Water treatment history is a poor one

Guest Column: Water treatment history is a poor one

Alternative on-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) for nitrogen reduction are being investigated for use in Suffolk County, and while they may have utility in some cases, they are not a panacea to our individual wastewater treatment issues.

Here are some facts that one should consider before installing such a system.

Although alternative systems have been in use for more than a decade in some neighboring states, there is no data or study that shows subregional groundwater or surface water quality improvement. The best alternative OWTS are generally capable of reducing nitrogen by 50 percent as compared to a conventional sewage disposal system. In fact, the experience in other states indicates that 60 to 65 percent of the systems installed met their targeted nitrogen reductions. But this also means that 35 to 40 percent of the systems did not provide the required nitrogen reduction.

Alternative OWTS are complex treatment systems containing mechanical and electrical components that are not required for a conventional septic system. In order to ensure a functioning system, an operation and maintenance contract is a legally required necessity for the life of each OWTS installation. Because most systems require electric power, they are unable to treat wastewater during power interruptions as conventional gravity flow sewage systems can. Households connected to the public water supply continue to produce sewage during an electric outage. Requiring additional emergency storage in a septic tank, a gravity bypass or automatically activated standby power generation can mitigate the issue, but would add substantially to the system's cost.

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Taxonomy

• Solid Waste Treatment
• Sludge Separation