On-demand Webinar

View Important Policies and System Requirements for this course.

Instructor:  Mark Peterson, P.E.

Course Length: 1.5 Hours

Purpose and Background

In urban environments, major facilities provide treatment of domestic wastewater. However, in more rural areas, access to collection systems and major treatment facilities can be limited or non-existent. In these areas, wastewater treatment and disposal is accomplished by use of on-site facilities, including septic tanks, drainfields and sand filters. More than 20 million homeowners are currently served by on-site facilities. Proper design of these facilities involves application of numerous techniques and is often more complicated than initially anticipated. This webinar covers the basics of estimating design flows for both residential and commercial applications and sizing standard drainfields for these flows. Also, it cover design of pressure-dosed drainfields and sand filters. It presents example calculations.

Primary Discussion Topics

  • Estimating design flows, residential and commercial facilities
  • Required soils information
  • Standard gravity system design parameters, including septic tanks and drainfields
  • Pressure-dosed system design parameters, including dosing tanks and drainfields
  • Sand filter design considerations

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Identify standard techniques for estimating design flows for on-site wastewater systems
  • Discover the soils information necessary to properly evaluate the potential for an on-site wastewater system
  • Describe the requirements for sizing a septic tank and a gravity drainfield
  • Explain the parameters necessary for design of a basic pressure-dosed drainfield to meet uniform flow requirements
  • Discuss the conditions where a sand filter could be used to meet challenging site conditions

Webinar Benefits

  • Learn how to estimate flows for on-site wastewater systems using standard techniques
  • Consider the requirements for field survey of soils to determine suitability for on-site systems
  • Examine the sizing requirement for septic tanks and gravity drainfields
  • Discuss how pressure-dosed drainfields can be designed to provide more uniform flow application and increase the life of the drainfield
  • Learn how sand filters are designed and used in areas where soils or shallow groundwater limit the ability to use a standard drainfield

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-assessment (true-false, multiple choice and fill in the blank questions).

Intended Audience

  • Civil engineers responsible for design of on-site wastewater systems
  • Public agency officials responsible for review of on-site wastewater systems
  • Public agency personnel responsible for rulemaking for on-site wastewater systems

Webinar Outline

  • Estimating Flows
  • Soil survey requirements
  • Sizing septic tanks and drainfields
  • Pressure-dosed drainfields
  • Sand Filters

How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion

To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 1 year of purchasing the course.

How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?

1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]