been done to assess the impact of these investments.  Our team has recently completed an evaluation of whether water quality improved in a receiving water body within a small urban watershed (Red Bug Slough) in Sarasota County, with a large number of septic-to-sewer conversions, limited confounding factors and a long history of water quality records. Modest but statistically significant improvements were observed in TN and TP levels in Red Bug Slough during the post conversion period. Changes in Org-N, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity were not significant. Based on our results, OSTDS conversions might be considered a long-term strategy for reducing nutrient concentrations, rather than a response to Florida’s urgent and pressing need to address major issues, such as algal blooms.  We are currently carrying out a life cycle environmental and economic assessment of advanced onsite wastewater treatment systems, working collaboratively with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and onsite system installers.  Some of the factors that we are investigating are the type of system (e.g. passive vs. mechanical), distance to a sensitive water body, single household vs. cluster systems, and maintenance frequency and the end-use of the treated wastewater (discharge vs. subsurface drip irrigation). 

University of Rhode Island (URI)

Modeling OWTS Density and nearby surface water quality. Using publicly available water quality data, and inferring OWTS locations based on tax parcel and building data, we examined the impact of OWTS density on nearby surface water quality in southern RI. Our analysis indicates that areas in southern RI that have high densities of OWTS in the landscape (often >10 systems per acre) are correlated with elevated N levels in nearby coastal waterbodies. These findings underscore the importance of effective management of OWTS, and may help communities target and prioritize efforts to upgrade systems in the most impacted areas along the southern RI coast.

Project Objective 3 – Develop educational materials and tools to acquaint the public and practitioners about management, operation, maintenance and health issues related to OWTS in light of system performance, and the need for adaptation to climate change.

University of Arizona

(1) Conducted 2, 2-day face-to-face NAWT Inspection Training classes and 2, 1-day Continuing Education classes to 224 professionals who want to be eligible for or maintain eligibility to be Transfer of Property Inspectors. By law, part of the eligibility is that they must attend a recognized Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) course. This is the only course recognized by ADEQ to meet the requirements of the law. I negotiated a contract with the National Association of Wastewater Technicians (NAWT) to teach the course AND provide the web database for Arizona.

(2) Conducted three 3-day Soils & Site Evaluation classes to 123 practitioners. This is one of three soil and site evaluation courses recognized by ADEQ, and the only one offered regularly that allows non-registered professionals (the regulations recognize registered professionals as registered engineers, registered sanitarians, and registered geologists) to conduct soil and site evaluations for onsite wastewater treatment systems. I developed the manual, the field skills, and the course completion exam. I contract with nationally-recognized instructors to help teach the class.

(3) Conducted an online Installer course to 33 practitioners.

(4) Conducted a 2-day introduction to design class to 39 practitioners for designing onsite wastewater treatment and dispersal systems using Arizona regulations. A homework assignment was used to provide practical application of material learned in the workshop.

(5) Conducted a 1-day Advanced Design course on designing systems using pumps and pressure distribution to 29 practitioners and regulators.

(6) Conducted a homeowner education program to 25 septic system owners.

University of Georgia (UGA)

Dr. Gary Hawkins underwent the following training extension activities last year.

Septic Resources available in Extension at the IB Septic Resource Workshop, December 8, 2022
Number of participants: 45, Sessions: 1, Contact hours: 0.4 (Fully at a distance)

Septic Resources for Water First Communities, Water First Community Engagement, December 6, 2022. Number of participants: 40, Sessions: 1, Contact hours: 0.4 (Fully at a distance

Septic Issues and Sustainability, ACCG Lifelong Learning Academy February 4, 2022.
Number of participants: 24, Sessions: 1, Contact hours: 1.0 (Fully at a distance)

Educational activities for septic systems, GA Sections SWCS/ASABE Joint Annual Meeting June 2, 2022, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Georgia Chapter; American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers - GA Chapter
Number of participants: 42, Sessions: 1, Contact hours: 0.3 (Face-to-face)

Septic System Basics, Seven Rivers Seventeen Mile Creek Workshop June 8, 2022
Number of participants: 7, Sessions: 1, Contact hours: 2.0 (Face-to-face)

2022 Athens Water Festival, September 10, 2022
Number of participants: 375, Sessions: 1, Contact hours: 0.1 (Face-to-face)
Multiple water resource stations within a tent at the 2022 Athens Water Festival. Stations included - Flushable vs Non-Flushable Game, Model Septic system, Breakdown of Toilet Paper vs Flushable Wipes, Water and Wastewater Enviroscape, Down-Well Camera

Basics of Septic Systems, CAES Extension Conference January 13, 2022
Number of participants: 17, Sessions: 1, Contact hours: 1.0 (Face-to-face

Educated Extension Agents on septic systems so they could share with k-12 students at 4-H2O camp, June 2022

Michigan State University (MSU)

 The Michigan State University Extension Onsite Wastewater Education Program continues. The program includes homeowner and professional education. The advantage of onsite systems regarding energy savings is included.  The course is approximately 16 contact hours resulting in 1.6 EGLE Continuing Education Credits and 16 Continuing Septage Education Credits.  There were 23 participants during the reporting cycle.

