The document discusses alternatives to conventional sewer systems for supporting sustainable development in New England villages. It describes how distributed, soil-based wastewater management systems can allow density without large sewer plants, subsidies, or undesirable growth. Key points are that wastewater should be treated on or near the site where it is generated, put back into the soil to restore hydrology, and managed professionally like a sewer system through regulatory programs. This approach addresses barriers related to outdated public health perspectives and incentives for conventional sewers.

1. Distributed Wastewater
Management to Support Sustainable
Urbanism in New England Villages
Juli Beth Hinds, AICP
Senior Project Manager – Planning
VHB Pioneer
North Ferrisburgh, VT

2. • Practice in integrated water resource management – water
supply, wastewater & groundwater issues, watershed hydrology, stream
restoration
• Member, Water Environment Research Foundation’s
Decentralized Research Advisory Committee
• Member, Water Environment Federation – Small
Communities Committee, US EPA’s MOU for Decentralized
Wastewater System Management
• Signer, 2007 Baltimore Charter for Sustainable Water
Infrastructure

3. On‐Site Wastewater Systems are
REALITY in much of New England
EXTENSIVE areas of New England…
•Are NOT served by conventional sewer collection and
treatment systems,
•rely on individually owned and maintained on‐site wastewater
systems, and
•Are in close proximity to important water resources: rivers,
wetlands, Long Island Sound, ocean, estuaries, lakes

4. Lack of wastewater treatment
capacity threatens:
• Property values
• Tax bases
• Density goals
• Affordable housing
• Many CNU principles!
• Community viability
• Community resilience
Wolcott Property Values; Waitsfield Elementary
…it’s not so good for water
quality, either.

5. So what happens when you try to
provide wastetwater capacity the old‐
fashioned way – with a sewer system?

6. Once there was a
village by a
flowing
river…where
happy villagers
lived in a
walkable
traditional
community.

7. And though their
median incomes
were at or slightly
below the USDA
guidelines for
low-moderate
projects, the
villagers loved
their general store
and their tidy
homes and school
and church…

8. The Villagers sold
pottery and organic
woolen socks to
tourists, who took
pictures of their
historic
marketplace.
“Suckers,” the
villagers laughed,
“I can’t believe they
spend twelve bucks
on those socks!”

9. …and the river water
flowed by and bore their
yuck away…
…and the villagers
were happy.

10. Then one day the
Old Man of the
River
(management
division) appeared
to the Villagers and
said…
How dare you foul my waters with
your yuck! You must construct a
SEWER SYSTEM
or I shall send a plague of lawyers
upon you!

11. The Villagers
trembled with
fear at the
dread word
SEWER, for they
knew this to be a
terrible curse
that would
bring them
strife, expense,
and long, late
meetings!

12. They
summoned the
Wizard of
Engineers, who
said “Fear Not!
I shall design
you a sewer
plant, dear
villagers, and
you shall not be
plagued!”

13. But time and change
orders passed…and then
the Wizard said:
“I can keep the plague of
lawyers from you with my
MAGIC SEWER PLANT, but
it shall cost eighteen
million dollars and ALL
villagers must pay.”

14. The Villagers
despaired! For
there were only
3,600 of them in
the whole town,
and their whole
village budget was
only three million
dollars each year.
“That’s 1.5 million
pairs of organic
socks!” they cried.

15. “hmmmm…” said
the Wizard, “If
you rezoned that
farm land out
on the highway
for a power
center, I bet
there are many
stores that would
come and THEY
could pay for the
sewer plant!”

16. Now the villagers were truly
miserable and began to fight.

17. Time Passed.
Meetings dragged on.
People shouted.
Consultants were hired.
The wizard conjured an
earmark, but it was too small,
and the bond vote too large.
The Old Man of the
River thundered, but
his words became
empty threats and he
offered no help.

18. The weaver of organic socks
could not expand her
weaving studio, because she
had an old septic system,
and moved away.

19. And the villagers were unhappy, and
the yuck flowed, and the Old Man of the
River threatened, and the Wizard
designed, and there were no more
organic socks to sell to the tourists.

20. And so they puzzled…
What would an affordable, 21-st century,
sustainable wastewater system look like?
One that kept their lovely village,
and let the weaver of organic socks expand her
studio, and didn’t take all their money, and
didn’t need a power center?

21. CONVENTIONAL SEWERS: Call it “Peak Water.”
The system of taking water out of the ground, fouling
it, moving it back to a plant, using a chemical and
energy‐intensive process, and discharging it to a
surface water (or worse: the ocean) are so 19th
century…or even Roman!
Prediction:
We will spend as much time
and energy taking apart our
sewer infrastructure to re‐tool
it for hydrologic as we will
reusing mothballed malls and
power centers. . . Sewer mining, from
UTS‐Sydney
…many water‐short places are
doing it already.

