When it comes to assessing your septic system who do you call, a septic engineer or an ROWP (Registered Onsite Wastewater Practitioner)?

Under the Sewerage System Regulations, SSR, authorized persons such as ROWPs, engineers, geo-techs or hydrologists play an important part in sewage systems and have the qualifications to conduct the work. To help understand the role an engineer or a ROWP plays in the process of a septic system let’s go a little bit further into detail.

What role does a registered onsite wastewater practitioner or ROWP play in the development of an onsite wastewater system? When it comes to the vast majority of residential properties or some commercial applications, an ROWP would be the one to call. A wastewater practitioner has the training and qualifications necessary to perform soil testing and the skills necessary to design and install the right system for the lot and home. Once the practitioner conducts soil testing and completes the design they would then submit that design and plan to the local Health Authority for approval. In many jurisdictions, this approval process will then allow a contractor or homeowner to then request and obtain permits for their home construction.

There are 3 designations that a ROWP can fall under and in some circumstances, a practitioner may have all of these designations to their title.

Planner: The planner has the responsibility to conduct site and soil evaluations to determine the most suitable septic system for the site, and produce a design that will be submitted for approval by the BC Health Authority

Installer: The installer has the expertise to carry out the plan into action, by constructing a properly functioning septic system according to the approved design.

Maintenance provider: The maintenance provider has an important role in maintaining a septic system to the capacity in which it was designed for. Any cleaning or repair work would fall under this category.

Why then would you need an engineer to design your septic system? An engineer has a broader capability to design septic systems of greater capacity such as complexes with large daily design flows, or larger commercial applications and extremely large residential developments just as a few examples.

An engineer would also come into play with properties that have extremely small lot spaces, where setbacks to well or water bodies cannot be met, and type 3 treated effluent my be required.

In some unordinary circumstances, a lot may pose certain geotechnical challenges. Steep unstable slopes with limited area for a septic system with high erosion probability would certainly pose a challenge. This is where a geotechnical engineer would reign their expertise in determining and evaluating the right system for the challenge.

Sensitive riparian areas where septic systems pose an environmental risk to certain species of animals or water resources and water wells that don’t meet setback requirements from a septic system is another example of where we may have to hire a hydrogeologist for their expertise.

There are certainly more challenging conditions that would require an engineer to have oversight on a septic system but these are just a few examples of why we would use an engineer to design a sewage system.

Based in beautiful Kimberley BC, we provide quality Onsite Wastewater design and installation services throughout the Kootenay region including Golden, Radium, Invermere, Kimberley, Cranbrook, Creston, the Elk Valley communities of Fernie, Sparwood, Elkford, Nelson, Castlegar, Fruitvale, Rossland, Kootenay Lake, Slocan, Nakusp, Revelstoke and anywhere in between.

We do enjoy traveling this beautiful province and are able to service any area in BC including remote coastal or northern regions upon request.

We do our very best to accommodate our customers in a timely manner. We want to be sure your project is not held up on our end, waiting weeks or months to have a design or installation completed. From the time you enlist our design service, we make it a priority to come complete your site and soil assessment, create a design and have it approved within a week or two. Installations typically take 3-6 days to complete depending on size and complexity. Designs are conducted in the pre planning/permitting stage of a build and installs are usually done near the completion of a build. As this time between design and installation is often substantial, we encourage our clients to notify us several weeks in advance so we can order materials and have them ready when its time to install and minimize the chance of delays.

We cannot emphasize the importance of this very important maintenance item enough. Biological action does an incredible job of digesting and breaking down waste. Approximatly 60% of solid waste entering the tank is consumed and metabolized into H2O and gases by micro organisms. The other 40% remains in the tank as sludge and scum consisting of mostly fats, oils, grease and cellulose fiber. These levels should not be allowed to accumulate any more than 20% of the tanks volume. This is important because the system requires a minimum working liquid volume for proper biological action to take place and properly treat the wastewater. As sludge and scum build up, this working volume is decreased, resulting in inadequately treated effluent. This poorly treated effluent leaves the septic tank and enters the dispersal field, plugging up the soils and will eventually lead to system failure. This is the cause of most costly premature system failures and can be easily avoided with regular pump outs. As for how often to have this service completed, it really depends on how much your loading the system but a good rule of thumb is a max of two years initially and possibly extend the interval accordingly based on the volume accumulated in those two years. When in doubt, error on the conservative side and have it done regularly.

No. Septic tank additives are not necessary, in fact, they often do more harm than good. A common misconception and reason people use these products is that they believe they wont need to have their septic tank pumped out as often or they will fix your septic problems as these products advertise, but in truth, they can cause much worse problems.

The microorganisms in the anaerobic environment of the septic tank break down the solids within the tank very effectively and should not be in contact with any chemicals that may damage the effluent absorption portion of your septic system. Be aware that some additives may also emulsify grease so the grease does not float to the surface as it should, instead mixing with the effluent and carried over into your septic system soils. The soils can become clogged up with grease, unable to accept water and result in a failed system.

Many of these additives contain bacteria, enzymes, and yeast which can create excessive biological action and gas production. This interferes with the main function of a septic tank, which is to separate solids, fats, oils and grease and clarify the effluent before being dispersed into the soils. If the wastewater in the tank is agitated by excessive gas production, it will not separate and clarify properly which again leads to effluent with a high BOD (improperly digested) plugging your dispersal field soils leading to costly failure.

Regular maintenance and cleaning offers the best protection to ensure the performance and long life of your septic system with a negligible cost in comparison to the replacement of a failed dispersal field.