ASABE Technical Library - Abstract
Member and Access Notice
ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGH EPA’S MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES
Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org
Citation: Paper number 701P0104, . (doi: 10.13031/2013.15817)Authors: Joyce Hudson, Steve Hogye
Keywords:
The demands for better management of onsite and clustered wastewater treatment systems are
increasing. US EPAs Voluntary National Guidelines for Management of Onsite and Clustered
(Decentralized) Wastewater Systems (US EPA, 2003) offer a framework for managing systems
at many scales and levels, and provide national benchmarks for assessing and improving
management programs. The purpose of the Guidelines is to raise the level of performance of
onsite/decentralized wastewater systems through improved management programs. US EPA
proposes to promote improved management through the Guidelines by providing national
guidance that raises the quality of management programs, establishes minimum levels of activity,
and institutionalizes the concept of management.
The Guidelines contain a set of model programs, based on a building-block approach that relies
on coordinating responsibilities and actions of the state, tribal or local regulatory authority; the
management entity; the service provider(s); and the system owner(s). The model programs
reflect an increasing need for more comprehensive management as the sensitivity of the
receiving environment, the number and density of system installations, and the degree of system
technological complexity increases. The five model management programs suggested in the
Guidelines describe points along the overall management continuum, which ranges from simple
system inventories and improved public awareness of maintenance needs to programs which own
and operate wastewater treatment systems in a manner similar to conventional centralized sewer
services.