22. BUT HOW CAN THAT BE?
DON’T WE HAVE TO HAVE A SEWER
SYSTEM TO CREATE A DENSE
COMMUNITY?
NO!

23. Unsewered places have avoided
the water infrastructure equivalent
of…

24. For sustainability and density without
repeating the sad tale of the Villagers:
Find a little land for the water ‐
On (or very near!) your site
And think of it like adding solar panels or
a wind turbine to your roof – it’s PART
OF the water grid!

25. YOU CAN HAVE
DENSITY WITHOUT:
SEWER PLANTS
$18 MILLION IN EARMARKS AND SUBSIDIES
UNDESIRABLE GROWTH OPTIONS
HYDROLOGIC DISRUPTIONS
UNHAPPY VILLAGERS
ORGANIC SOCK SALES (unless you really want to)
Solaire, Clerico Systems
Orenco Systems

26. Sustainable Water Infrastructure:
Soil based, managed, and incremental
This…
Without this.

27. Point 1! Really Important!
SOIL BASED
• Sustainability requires
us to RE‐HYDRATE our
landscapes!
• Put treated water right
back into the DIRT, let
the BUGS do their thing,
and RESTORE our
URI – Block Island
hydrologic cycles!
• Soil microbes, like
teenage boys, are dumb
enough to eat anything.

28. Point 3! Really Important!
SOIL BASED
BARRIER: AN OUTMODED IDEA
OF ‘PUBLIC HEALTH’ FOCUSED
ON CONTACT WITH PATHOGENS,
AND LACK OF RESPONSIBLE
MANAGEMENT – creates
regulatory blocks.
Use management, technology,
and natural processes to clean URI – Block Island
I am not just a lawn!
water, restore hydrology, and
support urbanism. I am the perfect ecological buffer
between a livable human community
and the soil and hydrologic cycles!
I am so totally cool!

29. Point 2: Hard for ‘Smart Growth’ to Swallow…
DISTRIBUTED
• QUIT MOVING THE WATER
AROUND! It is hydrologically
and ecologically disruptive
and uses enormous quantities
of energy!!!
• Treat the water where the
people are – regardless! Yarmouth, MA – use of drip
irrigation in road rights‐of‐way
• We will steal as little of your
land for density as possible by
being creative with “land
leftovers.”

30. Point 2: Hard for ‘Smart Growth’ to Swallow…
DISTRIBUTED
“But our sewer district that controls growth…”
• If your smart growth strategy or zoning
incentivizes conventional sewer over on‐site
systems, prevents sewer mining, or
discourages water re‐use, RETHINK IT or find a
new growth control tool…or else!
You’ll get a visit from the old man
of the river!

31. Point 3:
PROPERLY MANAGED
• Management programs with
professional oversight of on‐
site or cluster systems ensure
long‐term environmental
performance and viability of
wastewater investments
• It’s managed professionally
like a sewer system ‐ the
sewer guys just make house
calls!
• Strongly encouraged by US
EPA as a LONG TERM solution
to wastewater needs
• Who’s doing it really well? University of Rhode Island On‐Site
Alabama, Loudon County
Wastewater Training Center

32. Point 3:
PROPERLY MANAGED
BARRIER: ENABLING LAW
& REQUIREMENTS FOR
MANAGEMENT
PROGRAMS
**In AL, TN, OK – great
source of green jobs
managing systems!!
University of Rhode Island On‐Site
Wastewater Training Center

33. Point 4:
UTILITY FUNDED
We have only been willing to socialize the cost of wastewater
treatment one way: conventional sewers.
Subsidies, earmarks, and high costs create PERVERSE
INCENTIVES
Septic systems are ‘free,’ until they need a $20,000 home
equity loan for replacement.
Huge need to develop funding models that fund incremental
replacements, and reflect cost and VALUE of treatment
Basic principle: public investment and oversight of systems
that have public benefits and costs, but are on private land.

34. Point 4:
UTILITY FUNDED
BARRIER: What is the method and legal
framework for socializing the cost of
infrastructure that’s located on private
property…but has public impacts?
VT: Working on it.

35. 21st century water is a paradigm shift, and it’s
never going to be easy. But for the sake of the
Villagers, please take this pledge:
I hereby pledge that I will support new
partnerships and strategies for properly
managed, utility funded, distributed, soil
based wastewater systems to serve New
England villages and communities, and shall
no more say the words “septic” or “sewers,”
even though…hello…I’m an architect and I
cannot believe I had to listen to a talk about
SEWAGE!

36. Your Homework:
• Get into the topic! Get informed!
• ADD WATER AND HYDROLOGY to your thinking about “Green Buildings”!
• CHALLENGE YOUR ENGINEER, or community, with an on‐site treatment or
re‐use idea!
• REIMAGINE GREENSPACE for re‐hydrating our landscape and cleaning our
water!
• Visit an on‐site training center!
• Have your organization become an MOU partner for distributed
wastewater management:
http://www.epa.gov/owm/septic/pubs/septic_mou.pdf

37. …and your village and its
water resources will live
happily ever after.
Disclaimer:
No children were harmed in the
filming of this presentation.