Land Application of Wastewater

Jim Newton, P.E., DEE

Course Outline

With the increasing scarcity of water, the land of application of municipal wastewater is gaining in popularity. Land application of wastewater is considered a groundwater recharge method. The USEPA developed a design manual in the early 1980's and completely revised the manual in 2006. The course is based upon the US EPA's document, "Process Design Manual: Land Treatment of Municipal Wastewater Effluents", EPA Document No. EPA/625/R-06/016, September 2006.

This eight hour course provides valuable information for those individuals who design, install and operate a land application wastewater treatment system. Completion of this course will provide the student the necessary information and testing to meet the continuing education requirements in order to renew their licenses. It was designed by an instructor who has developed and implemented numerous similar training courses.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Understand what an land application wastewater treatment system is;
• Understand the types of pollutants important in a land treatment system;
• Understand the history of land application;
• Understand the three types of land application treatment processes;
• Understand the limiting design parameter concept;
• Understand the wastewater constituents and removal mechanisms;
• Understand how water moves in the soil;
• Understand how water moves in the groundwater;
• Understand the roles of plants in land treatments;
• Understand evapotranspiration;
• Understand saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity
• Understand crop management;
• Understand plant selection;
• Understand the nutrient cycle;
• Understand site planning;
• Understand how to select a site;
• Understand cost and energy considerations;
• Understand preapplication treatment requirements;
• Understand the different types of preapplication treatment;
• Understand the available EPA guidance for preapplication treatment;
• Understand the design of storage ponds;
• Understand the operation of storage ponds;
• Understand the types of distribution systems;
• Understand design considerations for the distribution systems;
• Understand process design of slow rate systems;
• Understand what a slow rate system is;
• Understand land area requirements for a slow rate system;
• Understand total acidity loading concepts for slow rate systems;
• Understand salinity requirements for a slow rate system;
• Understand crop, soil and site management requirements for a slow rate system;
• Understand process design of an overland flow system;
• Understand land area requirements for an overland flow system;
• Understand design considerations for an overland flow system;
• Understand system monitoring and management for an overland flow system;
• Understand process design of a soil aquifer treatment system;
• Understand the treatment requirements for a soil aquifer system;
• Understand aquifer characteristics;
• Understand hydraulic loading rates for a soil aquifer system;
• Understand land requirements for a soil aquifer system;
• Understand cold weather operation of a soil aquifer system;
• Understand the hydraulic loading cycle;
• Understand the types of industrial wastewater that can be land applied;
• Understand water quality requirements for industrial land application;
• Understand various design considerations for industrial land application;
• Understand the types of systems that can be used for industrial land application; and
• Understand how pretreatment requirements for industrial land application.
  
  

Intended Audience

The intended audience for this course is any professional who is involved in the design, regulation, installation, operation or maintenance of land application treatment systems.

Benefit to Attendees

Attendees of this course will understand how to select, design, install or operate and maintain an land application wastewater treatment system. This program will greatly reduce the learning curve for any professional interested in a land application system.

Course Introduction

With the increasing scarcity of water, the land of application of municipal wastewater is gaining in popularity. Land application of wastewater is considered a groundwater recharge method. The USEPA developed a design manual in the early 1980's and completely revised the manual in 2006. The course material presents introductory information required to obtain proficiency in the required subject matter.

Course Content

The associated course materials are contained in an Adobe Acrobat copy of the US EPA publication:

Process Design Manual: Land Treatment of Municipal Wastewater Effluents, EPA Document No. EPA/625/R-06/016, September 2006.

Land Application of Wastewater (PDF file, 194 pages, 7 MB)

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Course Summary

This course discusses the elements of a land application system, provides critical design and installation information and can serve as a reference for anyone interested in becoming involved in the design and application of a land application system.


Related Links

For additional information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

US Environmental Protection Agency

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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