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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.
Septage Mangement Guide for NH Municipalities
Septage Mangement Guide for NH Municipalities
Septage Mangement Guide for NH Municipalities
Transcript of video:
NH is one of the fastest growing states in the country. And as the population increases we see more and more houses and housing facilities being constructed. This continual growth places an enormous burden on the infrastructure of local municipalities.
Many new developments are not connected to municipal sewer systems but, instead, use their own form of de-centralized wastewater treatment, also known as septic systems.
Nearly 60% of existing and 80% of all new homes in NH utilize septic systems, and the EPA estimates that about 25% of all domestic wastewater nationwide is treated through this form of wastewater treatment. That's about 4 billion gallons of wastewater every day!
Back in 1955, the NH legislature recognized that municipalities had to provide septage disposal capacity for their residents. So they passed a law under the public health statutes which made it a requirement for all municipalities to adhere too.
Remote lagoon facilities were utilized by septage haulers for the disposal of septic waste for many years, however, these types of facilities are now under pressure from development to close, or have closed due to odor and other concerns. This reduces the disposal options available for septage, and increases the need for municipalities to assure adequate disposal for their residents, in compliance with the law.
Let's take a moment and look at what the law states:
"Each municipality shall either provide, or assure access to, a department of environmental services approved septage facility or a department approved alternative option for its residents." The law, under water protection statutes, makes it quite clear that the responsibility for dealing with the septage rests with the municipality. This requirement has been on the books for approximately 50 years. The second part of the law was added recently:
II. For the purposes of paragraph I, ""provide, or assure access to'' shall mean a written agreement with a recipient facility, or department approved alternative option, indicating that the recipient facility agrees to accept septage generated in that municipality. The municipality shall consider providing sufficient annual capacity equal to the number of households with septic multiplied by the average septic tank capacity of 1, 000 gallons divided by the average septage pumpout frequency of 5 years.
Rest assured, there are several options your municipalities have has to attain compliance with the law.
A municipality can provide disposal capacity through operating its own dedicated septage facility , or accepting septage at its centralized treatment plant. The
DES can assist the municipality in developing its own dedicated septage facility or upgrading its WWTP to accept septage.
To assist municipalities in attaining compliance the DES administers a grant program that provides monies to municipalities to cover up to 50% of eligible costs to increase septage disposal capacity at a new or existing facility.
Your municipality can also enter into a contract with another municipal disposal facility or an approved private facility. The important part of such a contract is to assure access to specific capacity, as opposed to an open invitation. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services can assist your municipality in developing and implementing these types of contracts.
Assuring adequate disposal for public health translates to economical disposal. This means homeowners will be more likely to pump their tanks on a regular basis, greatly reducing the possibility of system failures. System failures can lead to unsanitary conditions both inside the home and to the property itself.
Outside system failures can affect other neighbors, water bodies and recreational facilities within your municipality.
Proper understanding of your municipality's septage disposal responsibility helps to assure access to affordable septage disposal for your residents. Affordable septage disposal is a key element to proper maintenance of septic systems and helps us all to protect the natural water resources we're blessed with here in New Hampshire. It takes everyone of us to make sure we do our part to assure this life giving resource stays clean and healthy for generations to come.
Septic System Management for Homeowners
Septic System Management for Homeowners
Septic System Management for Homeowners
Transcript of video:
NHDES Septic System Management for Homeowner Script
This housing development is like thousands across the country. It has the house and the yard and maybe a deck off the back. It also has something were going to talk a lot about in the next few minutes.
All the houses in this neighborhood, and millions like it all over the country, have their very own decentralized wastewater treatment facility - Can you see it? I'm standing on it right now…its a septic system.
These septic systems are so popular as an alternative to centralized municipal sewer systems, they treat about a quarter of all the domestic wastewater in the US. That’s about 4 billion gallons
…that's billion with a "b"... of wastewater every day!
4 billion gallons of wastewater?!
Anyway, the point is, septic systems are important, and just because they are under the ground and kind-of forgotten about, doesn't mean we don't need to take care of them, 'cause if we neglect them they are very difficult to ignore once they 'act up'…I know you don't want me to show you what that looks like ...
So, let's get to know our septic system.
You know that little pipe that sticks out of the roof? That's your vent pipe. It allows air to enter and leave the system as liquid flows through the pipes. Oh, and it vents noxious gases, too.
All the various drains in the house are connected to one main exit pipe called the sewage lateral. That's the buried 4" pipe that goes from the house to the septic tank. It usually goes through the home's foundation wall, but may also go through the home's basement or crawlspace floor. Everything that goes down every drain in the house ends up in your septic tank.
Yours may be made of watertight concrete or plastic and some older ones may be made of cinderblock or steel. Regardless of what its made of, the septic tank is where the wastewater separates into solid and liquid, and where the first stage of biological treatment occurs.
