Michigan Criteria for On -Site Wastewater Treatment

1 WastewaterTreatment~~~~~~~Edit12/21/2011 Mi chiganCriteriaforOn-Site1 Table ofContentsIntroductionChapter1 Administ ra tion,Pur pose, General Provisio Plans,Supervision,InspectionsandApprov an Inspe ti on sChapter3 Variances EstablishingSiteSuitabilityforSoil on e andStr HighGro undwater Ar d Hori nearLo ofDrainage Sys tems to andConstruction4. 10 Demonstration ofHi Fil l Mate rialandCertificationChapter5 Waste FacilitiesGenera tingHighStrength on EquivalentActivities2 TableofContents (continued)Chapter6 EstablishingWast ewaterFl er tionBasedonVulnerabilityChapter9 (public domain) ea iedMaintenancePr ovidersChapter11 TankDesig n and rength . Riser s tig htnessTestingChapter12 Pumps,Cont rols d PumpSelection3 TableofContents (continued) of Waste waterSi ph onsChapter13 ionPump Effluent to Soil DispersalChapter14 DispersalSystemDesignand d TankEff luentPipe(forgravityflow) Pro ov Bed Trench Distribu Distr ib zontalIsola SystemSug Objectives tig SpecificationsDefinitions4 IntroductionThis documentreplacesth e "MichiganCriteriaforSubsurfaceSewageDisp osal revision datedApril19 94, publishedbytheMichiganDepartmentof constituentworkgroupconvenedbytheMichiga nDepartment ofEnvironmental Quality(DEQ) andincludedrepresentationfromlo ca l countyanddistricthealth departments,academia,privatesectorco ns ultants an d anove ral l ch angein philosophyint endedto guideth edepartmentandauthorizedlocal healthdepartments.

2 Thecriteriaareto beutilizedin theapproval of on -sitewastewat ersystemsutilizingsubsurfacesoilbas eddispersalwhichtreatsanita ry sewageand/ordomestic equivalentwastewat erwith flowsupto 20 ,0 00gallonsperday(gpd).Thecriteriaprovidef lexibilityto allowco nsideratio n of bothpresentandfut uretechnologythat maybec rprofessionalcompetence. Ratherthanbeingtot allyprescriptive,therevisedcriteriaestab lisha processfo r andmaintenance(O& M)arealsost ll be separateguidancedocumentsto providedirectionontopicsofa non-proprietarynaturewhichwillbedevelope dasneededovertimewith input of oth eron-si tewastewaterprofessionalsfromlocalhealth ,academiaan d theprivatesecto a wealthofsu , whereacceptedguidancealreadyexists,it will Administration,Pur pose, document hasbeen established asa guidelinepursuantto therequirementsof theAdministrativeProce duresAct,1969PA306, inedthereinmeans "Anagencystatementordeclarationofpolicyw hichtheagencyint endsto follow,whichdoes nothavetheforceoref fectoflaw,andwhichbindstheagencybut doesno t bindanyotherperson.

3 "It is intended th at"age nc y"asusedaboveal soincludeslocalhealthdepartments, whenactingasan agentof criteriacommunicate a standardbywhichdec isions forapprovalofsystemsutilizingsubsurfaced ispersalaremaderes ultingin au thorizati onto dischargepursuantto Part31:WaterResources, ofthe NaturalResourcesandEnvironmentalProtecti onAct,1994PA451,asamended,andth e Part 22ru les, specifically , thecri te riais to assurethattheconstruction, operationandmaintenanceof on-sitewastewate r treatmentsystemsutilizingsubsurfacedispe rsalin quantitiesoflessth an20,000gp d: d co nstructedin a mainta inedto e anyexistingorfut pu bl ic healthorsafetyhazardorpresentthepotentia lforcreating a notcontaminat e nu isancedueto herwiseviolatela ca lhealthdepartmentsre sp onsiblefo r theconsistentreviewandapprovalof on-sitewastewat ertreatment minimumuniformreview shouldbenoted th at thesecriteriapertainto thetreatmentanddispersal ofsanitary sewage( ile t wastes, sinkandlaundrywaste,andbathwater) ordomesticequivalent eatmentanddispersalofwastesfromindustria landcommercial processes(laundromats, carwashes,floordrains,etc.)

