HomeMy WebLinkAboutOn-Site Sewage (OSS) and Septic Operations and Monitoring (OM) Programs (PDF) 1 of 3
Jefferson County Public Health
Performance Measures 2011Year-End Report
ON SITE SEWAGE PROGRAMS (OSS)
MISSION: The mission of the Onsite Sewage Program is to protect public health by mitigating the threat of
surface and ground water contamination from failing or improperly designed, installed or maintained onsite
sewage disposal systems.
GOALS FOR FY 2011
1. Educate homeowners, builders, real estate personnel, banks, installers, designers and onsite system
maintenance personnel in the proper operation and maintenance of onsite sewage systems.
2. Assure a high quality-onsite sewage system monitoring program.
3. Implement and enforce state and local rules and regulations governing the installation and use of
onsite sewage systems.
4. Investigate action requests and complaints in a timely manner to reduce the threat of human contact
with untreated wastewater.
5. Complete all state funded grant activities on-time and on-budget.
6. Assure high quality customer service.
OBJECTIVES FOR FY 2011
1. Develop written informational materials for public distribution and conduct workshops for
community groups addressing onsite sewage system operation and maintenance.
2. Provide training to community groups to increase awareness of regulatory requirements for onsite
sewage systems.
3. Review system monitoring and inspection reports as well as provide timely follow up and
coordination with online submittal program data.
4. Identify previously unknown onsite sewage systems.
5. Utilize existing data systems to track action requests and complaints.
6. Assure communication with applicants regarding the status of onsite sewage permit applications.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: 2008 2009 2010 2011
Projected
2011
Actual
Number of systems repaired/upgraded 32 32 37 35 31
Percent of system failures less than 5 years in use 0 0 0 0 0
Number of complaints received 42 43 52 45 36
Number of complaints closed 24 19 33 25 25
Number of septic permit applications submitted 1 231 169 158 180 118
Number of evaluations of existing system (EES)-
Monitoring Inspection
295 255 463 350 469
Percent of existing systems receiving regular 3rd party
monitoring. 2
2.2% 1.8% 3.4 2.5 3.4
# of previously unknown systems having a
monitoring inspection3 15 9 10 40 15+ 855
Percent of monitoring inspections resulting in some
maintenance needed.
29% 28% 56% 29% 68%4
Percent of monitoring inspections resulting in
required significant maintenance or repair.
12.5% 16% 18/7% 15% 12.4%
Percent of failures/major maintenance <2% <2% <2% <2% <2%
Number of educational workshops 6 5 19 20 4
Number of workshop participants 239 102 355 300 156
1Number of applications does not equal approved permits
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2 Based on estimated 13,500 systems in the County (from the Local Sewage Management Plan)
3 Represents cases created only as a result of a monitoring inspection consistent with past years. Additional systems were
identified through sanitary surveys but do not get a full inspection and were not counted in this category.
4 Includes inspections where the only maintenance item identified was that the tank needed to be pumped. Previous years did not
include this maintenance item.
515 systems were identified and observed via regular monitoring inspections, 85 systems were identified via sanitary surveys and
are sites where no previous records exist.
SUMMARY OF KEY FUNDING/SERVICE ISSUES
Tracking was done with existing data systems to evaluate effectiveness of onsite sewage and OSS
monitoring programs. Ongoing O&M activities were funded through permit and inspections fees and
grants from the Department of Health and EPA. The grant funds increase our ability to provide
outreach to the community, review of reports and development of additional program components
such as a homeowner inspection element. Implementation involved coordination with the private
contractors to set up systems for scheduling and tracking inspection activities, reviewing reports and
communicating with property owners if additional actions are necessary and conducting community
outreach to increase awareness of the new requirements.
Identification of previously unknown onsite sewage system was emphasized this year as part of a
project in the Marine Recovery Area (MRA). The project is part of the effort to identify all unknown
systems by the end of 2012.
Onsite sewage permitting and staffing has declined due to the economic downturn of the past several
years. The team continues to strive to maintain effective communication with our clients and partners
(other state and local departments) to effectively manage workload and requests for information while
diligently reviewing and enforcing county code and policies.
STUDY/ANALYSIS
We met regularly with providers to maintain consistency in reporting Monitoring Inspections and OSS
design submittals. An all day class was provided for 85 professionals in the onsite field. The class
focused on troubleshooting OSS system problems and maintenance and monitoring challenges for
various system types.
Our effort to enter existing onsite sewage records into the database and scan for use by the public and
professionals is ongoing. These are used extensively by Designers, O&M Specialists, Realtors and
homeowners to access record drawings (as-built). This improves the quality of the work submitted and
the understanding of interested parties.
Monitoring Inspection Reports are reviewed and follow-up letters sent where problems/deficiencies are
noted that indicate either imminent failure or identify a violation of the permit.
The number of monitoring inspections submitted is similar to last year. This is the second year that
inspections must be current for issuance of a food service permit. The requirement for annual monitoring
of septic systems serving food service establishments has existed since 2000 in the WAC, but JC did not
connect it to the food service permit until last year. Several problems were identified during the
inspections and corrections are ongoing. Deficiencies identified include components installed with out
permits, baffles missing, ponding in the drainfield, surfacing sewage, tanks needing to be
pumped/serviced. In some cases compliance agreements have been used to achieve a schedule of actions
and correction.
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Classes to provide information on taking care of your septic system continue to be provided and are very
well received in the community. They provide an opportunity to inform homeowners about funds that
are available to repair or upgrade a substandard or failing system. Additionally we share information
about efforts to identify water quality problems and correct them. Work is coordinated with the Water
Quality Department and the work they do on sanitary surveys in communities. Classes were provided to
Realtors and Builders Assoc.
As part of implementing our Sewage Management Plan, staff continued to identify previously unknown
onsite sewage systems. Identification of previously unknown systems occurs in two ways:
1) Through sanitary surveys which are completed as part of several grants. Current projects include
portions of Discovery Bay, the Hood Canal, Chimacum Creek and Mats Mats Bay.
2) Via a regular monitoring inspection that includes an inspection of the septic tank. Sanitary
Surveys help us to identify that a system is on a property but do not generally include a detailed
inspection of the system. These systems are tracked separately.
In late 2011 a Work Group was formed to provide recommendations on a system for homeowners to
become certified to complete some of the required monitoring inspections. This group will meet 5 times
and is composed of professionals from the OSS field and others with an interest in the proper functioning
of these systems. A webpage at the public health site is dedicated to providing information about the
process along with the agendas, meeting minutes and meeting materials. Three public forums will follow
to provide information to the public and take comments on the group’s recommendations. Following
these forums, a draft of revisions to JC Code 8.15 Operations and Monitoring section will be submitted to
the BOH for their consideration.
We have been coordinating our efforts to create a homeowner inspection process with Clallam County to
model their program that is under development. Just over 100 homeowners went through their training
process and completed an inspection with a Clallam County employee. They have not issued a final
report at this time but generally believe it is a workable program for full implementation in the next year.
We anticipated beginning that program late in 2011 or early 2012 but will not be ready until our work
group has completed its work in late March 2012 and code revisions are adopted by the BOH.
Updated: March 1st, 2012