Septic is from the Greek “septikos,” meaning to putrefy. Most commonly this word is used to describe a system for sewage treatment and disposal or septic systems. Sewage treatment uses anaerobic decomposition to break down organic matter. When sewage or waste is generated it can be processed in a municipal water treatment plant or several types of land treatment systems. Even with the urban or suburban sprawl that has occurred in the recent decades, some residential and commercial properties are still located in areas that are not on the municipal sewer grid. These places tend to use onsite sanitary sewer treatment for its waste. This course places its focus on treating sewage with an onsite septic system. An example problem is given to provide the student with more direction in septic system design. The concentration of this course is designing on-site septic systems using a septic tank and infiltrator trenches in the leachfields. Items discussed include: sizing septic tanks, percolation tests, sizing infiltration chamber, the environmental health effects of sewage and much more. By the time you reach the end of this course, you should be armed with all the knowledge and skills to design basic on-site septic systems and to further your study in this important field.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the amount of sewage flow from a variety of facilities
• Recall how to correctly size infiltrator chambers and septic tanks
• Explain the environmental health impacts of sewage waste
• Describe the effects of Nitrogen in the leach field
• Discuss the use of the percolation test in leach field design