Decentralized Water and Wastewater Reuse

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5. Hands-on Learning About Decentralized Wastewater Technology

Decentralized Wastewater Technology Training – The NC Academy ( link) In 2007, 26.1 million housing units in the USA relied upon on-site septic system for their household wastewater treatment (US EPA, 2009). As the result of population growth, development pressures and high costs of public sewerage systems, on-site wastewater treatment systems (commonly called septic systems) will be utilized in ever-increasing numbers as a part of the permanent wastewater infrastructure in communities (Hoover, Disy, Pfeiffer, Dudley, Mayer, and Buffington 1996). Currently, as much as 3.8 trillion gallons of wastewater are estimated by the authors to be treated annually by on-site systems in the U.S. This waste load volume is comparable to that produced by 25 cities the size of New York City along with 25 additional cities the size of Los Angeles. Decentralized technologies including on-site systems and small cluster systems are also used internationally throughout the world as permanent community-wide wastewater infrastructure components. The technology and its application have been steadily changing and nearly exponentially growing in complexity over the past 15-20 years. The North Carolina Soils and On-Site Wastewater Training Academy provides nearly 50 fee-based training programs as short courses, workshops, training schools and conferences each year.

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