4 Requires specificPart 22authori za ti privatesingle andtwofamilyresidentialsewagesystemscons tructedpursuantto localhealthdepartment (LHD) to ap nstructi onof treatmentsystemsat newstructures; usesat existingstructures; co nstructrepla ce nstructionof a systemunderthecriteria,constructionappro valandrequired permitsmust beob io n ormodifica tionof thefacilityservedbya soil-baseddispersalsystemshallnotbeginun til a constructionpermitandplanapprovalforthes ewage is strong ly recommendedth at a utility locatingservice( )becontactedpriorto anysiteexcavation to determinethelocationof ,Supervision, .1 SystemDesigner QualificationsandOtherCompetentProfessio nalsThedesign andsubmittalof plansforsystemsdesignedunderthecriterias houldonlybemadebythosepro fessionals thatpossesscompetencein allaspects ofsoil -basedwastewate r Treatment an d dispersalsystemsgainedth roughacombinationof education theprojectthatthesystemdesignerla ckscompetence, theservicesof othercompetentprofessionalsshallbe re.

5 2 ConstructionPlansTheagencyshallre quireth e submittalof detailedconstructionplansforallsystemsco nstructed e to besubmittedto theagencyafter thesi tesuitability, wastewaterst rength anddesignflowhavebeendeterminedpursuant to Chapter4,Chapter5 andChapter6,7res pectively. Thedetai ledplansshallbepreparedbyeit hera licensedprofessionaleng ineer or a re gistered sanitarianin privatepractice,whoar elicensedorregisteredby theSt to waivethesubmittal of detailedconstructi onplansfo r smallconve nti onal systemsoralternativesystems utilizingpressuredistributionex pectedto generate flowslessthan1, ,reviewandap proval bytheage ncyshallbeco mpletedunderthesupervisionofacompetentli censedprofessional .3 ConstructionSupervisionIn caseswhereth e agencyhasrequiredthesubmissionof detailedconstructionplans,thesy stemdesigneris responsible to provideforthesupervisionofconstructionad equatetoassureco mpliancewithapprovedpermitconditions, ency shallrequirewrittencertificationbythepro ject'ssystemdesignerthatconstructionwasc ompletedin ac cordancewithapprovedplansandspecifica to deviatefromapprovedplansshallbe in.

6 4 ConstructionInspect ionandFinalAppro valTheagencyis to makesuchinspectionsasdeemednecessaryduri ngconstructionto assureco mpliancewith approvedpermitconditions,plansandspecifi cationsorutilizeanalternateprocessto not be backfilleduntiltheagencyhasgivenitsappro val,orunlesswaived bytheagencydueto nalap proval ofthesystemconstructionbytheagencysh allbewit hheldpendingreceiptofwritten certification fromthesystemdesigneranddoc umentationofa final inspectionbytheag te/DecentralizedSystemConnectionto a public sanitarysewersystemis requiredwhenavailableasdef inedbySection12751 th rough12758ofthePublicHealthCode,1978PA36 8,asamended, bei ng theMichiganCompiledLawsand whenthelocalgovernmental entityhavingjurisdictionrequiresconnecti on. Loc al governmentalentit iesmayalsohaveplanningthatdesignatesarea sto be servedbyon-sit e/ decentralizedsyste msasthe a sit e wheretheavailabilityandrequirementforcon nectionto a public sewersystemis inquestion,a statement fromth e appropriategovernmentalentityregardingth eavailabilityofth e se wershouldbe submittedto ined pursuantto therevisedcriteria,it remainstheres ponsibility of theapplicantto complywithanyandallothercodes, of anapprovalunderthecriteriadoesnotaut ho rizeviolationofother federal, r VarianceIt is theintentofth e criteri a to provideminimumst andards to beus edin siteevaluationandthede si gnand constructionof.

7 Theremay bespecialcircumstanceswhichjustify avariancefrom healthde partmenthavingjurisdictiononlywhenallth withinthecriteriacannotbemetorwherestric t complianceis not requiredto variancewillnotcreatethepotentialfora healthhazard, nuisancecondition, orth e pollutionof groundwaterorsurfacewater, or ot herwiseviolateth e llowingprocedureshall befol lowedin fi le a writtenrequestwiththeDEQordelegatedlo shallcitethespecific provisionsof thecriteriawhichit is re questedfo variancerequestshallbesupportedbyinforma tiondescribingth e physicalcharacteristicsofthesite,reasons forrequestingtheva riancean d in formation to ve rifytheprotectionofthepublichealth,surfa ceand groundwatershall besu e appro priatelocalhealthdepartmentshallconsultp r iortogranting a recordof thatconsultationshallbemadeandmaintained in bothag encies d bytheDEQforfacilitiesrequiringDEQconstru ction permitsor DEQapprovalonly.

