ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Transcription

1 ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Small Scale Sewage Treatment In Erie County, PA Melissa C. Lyon, MPH Director Kathy Dahlkemper County Executive

2 On-lot Septic Program Staff 2 Sewage Enforcement Officers - West County served by Pete Homchenko Albion, Conneaut, Cranesville, Edinboro, Elk, Fairview, Franklin, Girard, Lake City, McKean, Millcreek, Platea, and Washington - East County served by Josh Skopow Amity, Concord, Corry, Elgin, Greene, Greenfield, Harborcreek, Lawrence Park, Mill Village, Le Boeuf, North East, Union, Union City, Venango, Waterford, Wattsburg and Wayne 1 Clerical Staff: Claudia Woodard Grant Funded Position: Mike Chizewick - Inspection and education of Small Flow Treatment Facilities for the entire county Supervisor: Ron Salisbury

3 Why Isn t Everyone Connected to a Municipal or Large Scale Sewage Treatment Plant othe simple answer is COST!!! -The collection and treatment of sewage is not cheap so the most cost effective thing to do is to spread those costs over a large population. -Large scale or municipal sewage systems are usually installed where the population density is greatest which leaves rural properties to fend for themselves. This is where On-lot Septic Systems come into play

4

5 On-lot Disposal Systems (OLDS) also known as On-lot Septic Systems

6 What is a On-lot Septic System? First of all, the On-lot Sewage Regulation have only been around since the late 1960 s so there a lot of on-lot systems out there in Erie County that were installed that are no longer meet the current code: Cesspools Gravel filled pits Discharges to old wells Unpermitted direct discharges to streams/ditches including black and grey water Major components of a conventional On-lot Septic

7 How do I get one? The Application Process Our staff process over 230 applications On-lot Septic Applications per year. Soil Evaluation The Limiting Zone is: Water Depth to Water Table Depth to Seasonal High Water Table (Mottling) Slowly Permeable Zones Depth to Bedrock Depth to Clay or Fragipan Zone of Poor Water/Soil Contact Depth to zone of fractured rock, gravel, loose rock fragments

8 Perc Rate Run Perc Test Put water in hole and monitor its infiltration. Have Soil Scientist evaluate the soil.

9 Conventional Beds & Trenches Soil Conditions: Limiting Zone 72 inches. Perc. Rate: 6 to 90 min/in. 12 to 24 inch backfill 12 in aggregate 72 inches 48 inches

10 Elevated Sand Mound: Soil Conditions: Limiting Zone 60 inches; 20 inches. Perc. Rate: 3 to 120 min/in. Top & Berm 12 in aggregate SAND 60 inches; 20 inches 5/8/2017

11 After the Application Permit = approval of design and plot plan - Followed by the installation of the septic system under the inspection of the SEO. Denial of the Soils - Application for SFTF - Unbuildable property

12 Malfunctions

13 Malfunctions

14 Malfunctions

15 What is a Small Flow Treatment Facility? (SFTF) An individual or community sewerage system designed to adequately treat sewage flows not greater than 2,000 gpd for final disposal using a stream discharge or other disposal methods approved by the Department.

16 When does someone install a SFTF? After soil evaluations determine that the property can t be approved for any other standard in-ground septic system If there is a stream or drainage swale on the property to discharge into (or on neighbor s property with easement) After obtaining a two permits from the Department of Environmental Protection NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) for discharging and WQM (Water Quality Management) for construction and operations.

17 ECDH Oversight Program Provides a means by which municipalities can satisfy the DEP regulation governing SFTFs that requires the establishment of specific O & M requirements. Every township in Erie County signed on to our program, except Elk Creek Township Provides education to individual home and business owners on their responsibilities as an SFTF owner as well as specific O & M procedures required to properly maintain their system. Tracking of reporting requirements Conduct annual inspections by ECDH, if possible Follow up inspections to ensure system compliance Annual compliance reports sent to DEP and Municipalities

18 How many SFTFs are in Erie County? -Total number of permits issued in Erie County currently = 442 SYSTEMS CONSTRUCTED YES 389 NO 53 TOTAL 442

19 SFTF s in Operation by Year

20 Treatment Methods and New Technology TREATMENT TYPE # OF SYSTEMS BIOFILTER (PEAT/COCO) 17 FREE ACCESS SAND 4 NORWECO BIO-KINETIC 18 RECIRCULATING SAND FILTER 107 SUBSURFACE SAND FILTER 296

21 SFTF locations in Erie County: GIS Mapping

22 GIS Utility -SFTF locations in Greene, Greenfield, Harborcreek, Millcreek, Summit, and Venango Townships. Displayed here; aerial imagery, roads, hydrology, and municipal boundary layers become useful tools.

23 GIS Utility SFTF locations in Mckean, Franklin, Washington, and Waterford Townships shown utilizing watershed layers to delineate small and large watersheds. Lake Erie watershed discharges are displayed in yellow. Allegheny watershed discharges are displayed in red.

24 Program Challenges: Systems have many violations and malfunctions so they need training and frequent monitoring; robust program needed Together the systems pose a significant impact on local water quality Office of the Great Lakes is seeking information on their impact on nutrient loading; mapping grant awarded. ECDH does not have the staff to inspect these facilities; two SEOs already have a heavy workload Previously staff were pulled from other programs and a per diem was hired. Frequent property sales lead to need for education of real estate community, new property owners, and contractors. PERMIT NEED TRANSFERRED? YES 33 NO 409

25 Common Reporting Violations Failure to submit AMR-Annual Maintenance Reports or late submittal (220 systems) Failure to submit DMR-Discharge Monitoring Reports or late submittal **Note: permittees are required to monitor disinfection levels monthly and report annually.

26 Common Operation & Maintenance Violations -Disinfection- High or low chlorine levels or non operational UV bulb = 60 systems -Component Maintenance- Failure to pump septic tanks, broken pumps, broken pipes, plugged pipes, plugged sand, failure to maintain disinfection unit, discharging raw or partially treated sewage to the surface of the ground or into waterways.

27

28 Common Malfunctions

29 Common Malfunctions

30 Continuing work will include: Future Work Hosting workshops for permittees, municipalities, realtors, and contractors Obtaining effluent samples for almost a third of the constructed systems in the county. Refocusing additional inspections and monitoring to those systems found to be out of compliance or have effluent limitation exceedances. Maintaining the new GIS geodatabase with current inspection and compliance information as well as new permit and facility information. Producing reports utilizing the new database and comparing results on an annual bases to determine the efficacy of the program.

31 Thank you for your time Contact Information: Ron T. Salisbury Environmental Supervisor 606 West 2 nd Street Erie, PA rsalisbury@eriecountypa.gov Michael Chizewick SFTF Inspector 606 West 2 nd Street Erie, PA mchizewick@eriecountypa.gov