Evaluation of on-site wastewater treatment systems

'Full text:' This presentation will describe the nature, scope, and findings of a program designed to conduct a third-party group evaluation of wastewater denitrification technologies appropriate for low-flow systems, partially funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). The objective of this program is to verify the performance of products that provide nutrient reduction in wastewater from a variety of sources, including domestic wastewater, agricultural runoff, or other waste streams. The evaluation process will be overseen and coordinated by the Environmental Technology Evaluation Center (EvTEC), a program of the Civil Engineering Research Foundation (CERF), the research and technology transfer arm of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). EvTEC is a pilot program evaluating innovative environmental technologies under the US Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program. Among other performance issues, the potential energy savings of using nutrient reducing technologies scaled to treat low flows - larger than an individual septic tank but smaller than that of a conventional wastewater treatment plant - will be assessed. The energy savings realized by reduced construction and equipment transport costs alone could make low-flow nutrient reduction technologies viable options for rural communities, small farms, and other low-flow settings. The evaluation is being funded in part by PADEP, which is sponsoring this evaluation due to its interest in developing low-cost wastewater treatment technologies for Pennsylvania's rural communities. However, the evaluation is national in scope, and participants will come from all areas of the country. The presentation will include a description of the process for establishing the testing protocol, testing results from various nutrient reducing technologies, and obstacles encountered and lessons learned during the process. (author)