Sesmau

Understanding the local government perspective on decentralized utilities is paramount. Developers and Utility Companies need to work with local government to ensure the system can be installed, operated and maintained for the life of the system. Using SCC guidance, budgets and user rates are set to allow for routine maintenance and reporting, regu... lar replacement of worn equipment and a reserve fund for large component replacement. Operations and maintenance requirements are usually dictated by the designer and are negotiated with the local and state health department staff based on the type and size of the system. The operations and maintenance requirements in the sewage regulations vary by system size, design parameters and geographic location. The Virginia Department of Health recognizes the benefits decentralized systems compared to individual onsite sewage systems. Some of the benefits are listed below: System designs are based on lower flows as wastewater generation tends to average out when a larger number of houses are connected as opposed to designing on the number of bedrooms in an individual house. Blended wastewater from many different houses is easier to consistently treat than wastewater generated from individual systems serving individual houses. VDH finds it very difficult to accurately measure and enforce treatment levels on individual homeowners but can hold communal system owners to strict standards with renewable permits. New VDH regulations only allow communal systems to be owned and operated by a single owner. Earlier versions of communal system allowed septic tank treatment or alternative treatment units to be owned and operated by the individual homeowner then pump to a common dispersal area. Now, any on lot treatment components, all sewer collection lines, pump stations, treatment units and dispersal fields must be owned by a single owner. New VDH regulations only allow communal systems to be owned and operated by a single owner. Earlier versions of communal system allowed septic tank ...Read More