Voluntary national guidelines for management of onsite and clustered (decentralized) wastewater treatment systems

This report presents five models for the management of onsite and clustered (decentralized) wastewater treatment systems in the United States. The models are provided as conceptual approaches with progressively increasing management controls as sensitivity of the environment and/or treatment system complexity increases. Decentralized wastewater treatment systems are defined as managed individual onsite or clustered wastewater systems (commonly referred to as septic systems, private sewage systems, individual sewage treatment systems, onsite sewage disposal systems, or "package" plants) used to collect, treat, and disperse or reclaim wastewater from individual dwellings, businesses, or small communities or service areas. The five management models described are: 1. "homeowner awareness" - for treatment systems owned and operated by individual property owners in areas of low environmental sensitivity; 2. "maintenance contracts" for more complex designs that enhance the capacity of conventional systems to accept and treat wastewater; 3. "operating permits"- where sustained performance of treatment systems is critical to protect public health and water quality; 4. "responsible management entity (RME) operation and maintenance" - where frequent and highly reliable operation and maintenance of decentralized systems is required to ensure water resource protection in sensitive environments; and 5. "RME ownership" - where treatment systems are owned, operated, and maintained by the RME, which removes the property owner from responsibility for the system.