Wastewater Alternatives Advanced systems

Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Wastewater and Higher Densities
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit
Achieving Higher Density Development
In Areas Without Sewer/Water Service

The Problem
• Many smart growth techniques rely upon higher-
density, clustered development.
• Challenges to achieving this type of development
pattern in rural areas often include wastewater
treatment and disposal constraints, especially for on-
site systems.
See MassDEP’s website: www.mass.gov/dep/water/laws/regulati.htm

Statutes, Regulations & Policies
Governing Wastewater
• Regulations
• 310 CMR 15.000, Title 5
• 314 CMR 5.00, Groundwater Discharge Permits
• Policies
• Wastewater Reuse Policy
• Nutrient Loading Approach
• Private Sewage Treatment Plant Policy
• TMDLs
• Local Health Regulations
See MassDEP’s website: www.mass.gov/dep/water/laws/regulati.htm

Wastewater Disposal
• Title 5
• < 10,000 gallons per day (gpd)
• Less than 90 bedrooms
• Groundwater Discharge Permit
• > 10,000 gpd
• Approximately 90 bedrooms

Wastewater Design Flow (Title 5)
• Residential: 110 gpd per bedroom
• 4-bedroom house: 440 gpd
• thirty 3-bedroom homes: 9900 gpd
• Office building: 75 gpd per 1,000 sf
• Restaurants: 35 gpd per seat

Title 5 Requirements
• Permeable Soils: percolation rate of no more
than 60 minutes/inch
• Separation to groundwater:
soils with percolation > 2 mins/inch = 4 feet
soils with percolation < 2 mins/inch = 5 feet
• Setbacks to private wells: 100 feet
• Setback to wetlands/watercourses: 50 feet

Title 5: Resource Area Considerations
• Public Supply Well Zone 1 (400 foot radius): no
wastewater discharges
• Nitrogen sensitive areas (Zone 2 Areas & Private
Well Areas): maximum of 440 gpd/acre (or 660
gpd/acre for I&A systems).
• Nitrogen sensitive areas (Estuaries): limit nitrogen
loading in accordance with TMDL

Groundwater Discharge Permit Program
> 10,000 gpd
• Allows greater density in nitrogen sensitive areas
• Advanced Treatment Requirements (sewage
treatment plant)
• Requires water quality monitoring of effluent
and wells
• Operation & Maintenance requirements
• Staffing by certified operators
• Ownership responsibilities
• Financial considerations

Other Wastewater Policies
• Wastewater Reuse Policy
• Nutrient Loading Approach
• Private Sewage Treatment Plant Policy
• TMDLs
• Local Health Regulations

Wastewater Reuse Policy
• DEP has developed interim guidance
• Allowable uses:
• Golf course irrigation
• Landscape irrigation
• Toilet flushing
• Aquifer recharge
• Treated to a high quality to meet reuse
standards

Reclaimed water hydrant (purple pipes)

Wastewater Reuse Policy (continued)
• Standards for reuse water infrastructure and
public notification requirements
• Must provide a full sized back-up disposal
facility
• This has limited the use of reclaimed
water
• Being investigated by DEP as part of
ongoing development of new reuse
standards by DEP

Nutrient Loading Approach
• Established by DEP in 1999
• Allows for property owners to utilize on-site
septic systems in lieu of a wastewater treatment
facility if certain water quality standards are
met
• Designated nutrient sensitive areas included in
the Policy
• Zone IIs
• Coastal Watersheds
• Watersheds to freshwater ponds

Nutrient Loading Approach (cont.)
• Performance standards
Example: site-wide nitrogen loading
requirement to meet an average
concentration of 5 mg/l in groundwater
underneath the site
• Provides flexibility in using on-site systems
versus a centralized facility to meet water
quality standards

Private Sewage Treatment Plants
• In 1999, DEP allowed use of wastewater
treatment facilities shared by residential
properties on fee simple lots
• Specifies legal, institutional, and financial
requirements for individual homeowners to
share a common wastewater facility
• Requires that the water quality standards of the
Nitrogen Loading Policy be met

Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
• Coastal estuaries, streams and lakes are very
sensitive to nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorous)
additions from sewage-derived sources.
• Algae blooms can be triggered by nitrogen
concentrations well below the national and state
drinking water standard of 10 mg/l.
Example: Eutrophication has been observed
at nitrogen concentrations as low as 0.5 mg/l

TMDLs (continued)
• Scientific studies determine TMDLs of each
system
• TMDLs used to develop standards for
wastewater discharge volumes within the
coastal and freshwater watersheds
• Will likely require connections to
centralized facilities

Local Health Regulations
• M.G.L. Chapter 111: Local Boards of Health
may develop additional regulations to govern
wastewater disposal.
These cannot be less restrictive than Title 5
• Be careful to avoid unnecessarily restricting
alternative wastewater facilities in rural areas
that might preclude smart growth opportunities.

