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The Evolution of Decentralized Wastewater Management Regulations in Tennessee

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Eleventh Individual and Small Community Sewage Systems Conference Proceedings, 20-24 October 2007, Warwick, Rhode Island  701P1107cd.(doi:10.13031/2013.24002)
Authors:   John R Buchanan
Keywords:   Onsite wastewater systems, decentralized wastewater management systems, subsurface wastewater drip dispersal, regulations

In Tennessee, the decentralization of wastewater management has occurred at a rate greater than the States ability provide effective oversight. If the soil is the basis for final treatment and effluent dispersal, the Division of Ground Water Protection is the permitting agency. If the system requires unit processes for wastewater renovation and has a discharge, the Division of Water Pollution Control is the permitting agency. As decentralized wastewater management technologies have evolved, there is now a strong demand to determine which agency is going to permit systems that do not discharge, but have operational processes that need to be regulated. In November of 2004, a working group was formed to address how to regulate decentralized systems in Tennessee. This group was assigned the task of defining the regulatory-threshold that separates the divisions of Water Pollution Control and Ground Water Protection, and to develop uniform guidelines for the design and installation of subsurface wastewater drip dispersal systems. This article is a summary of the recommendations provided by this group. These recommendations are still being debated and are likely to receive additional modification after the publication of this article. Many other States are going through this same revampment of their wastewater regulations. It is hoped that sharing some of Tennessees experiences in this process will be beneficial to other States.

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