Ohio State University (OSU)

Low-pressure piping in onsite wastewater treatment systems is an option for use in Ohio in areas with shallow soils to a limiting condition and on small lots. A new Extension bulletin Low-pressure Piping in Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems for Ohio. Extension Bulletin ANR e814 was published and is available for system designers as a downloadable pdf. The bulletin received an ASABE Blue Ribbon Award as an outstanding educational aid. 

University of Minnesota (UMN)

The UMN training program through both in person and virtual events being held training over 2,380 septic system professionals on the design, inspection, installation and service of septic systems.  Staff planned and organized the educational program for 2022 annual Minnesota Onsite Wastewater Association conference.  In addition, staff assisted in organizing and delivering the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association virtual annual conference in 2022.

Through a grant an online training module for homeowners regarding septic systems and well is being developed.

An upper level college course was taught with 15 students taking Sustainable Waste Management Engineering.

University of Rhode Island (URI)

Our program held 22 credit-bearing training workshops for wastewater professionals’ licensing requirements from RI, NH, VT, MA and NY, reaching a combined 391 professionals. Our workshops are continuously updated with the latest scientific and technical information, and are structured to be engaging while improving our attendees’ ability to implement science-based best practices in their professional work related to OWTS. We encourage wastewater professionals to design systems with greater separation distances from drainfield bases to groundwater tables, which results in better treatment of wastewater and also reduces the potential impacts of climate change, ultimately and helping to protect ground and surface receiving water quality for residents state-wide. We began developing new course content, including several new workshops aimed to support designers use 21st century technologies and tools, and redeveloped an existing workshop to a self-paced interactive online course, set to be piloted in the Spring of 2023.

In addition, the RI Department of Environmental Management has made some changes to how new OWTS technologies are evaluated and regulated, in response to our program’s research findings and training activities. Two of their new regulatory staff members from the OWTS program attended our trainings, and our program staff members accompanied two inspectors in the field, offering a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas and share research-based best practices. We consulted with the Suffolk County (NY) Department of Health Services on observed failures for a particular technology, which led to revisions of permitting and design guidance for systems on Long Island, NY. Our program coordinated with seven technology vendors for recently approved OWTS technologies to present required technical training to regulatory staff and OWTS professionals, ensuring that the industry and its regulators are up to date on the latest best practices and technologies available.

We developed and held a new series of credit-bearing workshops for realtor audiences to help them disseminate accurate and factual information to their clients about conventional and advanced septic systems. The workshop series consists of two two-hour virtual trainings and a two-hour hands-on training session at our outdoor onsite wastewater training center.

Ohio State University (OSU)

Conroy, K and K. Mancl. 2022. Low-pressure Piping in Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems for Ohio. Extension Bulletin ANR e814. The Ohio State University

Conroy, K, K Mancl. (in press) Understanding adoption of urine diversion dry toilets (UDDT) in low and lower-middle income countries using diffusion of innovation framework. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development.

Mancl, K and R Kopp. 2022. Low-cost, sustainable treatment of meat processing wastewater – A decade of success. WEFTEC 2022. 11 pages.

University of Georgia (UGA)

Publication

Damashek, J., Westrich, J. R., McDonald, J. M. B., Teachey, M. E., Jackson, C. R., Frye, J. G., ... & Ottesen, E. A. (2022). Non-point source fecal contamination from aging wastewater infrastructure is a primary driver of antibiotic resistance in surface waters. Water Research, 222, 118853.

Presentations (Oral and Poster)

Environmental implications of unequal access to wastewater treatment. Environmental Ethics  Seminar Series, University of Georgia February 8, 2022. 

2023: Anthropogenic Subsidies in Rivers of the Anthropocene: Re-thinking wastewater-related socioecological issues in urban watershed ecology and restoration. Symposium on Urbanization and Stream Ecology (SUSE) Seminar Series, January 5, 2023. 