Wastewater Options
• Title 5 Conventional Septic System
• Innovative & Alternative (I&A) Systems
• Shared Systems
• Sewage Treatment Plants

Conventional Title 5 System

Site Plan
(showing Title 5
Setbacks)

I/A Title 5 System
Nitrogen
Removal
Component

Shared System - New Construction
• Supports cluster development
• Maintain 50% open space (or what your
bylaw/ordinance requires)
• System requires inspection every three years
• Could allow a denser development
• Users responsible for operation & maintenance
construction

Leaching fields for individual
Title 5 Septic Systems

Open Space Residential Design Subdivision
Leaching field for shared septic
system serving multiple homes

Leaching field for private
sewage treatment plant

Wastewater Treatment
Plant
The Pinehills
Plymouth, MA
The
Pinehills
Wastewater
Treatment
Plant
Zone II
Eel River
Watershed

Wastewater Treatment & Smart
Growth
1. Develop a Comprehensive Wastewater Management
Plan
2. Identify Larger Projects as Anchor Opportunities
3. Identify and Procure Sources of Public Funding
4. Use Innovative Financing Mechanisms
5. Provide Density Incentives Where Appropriate
6. Be Aware of TMDL Programs and Nitrogen
Sensitive Areas in Your Community

Wastewater Management Costs
Construction Costs Operation &
Maintenance Costs
Standard Title V
Systems
$5000 - $10,000 per
dwelling unit
$100 - $200 per year
Innovative and
Alternative Systems
$13,000 - $18,000 $500 - $1000 for an
individual home
$150 -$200 per home for
a shared system
Private Sewage
Treatment Plants
$30,000 - $60,000 per
dwelling unit
$700 - $1,000 per year,
per unit

Wastewater Management Costs Comparison
Wastewater Infrastructure Costs Comparison
Title 5 I&A STP
Sewage Cost/Unit ($) 7,500 15,500 45,000
Density (units/acre; based upon
Nitrogen Loading
equivalents) 1 1.5 8
Land & Sewage Cost/Unit
($/acre)
50,000 57,500 43,667 11,875
100,000 107,500 82,167 57,500
200,000 207,500 148,833 70,000
300,000 307,500 215,500 82,500

Case Studies
• Carmody™ I/A Tracking System, Barnstable
County
• Partridgeberry Place, Ipswich
• The Pinehills, Plymouth

Carmody™ I/A Tracking System,
Barnstable County
• Developed by the Barnstable County Department of
Health & Environment (BCDHE)
• Innovative / Alternative
(I/A) systems are
particularly important
on Cape Cod, where
many embayments are
already nutrient-sensitive.

Barnstable County (continued)
Increased Development Increase in Septic Systems
Increase in wastewater discharge and associated nutrients
Nutrient loading to groundwater, coastal
estuaries, embayments, freshwater
ponds, and streams
Poor water quality, changes and
deterioration of wildlife habitat, threat
to certain species.

Barnstable County (continued)
• Tracks construction, maintenance, and monitoring
results of I/A systems within
14 of the 15 Towns
• Automatic tracking and compliance
notification once system is manually
entered into database.
• Also being used to
evaluate functionality
of different I/A systems.

Partridgeberry Place, Ipswich
• Developed by Martins Companies
• Small-scale OSRD / LID development
• DCR Demonstration Grant – model development
• 20 residential units on 38 ac
• 74% (28 acres) preserved
as contiguous open space
• Utilized shared septic
system

(continued)

SEPTIC TANK
PUMP CHAMBER
LEACHING AREA LEACHING AREA
RESERVE
AREA
RESERVE AREA
*Image not drawn to scale
Shared Septic System
Contiguous Open Space

(continued)
• Shared Septic System
• Design flow: 8,800 gpd
• 27,000 gallon septic tank
• 13,000 gallon pump chamber
• Two standard Title 5 leaching fields
• Homeowners Association responsible for
maintaining.
• Monitored and checked quarterly by
Clearwater Industries of Ipswich

The Pinehills, Plymouth
• Open-space mixed-use development (OSMUD)
• No pre-existing public wastewater services.
• Private sewage treatment plant enabled densities
of up to eight residential units per acre in clusters
surrounded
by open
space.

The Pinehills, Plymouth (cont.)
• State-of-the-art treatment facility carefully sited
hydrologically downgradient of the drinking
water supply site.
• Water re-use for golf
course irrigation.
• Reduces the demand on the
drinking water supply as
well as required fertilizer
applications.

The Pinehills,
Plymouth (cont.)
WWTP
Wellhead
Protection Area
Interceptor/Irrigation Wells
• Wastewater treatment facility
• Max. daily flow: 215,800 gpd
• Average flow: 140,000 gpd
• Annual nitrogen load: 4,260 lbs
• Five disposal beds
• Golf course irrigated from well
downgradient from disposal beds
• Influent monitored monthly
• Groundwater monitoring wells tested
for potential contaminants with
varying frequencies.

Conclusions
• In areas without existing public sewer service, there are
options to achieve higher density development.
• The options include shared septic systems, innovative &
alternative systems, and small sewage treatment plants.
• Shared systems allow for clustering of development with
one common septic disposal field.
• Innovative & alternative systems and small sewage
treatment plants allow for increased densities and reduced
pollutant (nutrient) loads.
• As densities increase, these options become more cost
effective.

Additional Information and Links
• Massachusetts Title V regulations:
http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/laws/regulati.htm#t5regs
• Massachusetts Groundwater Discharge Permit regulation:
http://www.mass.gov/dep/service/regulations/310cmr15.pdf
• Wastewater reuse policy:
http://www.mass.gov/dep/about/organization/aboutbrp.htm#reuse
• National Small Flows Clearing House: http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/nsfc/
• Block Island, RI: A Sample Wastewater Management Program
http://www.uri.edu/ce/wq/RESOURCES/wastewater/RI_Towns/BIGHP.htm
• Orange County, NC: Sample Wastewater Management Program
http://www.co.orange.nc.us/envhlth/eseptic.htm
• Innovative Alternative technologies approved in Massachusetts:
http://mass.gov/dep/water/wastewater/techsum.htm

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