Penn Soil RC&D Council
RC&D : "The Catalyst for Community Improvement"

 Rural communities throughout Pennsylvania have for years been struggling with wastewater management issues.  On-lot system malfunctions and new system permit denials have been commonplace in most communities around the state.  According to statistical data obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), there are 565,197 dwelling units that have potential wastewater treatment problems for which improvements would cost approximately $840 million.  Despite these problems, many communities continue to resist the transition from onsite treatment systems to centralized facilities for a number of reasons, but the predominant one is cost.  With fewer federal dollars available for wastewater treatment, it is almost inconceivable for low income and depressed communities to take on the amount of debt required for the conventional centralized facilities.

 However, these communities are faced with a dilemma.  Many are convinced that they cannot afford centralized wastewater treatment, yet they are mandated by state law to address the present and future sewage disposal needs of their residents.  The Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (Act 537) requires each municipality in Pennsylvania to develop an Official Sewage Facilities Plan.  Due to the complexity of these plans, very few local officials have the capability to oversee the development of these plans, let alone develop such a plan in house.  Therefore, most communities retain the services of private consultants to develop the plan and often by default, entrust the future of their community to individuals with only short-term commitments to the area.

 This is the point where the costs and the problems typically begin to pile up.  Problems are almost inevitable where communities have not taken the time to research and wisely choose a consultant that is both knowledgeable in all the wastewater treatment alternatives as well as skilled in public participation processes.  There are instances where municipalities have amassed over one million dollars of debt in developing 537 plans when consultants did not consider alternatives that could have minimized local citizen opposition.  A certain level of opposition is always expected whether the plan is well conceived or not.  However, such opposition can be justified when the Act 537 plans contradict existing comprehensive landuse plans or, worse yet, are implemented in lieu of landuse plans.  This scenario is more common than one might imagine especially when the consultant is only trained and experienced in conventional centralized systems. 

 Due to the large number of small towns in rural Pennsylvania with wastewater treatment problems, it is common practice to link two or more communities together in order to justify a central collection and treatment facility.  From a sheer numbers and pollution abatement position, this makes sense.  However, from a more comprehensive environmental and economic standpoint, this is generally the wrong approach to take.  It is the collection system that typically constitutes 80 to 90 percent of the overall treatment and collection expense.  It is the collection system running through rural lands that invites urban sprawl and loss of farmlands.  It is the collection systems conducting water from the top of watersheds to discharge points far downstream that is contributing to increasing groundwater recharge problems.  And it is the collection systems that make conventional centralized wastewater treatment uneconomical and impractical for use in much of rural Pennsylvania.

Today’s alternative technologies offer many cost effective options for rural communities to manage their wastewater, but it takes progressive and innovative leadership to get beyond the traditional approaches to wastewater planning and management.  It takes consultants with knowledge of the alternatives and it takes regulatory agencies that are willing to cooperate.

 Such is the situation in northwestern Pennsylvania.  Many of the local municipalities are not able to issue permits for conventional or elevated sand mound systems due to poor drainage or shallow soil conditions.  Recently, the staff of the northwest region of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Meadville, East Fallowfield Twp. (Crawford County) supervisors, the Sewage Enforcement Officer for East Fallowfield Twp., Clinton Twp. (Venango County) supervisors, several property owners, and a consulting engineer met to discuss the possibility of designing, installing, and monitoring several alternative on-lot sewage systems as a demonstration project.  Currently, there are several demonstration projects being conducted within the state.  However, none of these technologies address low flow, gravity fed systems.

 DEP officials have agreed to proceed with modifications for an alternative on-lot wastewater system that will address low flow and gravity fed conditions.  These particular systems are being designed for ten (10) Amish families in Crawford and Venango Counties.  The specific intent of this project is to develop an on-lot wastewater system that can be designed and installed as a low tech, low cost system that can be approved by municipalities that will meet DEP water quality standards.  The basic technology for this demonstration is an adaptation of a wetland system being developed by Delaware Valley College Research and Demonstration Center for a single-family dwelling.  The major modifications involve the separation/exclusion of human waste from the system.  Pit toilets or privies are allowed under the current Act 537 regulations.  However, this does not address washwater or graywater treatment when a dwelling is being supplied with a source of water.  The experimental treatment system being developed addresses the small flows created by this type of activity.

 Although these systems are being designed to meet the needs of the Amish communities in Northwestern PA, we anticipate the use of these systems to be expanded for inclusion in the PA Alternate On-lot Systems Guidance Manual.  The result of this effort will be that all townships and municipalities in Pennsylvania will be able to amend their Act 537 plan to include this type of system.  This system can be particularly beneficial to the thousands of second home owners within Pennsylvania who have low use, small flow conditions that cannot meet the current on-lot wastewater standards.

UPDATE:  The project was completed in March of 2007.  For the complete final report on the project, click here. ( Opens a 3711 KB   PDF in a new window)