Multimedia
Guide for Septic Hauling Professionals
Guide for Septic Hauling Professionals
Guide for Septic Hauling Professionals
Transcript of video:
Increasingly, homowners in developments like this one use septic systems for wastewater treatment. Many were raised in urban settings where they experienced a relatively sterile environment. They are not accustomed to some of the basic facts of country living traditionally experienced in rural and agricultural settings. These increased expectations have influenced the development of the latest septage rules. These rules require a higher degree of business professionalism than ever before, putting increased pressure on the hauler. In Addition, many of the remote lagoon facilities that haulers used for disposal in the past are now under pressure from development to close, or have closed.
Let's take a few minutes to go over some basic protocols for the septage hauler Dress for the professional occasion! Wear waterproof gloves, waterproof boots and smock when handling hoses and pumping; cloth or leather easily absorbs liquid and can be a friendly breeding ground for pathogens.
The typical homeowner is expecting you to take appropriate health-safety precautions when working with fecal matter, especially if you are going to be handing over a bill to the homeowner after the service is complete. Take pride in your personal appearance and cleanliness.
A neat vehicle gives both a positive impression, and complies with the rules at the same time. Make sure the exterior of the truck is clean – the septage is supposed to be in the tank and not on the outside of the truck. Hoses should be stored in order with clean exteriors. There should be clear lettering on truck or tank. Watch for smoky or broken exhaust.
Take care to protect the lawn, leach field and any other landscaping features of the home. Remember, many homeowners now have huge investments in their homes and they won't appreciate damage to their valuable property and neither will your insurance company!
Keep the septage in the hose or in the tank, not on the grass! Using a separate tailpiece to suck out the tank will keep the overall pump-out and clean up much neater.
Again, keep the septage off the grass! Take care to make sure the hose is completely empty before uncoupling and take extra care when uncoupling from the tank valve.
Keep the homeowner happy and you'll likely get return business. Make sure you put all the covering material back in its place and is left looking the way was when you arrived on the scene. If you disappoint the homeowner with poor quality in any facet of the job you may not get a call back and you might even lose other customers.
Whenever septage is being hauled, the vehicle is required to be equipped with a kit that will control, remove and disinfect a 25-gallon spill.
If there is a spill your job is to contain it, minimize the environmental impact and begin the clean up. If a catastrophic spill has occurred (e.g. hundreds of gallons, in a residential area, next to surface water or storm drain, etc.), contact the local fire department, local health officer and the DES in that order for assistance.
For any spill 25-gallons or greater, any spill that is not completely cleaned up in
24 hours, or any spill that affects surface or groundwater, you must notify the DES within 24 hours and provide the date, time and location of the spill. Include the permit number of the vehicle and the name of the driver, the volume of the spill, and how much was recovered. Also, report what happened to the septage that wasn't recovered, the distance to any surface water and storm drains within
100 feet of the spill, what was done to contain, clean up and disinfect the spill, and if any additional clean up is required.
Occasionally you may have another customer calling and you've got a full truck or no disposal location thats open. You could be tempted to find a remote location, open the valve, and "let'er rip". DON'T DO IT! This creates a health and environmental hazard and DES will not tolerate it. Remember, NH is getting more populated each day and the chances of not getting caught are getting slimmer each day. Permit revocation, administrative fines, civil fines and even criminal prosecution are all possible penalties for illegal dumping.
Whenever septage is in the truck, slips showing customer name, street address, town, phone number, gallons pumped and final intended disposal location are to be in the truck
For each load, the date, customer name, street address, town, gallons pumped, final disposal location and date of disposal need to be kept on file for a period of
5 years after the hauler permit expiration date
For each load, or on a periodic basis agreed to by the hauler and the disposal site/facility/transfer area or WWTP, report to the disposal location the date pumped, customer name, street address, town and gallons pumped
For each previous calendar year, by January 31st, report to DES how many gallons of septage from each town were disposed at each site/facility/transfer area or WWTP
Proper understanding of our septic systems laws and protocols helps you provide a valuable service to your customers, and helps us all to protect the natural water resources we're blessed with here in New Hampshire. It takes every one of us to make sure we do our part to assure this life giving resource stays clean and healthy for generations to come.