8 Forallotherfacilities,jointauthorization of boththedirectorofEnvironmentalHealthof thecity,9county,ordistricthealth department andtheDEQis onlyto thespecificprojectunderconsiderationandd o notserveasprecedentsin ot al healthdepartmentsdo nothave theauthority toapproveproposalswhichdo no t meetthesecriteria, exceptth ofapprovalsordenialsissued pursuant to therevise d criteriamaybemadeto theDEQ byfilingof a request forconte st edcasehearingonthematterpursuanttothe a denialforproposals whichdonotmeetthecriteriaforsubsurfacedi spersaldoesnotprecludetheabil ityoftheapplicantto pursueothermethodsof wastewatertreatment an d dispersalwhereauthorizationcanbesecuredf romthede EstablishingSiteSuitability abilit y forsoildispersalat a io n addressestheseva rioussiteandsoilfactorswhichmustbeaddres sedduringtheinitialsiteevaluatio processmustconfirmtheavailability ofanacceptablesoil dispersalareaandreservearea.

9 A contingencyplanthatdoesnotincludea reserveareamayonlybeconsideredthrougha varianceprocessdescribedin formationalsoprovidesthebasisfordetailed designofth etre proveth e sitewhensiteconditionsinclusiveofsoils,h ighgroundwaterelevati on, terrain, and/orareaavailableforsoildispersal oroth erconditionswillpreve ntth e satisfactoryoperationofa systemin a mannerwhichfu lfillsthepurposeof onofoth erfactorsbytheagencyshallbe completedunderthesupervisionof alicensedprofessional engineerorregisteredsanitariantoconfirmt hesuitabil ityof a site. Thesiteevaluationprocess shouldonlybecompletedbythoseindividuals in privatepracticewhohavecompetencyin thedesignof on-sitewastewat ertreatment is theresponsibility ofthesystemdesignertocoordinate thefieldaspectsofth e siteevaluationwith -ApplicationMeetingsA pre-applicationmeetin g is anopportunityfortheapplicantordesignated representativeto meetwi thth e systemdesignerandtheagencyto meetingis mostbeneficialwhenit occursearlyin th eplanningphase when a projectproposalis definedenoughto discussitconceptually, butstillfle xi pre-applicationmeetingcanalsobebeneficia lregardlessof theprojectedflowforth e fa producewastewaterflowsin excessof 6, 000gpda pre-applicationmeetingis stronglyencouragedpr ,000gpda pr e-applicationmeetingshallbe scheduledandconductedpriorto completingthefiel d siteev orde signatedrepresentat iveshouldprovidean d beprepared todiscuss.

10 Thefollowinginformationat themeeting:1. Typeof ex ist ingorproposedfa cility; anticipatedflowsandtypeorcharacterofth e Loca tionmap- suchasa countyroadmap,showingthegenerallocati onofth e General Sitemap - showingallexistingandproposedfeaturesof USDA soilsurvey map identifyingthepredominantsoilseriesof thesite.(MapmustincludeTownship,Range,an dSection)5. Conceptualplans, if preliminarysit e evaluatio n is nece ssaryandis to becompletedbythesystemdes igner priorto co mpleting thefield evaluation. Thepreliminarysiteevaluati onshallconsistofgat herin g th e in fo rmationcontainedin nfirmingth e locationofburiedon-siteutilities,if is recommendedthatthesystemdesignercontacta utility locatingservice(e . ). use(if it canbedetermined). r level ofsurfacewaters,if -sitetreatmentsystems of6,000gp d ormore,thelocationof surfacewaterwhichwillbe within500feet ofthesoildi spersalsystem(s) ye orboundary li l isolation distancesfromtheproposedsubsurfacedisper sal sy stemasindicatedin Field Si teEvaluationIn allinstancesthesystem designermustcoordinatea jointfieldsiteevaluati theeva luation,thesystemdesignershallestablisht he fo llo winginformationabout thesit sti ngsiteim provements, requiredsetbacks,andeasements mustbeid te ut ilit iesbe fo resoil cutor odingorrun-on potentialto theproposeddispersalarea(s).