DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Small Scale Sewage Treatment In Erie County, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Small Scale Sewage Treatment In Erie County, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Feb 14, 2024 131 likes •450 views

Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Small Scale Sewage Treatment In Erie County, PA Melissa C. Lyon, MPH Kathy Dahlkemper Director County Executive

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Melissa C. Lyon, MPH Director Kathy Dahlkemper County Executive

Small Scale Sewage Treatment In Erie County, PA

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

On-lot Septic Program Staff

  • 2 Sewage Enforcement Officers
  • West County served by Pete Homchenko 814-451-6756
  • Albion, Conneaut, Cranesville, Edinboro, Elk, Fairview, Franklin, Girard, Lake City,

McKean, Millcreek, Platea, and Washington

  • East County served by Josh Skopow 814-451-6763
  • 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
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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Why Isn’t Everyone Connected to a Municipal or Large Scale Sewage Treatment Plant

  • The 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

  • ver 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…

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

  • 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

What is a On-lot Septic System?

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

  • 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

How do I get one? The Application Process

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Perc Rate

  • Run Perc Test
  • Put water in hole and

monitor its infiltration.

  • Have Soil Scientist

evaluate the soil.

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Conventional Beds & Trenches

  • Soil Conditions:
  • Limiting Zone  72 inches.
  • Perc. Rate: 6 to 90 min/in.

12 to 24 inch backfill

48 inches

12 in aggregate

72 inches

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

5/8/2017

Elevated Sand Mound:

  • Soil Conditions:
  • Limiting Zone  60 inches;  20 inches.
  • Perc. Rate: 3 to 120 min/in.

12 in aggregate Top & Berm

 60 inches;  20 inches

SAND

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

  • 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

After the Application

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Malfunctions

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Malfunctions

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Malfunctions

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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.

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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.

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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
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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

SFTF’s in Operation by Year

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Treatment Methods and New T echnology

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

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

SFTF locations in Erie County: GIS Mapping

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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.

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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.

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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.

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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.

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Common Malfunctions

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Common Malfunctions

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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Future Work

  • Continuing work will include:
  • 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
  • n an annual bases to determine the efficacy of the program.
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Erie County Department of Health

www.ecdh.org Erie County Department of Health www.ecdh.org

Thank you for your time

  • Contact Information:

Ron T. Salisbury Environmental Supervisor Erie County Department of Health 606 West 2nd Street Erie, PA 16507 814-451-6776 rsalisbury@eriecountypa.gov Michael Chizewick SFTF Inspector Erie County Department of Health 606 West 2nd Street Erie, PA 16507 814-451-6759 mchizewick@eriecountypa.gov