Overview
From the time the very first public sewer system was constructed until the 1960’s, a conventional gravity system was the only choice US engineers had when considering a public sewer collection system. This changed about 40 years ago when the USEPA challenged the industry to developed alternative collection by providing special funding for such endeavors. One of the alternative collection systems is vacuum sewers.
This 4 PDH course is Part I of a three-part series. This course will focus on the basics of vacuum sewer technology by providing a broad overview of the technology. Part II focuses on detailed design and installation guidelines while Part III focuses on the Operation & Maintenance and System Management aspects related to vacuum sewers.
This course will provide information that will guide the engineer in the evaluation of vacuum sewer technology as an alternative to conventional gravity sewers. The course materials are based on the materials presented in the vacuum chapter of the “Water Environment Federation (2007) Alternative Sewer Systems, 2nd ed.; Manual of Practice No. FD-12” as published by the Water Environment Federation*. The student will learn how to determine if vacuum sewers are a viable alternative to conventional gravity sewers and what advantages they offer. The course will discuss the history of the technology, the major system components, and the extent of use in the US and worldwide. Finally, the course will provide guidelines on how to do a preliminary system layout, including preliminary sizing of the vacuum collection mains.
The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of twenty-four (24) questions at the end of this course to earn PDH credits.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- The history of Alternative Collection Systems (ACS)
- The history of vacuum sewers
- How a vacuum system works (theory of operation)
- The major system components & how they are interrelated
- How to determine where vacuum sewer technology applies
- The advantages of vacuum sewers (both construction and O&M)
- To what extent the technology is used in the US & worldwide
- How to do a preliminary vacuum system layout
- How to estimate the size of the vacuum mains
Course
Click on the following link to the PDF document to review the course material before taking the quiz for credit.
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