The tank will have several access hatches that allow inspection and pump-out of the tank. Typical modern septic tanks hold 1,000 or 1,500 gallons. Tanks can be connected one after another in series if the design requires.
The tank may have a single compartment or two compartments. Some two-compartment tanks may have a submersible pump in the second smaller compartment to pump liquid to the leach field if the outlet of the tank is lower than the leach field.
When all the material is sucked out of the tank during servicing, that material is what is defined as septage.
The liquid in the tank flows by gravity through a buried 4" diameter pipe called the effluent line to the distribution box. Some systems use a pump to push the effluent through a small diameter pipe to the distribution box.
Sometimes a larger wet-well that contains a submersible pump is located between the septic tank and the D-Box. This is done when placing the pump into the septic tank is not practical.
The distribution box, or D-Box, is a buried concrete or plastic watertight box with an access cover, typically about 2' wide on each side, and is used in nearly all modern septic systems.
It serves to equally distribute the liquid effluent to the different pipes in the leach field.
OK, so now that we know about the working parts of our septic system, also known as…do you remember?… a decentralized wastewater treatment facility, ok so let's take a look at what is actually happening down there.
The inlet pipe forces the wastewater to turn towards the bottom of the tank, preventing the wastewater from flowing directly across the top portion of the tank. The solids that are heavier- than-water sink to the bottom and the lighter than water solids like oil, grease and plastics rise to the top.
In between is the liquid that will become the effluent that eventually flows into the leach field. While this liquid is cleaner than the wastewater that flowed into the tank, it still contains dissolved biological matter and water-soluble chemicals.
The outlet pipe is designed so that only liquid leaves in a properly functioning tank: the top of the pipe is in the air above the grease layer, while the bottom of the pipe is in the liquid above the bottom solids layer.
For every gallon of wastewater that flows into the tank, a gallon of effluent leaves the tank. In the tank, primitive anaerobic microbes live and feed on the biological matter. These microbes don't need oxygen to live and they reduce both the volume of the settled solids and the concentration
of the dissolved biological matter in the liquid.
The leach field is the most important part of a properly operating septic system, the most expensive to replace, and the one that is the easiest to damage. The reasons for this is simple: all the liquid portion of the wastewater that leaves the home must be dispersed by the leach field,
or the septic tank overflows or wastewater backs up into the home; and due to the intricate design and typical location of the field, it's easy to compromise one or more of the critical design features by either improper operation or care, or by physically damaging the field by inadvertently crushing or cutting the pipes.
The leach field is typically a set of pipes with small holes in the bottom that is laid in a trench, which allows the effluent to flow into the soil after first flowing over gravel. The pipes are covered with additional gravel and finally topsoil.
The flow of the liquid down through the gravel and into the surrounding soil pulls air down into the soil, which allows oxygen-using microbes to further break down the dissolved biological matter. Further down the soil depth, where no oxygen is present, other microbes finish the biological treatment process. The soil itself also acts as a filter to remove many of the other chemicals and minerals in the effluent.
So what can you do to protect your septic system?
Well, the first thing is to know where your system is located. If you don't know, you can contact the subsurface bureau of the DES. If the system was installed after 1975, they should be able to provide drawings showing where your system's components are. If the system is older than that, there still might be enough information in the archives to help you locate the components. If you can't locate the components using drawings, you may want to contact a licensed septic system designer or installer to help you locate your system components.
It’s important you know the location of your septic system in order to avoid accidentally damaging a critical component. Damage may occur by digging a hole for a post or foundation in the wrong spot.
You should never place anything on top of the leach field because it will interfere with the proper airflow into the ground. Never plant anything except grass over the leach field as roots from bushes and trees will damage the structure of the field, which could lead to failure.
Never drive over the leach field. This will compact the soil and reduce the ability of the soil to accept liquid and transfer air. In severe cases the weight of the vehicle can crush the pipes. And don't pasture large animals like horses over the leachfield because over time they can compact the soil too.
In the winter, avoid removing or compacting snow cover above all parts of the septic system. Snow is a great insulator, and even though the ground can get cold, it's a lot warmer than the -
20° F air temps we can get around here. Snow cover will keep the ground around the system components above freezing.
Make sure there is easy access to the covers of the septic tank and D-Box for servicing. Finally, keep the vent pipes clear. Debris and even small animals can get into the pipe, clogging it, preventing the free flow of air into and out of the system, leading to possible system back-ups.
Don't pour household hazardous waste, paints or used cooking oil down your drains. These can kill the vital microbes in the entire septic system, and in severe cases clog the leach field - leading to total system failure.
Proper understanding and care of our septic systems helps us 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.