Courtney Scott, Krista Capps, Nandita Gaur, Jason Gordon, Michael Lucas and Rebecca Abney. 2022. Disturbances in Nutrient and Water Fluxes in Leach Field Soils Impact Urban Tree Condition and Growth. SSSA-CSSA-ASA Annual Meetings

Carr, B., Gaur, N., & Capps, K. (2022). A Low Resource Method for Populating a Septic System Database for Counties Using Remote Sensing and ArcGIS. Poster session presented at the meeting of American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2022

Carr, B., Gaur, N., & Capps, K. (2022): A Low-Resource Method for Populating a Septic System Database for Counties Using Remote Sensing and ArcGIS : Septic Systems Automated Location Tool (SSALT), December 8, 2022.  Tools for Locating & Managing Septic Systems in Your Service Area - IBEnvironmental

North Carolina State University (NCSU)

 Ricker, M.C. (Raleigh, NC – 2022) – Impact of Sea Level Rise on Coastal Communities. 37th Annual Onsite Water Protection Conference. Invited speaker and special presentation.

University of Rhode Island (URI)

Millar, M. Stolt, J.A. Amador & A. Paolucci. 2022. Modeling dynamic soil carbon attributes among common southern New England land uses. Geoderma Regional. 31:e00570. DOI: 10.1016/j.geodrs.2022.e00570

C. Hino, J. Romero, J. L. Loffredo, M. Stolt, J. A. Amador, S. Moseman‐Valtierra, C. Wigand, B. J. Pellock. 2022. Birnessite films are sensitive indicators of microbial manganese reduction in soil. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 87(1):196-201. DOI: 10.1002/saj2.20468

Romero, K. Hino, J. Loffredo, M. Stolt, S. Moseman‐Valtierra, J. Amador, B. Pellock. 2022. Abiotic soil properties affecting interpretation of IRIS sensors in tidal and freshwater soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 85(6):2234-2239. DOI: 10.1002/saj2.20293

A.H. Cox. 2022. “Flooding Impacts: Floods + wastewater infrastructure = Bad water quality” Invited presentation at Metcalf Institute’s 24th Annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists. June 6, 2022. Virtual.

A.H. Cox. 2022. “Imagining the future of robust onsite wastewater treatment infrastructure – leveraging research findings, gaps and management strategies to protect public and environmental health” presented at the 2022 virtual SNEP Symposium. May 18. 2022. Virtual. Recording and slides available via the SNEP Symposium website.

University of South Florida (USF)

Henderson, M., Ergas, S.J., Ghebremichael, K., Gross, A., Ronen, Z. (2022) Occurrence of Antibiotic-Resistant Genes and Bacteria in Household Greywater Treated in Constructed Wetlands, Water, 2022, 14(5): 758; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14050758.  

Mohammed, J., Ergas, S.J., Nachabe, M. (2022) Water Quality Improvement by Replacing Onsite Treatment and Disposal Systems, Florida Water Resources Journal, Sept. 2022.

Ergas, S.J., Amador, J., Boyer, T., Friedler, E. (2021) Onsite and Decentralized Wastewater Management Systems, J. Sustainable Water in the Built Environment, 7(3): 02021001.

Henderson, M., Ghebremichael, K., Ergas, S.J. (2022) Onsite Wastewater Reuse: Performance and Life Cycle Assessment of Hybrid Adsorption Biological Treatment Systems (HABiTS), Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) Bi-Annual Meeting, June 28-30, 2022, St. Louis, MO.

Michigan State University (MSU)

 Li, C., Shen, Y., Sotthiyapai, T., Liu, Y., Tiemann, L., Safferman, S., & Zhang, W. (2022). Effect of Biosolids Application on Soil Enzymatic Activities, Microbial Biomass, and Soil Carbon Mineralization. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2022am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/145918.

Roland, G., Safferman, S. I., Dong, Y., & Smith, J. (2022) Utilizing HYDRUS 1-D Models to Guide Farmers with Fields at Risk of Increased Phosphorus Leaching due to Global Climate Change. North Central Regional Water Network Climate Intersections Conference, Diluth, MN.

Sotthiyapai, T., Safferman, S., Zhang, W., Ghane, E., Busch, A., Fonoll Almansa, X., &Norton, J. (2022). Impact of Biosolids Processing on the Fate of Nutrients in Soil.  MWEA Biosolids Conference, Holland, MI.

Safferman, S. & Dong, Y. (2022).  Modeling the Fate of Carbon and Nitrogen in Drainfields. 70th Michigan Onsite Wastewater Conference, East Lansing, MI.