MSU Extension Septic System Education

Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 11.7 billion dollars, with 49 percent of the funding available as grants or principal forgiveness loans, has been provided to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to assist communities.  A project known as Closing America's Wastewater Access Gap (CAWAG) helps communities gain access to the funding to address wastewater needs.  The assistance is available at no cost to communities through the CAWAG project. If communities experience septic systems backing up into home, sewage pooling in yards, or if the town is struggling to provide adequate sanitation services to the residents, or if the community is struggling to rebuild wastewater and septic systems damaged by natural disasters, they may be eligible for no-cost technical assistance.

The keynote presentation is eligible for 1 CSE credit.

Sizing and selecting pumps for onsite wastewater systems follow a systematic approach of determining the required lift, the pressure losses in pipes and fittings at the appropriate flow rate and matching these factors to the pump performance.  Pumps may be low-head pumps or high-head pumps depending upon the designers selection and the application.  This presentation illustrates the steps to select the correct pump for the application and how to specify the pump so the contractor can install the correct pump.

This presentation includes common causes of wastewater malfunctions, methods to diagnose the source of the malfunction, and recommendations for repairing the malfunction.  The presentation addresses systems with gravity distribution over the soil dispersal area, but many of the recommendations can be applied to pressurized systems.

Biography: Dr. Mark Gross is a civil engineer with more than 40 years of experience in water and wastewater projects for small communities. Dr. Gross has served as a teacher, researcher, and designer in the Civil/Environmental Engineering area. Following a career as a professor at the University of Arkansas, Dr. Gross managed the training department for an equipment manufacturer for decentralized wastewater systems providing workshops and training programs around the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. After serving as a training manager, Dr. Gross worked with consulting engineering firms serving western Arkansas, Eastern Oklahoma, and Northern Texas. He is currently working part-time with a Washington D.C. firm on two U.S. EPA-funded projects - the  Closing America's Wastewater Access Gap Initiative and the Get the Lead Out Initiative. Dr. Gross is a Registered Professional Engineer in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Oregon, and Virginia.