Overview
This course covers essential design principles associated with the design of small to mid-sized decentralized wastewater systems. Approximately 25% of homes in the U.S. rely on these systems for their wastewater service, along with many businesses located either in rural or semi-rural settings, and small communities served entirely by decentralized systems. For many regions of the world, the percentage of homes and businesses relying on decentralized, or “onsite” systems is much greater. In recent years, the U.S. EPA has increasingly recognized decentralized systems as a critical element of the nation’s infrastructure, and an important part of sustainable planning and development. Yet most U.S. colleges and universities with engineering programs currently do not offer significant coursework or other formal training in this area of engineering practice.
A rational approach to designs is presented in the course that should result in the most sound and cost-effective systems planning. This approach is based on first evaluating the natural assimilative capacities of the soils for a given site and project, and selecting methods of wastewater treatment and dispersal that will make optimal use of natural soil treatment processes and site conditions. Planning principles and basic rules-of-thumb developed from many years of study and observations on the performance of these systems are presented, along with references to those scientific works for those wishing more detail on those topics.
Sections in the course have been organized so as to build upon concepts presented in previous sections, and in keeping with a logical progression needed in the development of sound engineered designs. The last section of the course presents a project example, detailing steps involved with evaluating different system options for a commercial scale decentralized wastewater system. This realistic example describes how to identify suitable options based on site conditions and regulatory requirements commonly applied to decentralized systems, and key aspects of developing long-term cost comparisons.
In order to earn PDH credit for this course, the reader will need to pass a multiple choice quiz of thirty (30) questions.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Basic definitions and types of decentralized wastewater systems
- Overview of the decentralized wastewater industry and regulatory framework in the U.S. today
- Basic steps associated with the planning and implementation of decentralized systems
- Estimating and characterizing flows from systems for design development
- Fundamental pre-dispersal treatment concepts, including primary, secondary and advanced levels of treatment
- Soil treatment concepts central to rational design approaches
- Steps in conducting detailed physical site evaluations for small to mid-sized systems
- Sizing and selection of primary treatment units (septic/interceptor tanks)
- Descriptions and comparative information for secondary and advanced treatment processes
- Descriptions, comparisons and applicability of principal methods for effluent dispersal
- Case study: System selection and design development for a commercial scale decentralized system
Course
Click on the following link to the PDF document to review the course material before taking the quiz for credit.
Planning Decentralized Wastewater Systems
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