Septic Systems and Soil Properties
The Department of Soil Science has a strong program
in on-site waste treatment and disposal. This program deals mainly with
residential wastewaters and their disposal through surface and subsurface
systems. Factors such as siting, design, operation, and environmental impacts
are considered, and information about septic systems and soils has been
incorporated into a series of factsheets available at
http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/about/publications.php#SepticSystemsandSoilProperties.
Mike Hoover, Dave Lindbo and Nancy Deal teach short courses for site evaluators, designers, operators, and regulators throughout the United States. Information on courses offered in North Carolina can be found in our training section at http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/training/training.php#38. To meet the high demand for hands-on training, the Department; in cooperation with other university departments, regulatory and technical assistance agencies, and industry partners; has created a number of training facilities in NC. The Soil and Water Environmental Technology Center in Raleigh focuses on land-based waste management systems (see http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/swetc/index.htm). Four other training facilities are located at Plymouth, Boliva, Fletcher, and Greensboro.
Active on-site wastewater research is provided by Aziz Amoozegar, Mike Hoover, and Dave Lindbo. The research activities address new system innovations, functioning of existing systems, and soil properties important in waste management. Alexandria Graves evaluates the environmental impacts of failing septic systems using microbial source tracking tools, as well as chemical source tracking methods that include the detection of optical brighteners.