neha cert - affordable wastewater solutions for …5 2011 neha aec ows1104 - affordable wastewater...

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2011 NEHA AECOWS1104 - Affordable Wastewater Solutions for Small and Rural Communities

Affordable Wastewater Solutions for

Small and Rural Communities

NEHA / NOWRA/ SORA 2011

An Historic Conference

Priority of Code over Community

After all the:

research and reporting

technical sessions

training and site visits

demonstration projects and

the advisory updates

Finally comes the sociology and economics.

Imperative:

“The challenge is not that of managing water resources as important as that might be. Rather it is that of ‘managing ourselves’.”

“It is necessary to work over, under, around and through the political boundaries that appear to constrain watershed perspective.”

G. Tracy Mehan

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NEHA on Climate Change (2007)

Affects of climate change are local

Advocate sustainable economic/social development

Integrate community planning/public health

Lead programatic efforts to promote sustainable and profitable business practices

ADVOCATE INTEGRATE LEAD

Asynchronous relationships drive costs

Codes are responsible to their missions

Communities are responsible for compliance

Codes have authority without responsibility

Communities responsibility without authority

Community

Has budgetary limits

Needs prudent economies of scale

Needs blended compliance options

Flexible just in time solutions

Collaboration and integration

Watershed /water resource focus

Codes integrated for efficiency

and economy

Authority

Does not restrain costs

Dictates scale

Dictates option

Long Term Planning

Command and Control

Pollution control focus

Codes segregate standards

The Dislocation Between Responsibility and AuthorityDislocation between Responsibility

and Authority drives cost

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Asynchronous relationships drive costs

Watershed: context sensitive collaborative

Codes: prescriptive and command+ control

Watershed is enabling policy initiative

Codes are policing programmatic structures

____________

NPDES is now more powerful that the

legislation that created it.

Asynchronous relationships

Codes are not integrated

Onsite is soils based

NPDES is point source or pipe based

Onsite has no method to aggregate

NPDES has sewer ordinances

Onsite is just in time

Central sewer is planned and takes forever

When

•Responsibility is separate from Authority•Codes are not structured to Collaborate•Codes are not integrated•Watershed is policy / not programmatic, not legislated and not i:nstitutionallystructured:

How do we make effective Advocate Integrate Lead

?

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Affordable Wastewater Solutions

Principles for affordability:

Knowing how policy effects citizensPrudent economies of scaleNegotiating public / private partnershipsCollaborate –Do not litigate.Negotiate for sustainable futures

Observations Knowing how policy effects citizens

OnsiteClustered

•Home value $350,000 $350,000

•Market decline -15% ($ 52,000) ($ 52,000)

•Market value $298,000 $298,000

•Septic repair (capital loss) ($ 30,000)

•Distributed sewer +10% $ 29800

•Net value $ 268,000 $ 327,800

Difference $59,800/ home

`

Costs of unintended consequences

growth caps and phasing schedules •the prohibition of irregularly shaped lots •wetland regulations •septic-system regulations. •subdivision rules •cluster provisions•conditional zoning provisions •age-restricted zoning

from the work of Edward Glaeser

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ObservationKnowing how policy effects citizens

High Strength Wastewater

Flow 3500 gpd

BOD 1000 mg/l

TSS 300 mg/l

TKN 90 mg/l

Avg field life < 5 years

ROI for treatment 1 yr

ObservationsClustering for prudent economies of scale

24 Septic tanks $60,0001 6000 gallon tank $12.000Difference $48,000

Quarterly O and M24 effluent points $28,800 annual per home $ 1200

Monthly O and M1 effluent pipe $4320annual cluster $180

ObservationClustering for prudent economies of scale

Distributed sewer

Infrastructure built by private sector

given to

public sector

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ObservationCollaborate - Do Not litigate

Mediation through mission

Assess, Advise, Assure

To end litigation

and Reduce costs

ObservationNegotiate for sustainable solutions

An irony that created an industry

Bob Rubin’s five pillars

Innovative /alternative technologies

Natural systems science

Guidance documents

Alternative plan

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5 pillars of sustainability

Reliable Technology for environmental results

Competent, trained certified operators

Competent management entities -public/private

Enabling legislation

Public support for distributed infrastructure

Bob Rubin

A PORTFOLIO OF COLLECTION TREATMENT

AND DISPOSAL TECHNOLOGIES

Distributed Wastewater Managementis an industry

A portfolio of technologies.Science of Soils and Natural systemsEPA demonstration projectsEPA guidance documentsWERF market illustrations

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Planning as if communities matter

ICMA Professionals worry about

Water quality and supplyCommunity preservation Economic developmentRevenue

Water, Nutrient, Carbon foot printing

Assess Advise Assure

AssessUsing sewer ordinances

To cluster for economies of scaleTo eliminate property restrictionsTo pay for upgrade over timeTo affordably improve O and M

Proposing a uniform codeMeeting watershed standardsDoing something Historic

Assess

The tyranny of unintended consequences

Responsibility without authority is at least abuse - if not tyranny.

A sustainable future must be built on trust and collaboration.

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Advise

The formation of constituencies such as ICMA, Associations of Cities and Counties and the Conference of Mayors to:

Propose legislation to create WaterResource Management Districts to institutionalize the principles of the watershed agenda.

Assure:

Legislators do their jobs

Place the Integrity of Environmental Health

in the service of realizing

The Watershed Agenda

Imperative:

“The challenge is not that of managing water resources as important as that might be. Rather it is that of ‘managing ourselves’.”

“It is necessary to work over, under, around and through the political boundaries that appear to constrain watershed perspective.”

G. Tracy Mehan

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Advise legislation for Water resource management districts

• Enabling not policing institutions

• Collaborative in intent

• Able to negotiate for a triple bottom line

• Establish a performance based uniform

integrated code for wastewater

collection, treatment, and disposal

under 150,000 gallons per day

Questions?

Craig Lindell

[email protected]

neha cert - affordable wastewater solutions for …5 2011 neha aec ows1104 - affordable wastewater...

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