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WC CWF Health District Board Minutes - 04/24/2009WICHITA FALLS - WICHITA COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH BOARD MINUTES April 24, 2009 Wichita Falls - Wichita County Public Health District 1700 Third Street - Parker Conference Room Wichita Falls, Texas MEMBERS PRESENT: Board Members Bryan Press, Vice -Chair Kathy Sultemeier, D.V.M., Secretary Robin Moreno, M.T. David Carlston, Ph.D. MEMBERS ABSENCE EXCUSED: Richard Sutton, M.D., Chair Lauren Jansen, R.N.C. Tracy Hill, D.D.S. Lou Franklin Not Present Ahmed Mattar, M.D. Not Present Dorothy Roberts -Burns Ray Gonzalez Director of Health Assistant Director of Health Health Authority Assistant City Manager Council Liaison County Commissioner I. CALL TO ORDER & INTRODUCTIONS Vice -Chair Bryan Press called the Board of Health meeting to order at 12:15 pm after a quorum of members was obtained. II. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 2009 MEETING MINUTES & EXCUSED ABSENCES Mr. Press called for the review and approval of minutes from the last meeting held on February 27, 2009. Dr. Sultemeier introduced a motion to approve the minutes as presented and Dr. Carlston seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. The excused absences of Dr. Richard Sutton, Ms. Lauren Jansen, and Dr. Tracy Hill were noted. 111. ON -SITE SEWAGE FACILITIES Lou Franklin stated that the Health Department regulates On -Site Sewage Facility systems in the city limits, Wichita county, Archer county, and Lake Arrowhead properties. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) instructed us to update our On -Site Sewage Facility (OSSF) ordinance during the October 29, 2007 compliance review of the Health Departments on -site sewage control program. ti r Susan Morris the OSSF Administrator and James Garcia the OSSF Supervisor presented the current amendments and explained those proposed are needed and necessary for the protection of the public health. The reason for the changes is TCEQ adopted new rules adding more enforcement. The addition of Chapters 7 and 37 of the Texas Water Code enables the enforcement, as in previous order only those referenced in Chapter 285 of the Texas Administrative Code had been allowed enforcement. TCEQ gives authority to write the rules that allow amendments for local communities to be more but not less stringent then the State law that allows local communities to enforce the rules. The current two amendments read as: 1. All property with an OSSF must be inspected before transfer of ownership. Currently under State law the septic system does not have to be inspected but under our city and county orders an inspection is done. 2. All installation regardless of acreage must be permitted. State law states if you have 10 acres or more you have to put it in according to code but does not require a permit. When no permit is required no inspection is done so is it in according to code. The purposed amendments are: 1. A permit shall be required for all OSSF systems regardless of acreage. This is to ensure all on -site sewage facilities meet the minimum standards, to include those properties of ten acres or more. 2. The owner or person who has legal responsibility of all existing on -site sewage facilities shall have the system inspected before any sales and/or transfers of ownership. This includes homes, trailers, lake lots, cabins, and businesses. (This includes private, conventional, FHA, and VA loans, etc.) This is to ensure all malfunctioning systems are corrected or replaced before the buyer takes possession. 3. Aerobic plants sized for residential purposes shall be based on a hydraulic load of 150 gallons per day (GPD) per bedroom or to meet more stringent requirements in TAC Chapter 285 if square footage of a home exceeds this criterion. This is to ensure that aerobic systems installed are sized to meet expected hydraulic surges that may disrupt proper treatment of effluent. The in ground aerobic treatment plant puts aerobic air into the system that goes through a chlorine treatment then is sprayed out onto the ground. TCEQ lowered the rate without reason that has caused failure in systems due to inadequate treatment and it reasons the systems need to be sized and used as they were designed. 4. For structures with more than one sewer stub out or other similar instances, all sewer lines shall have a common connection prior to entering the main tank battery unless the tank battery is designed with more than one entrance. This is to ensure septic tanks are water tight. Inspections uncovered to many instances of the tanks not controlled, additions made not being water tight causing pollution. 5. All installers and their apprentices shall maintain copies of approved plans, contracts, manifests, well data, and component specifications required and specified by the approved plans on the job site and make available to the inspector until all required inspections are completed. This is to ensure that systems are installed according to the approved design. Inspectors found lines shown to run north and south would run east and west or tanks to be at the back of the house were located at the front of the house. 6. All owners of aerobic treatment units (ATU's) installed within the areas regulated by the Wichita Falls- Wichita County Public Health District within Wichita County must obtain a testing and reporting contract from a licensed OSSF maintenance provider. ATU owners who do not chose to contract with an OSSF maintenance provider may elect to install, activate, and utilize the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) On -site Monitoring Program. Specific requirements relating to these rules are as listed: a. Homeowners that currently maintain their own ATU may continue to do so and shall submit three inspections per year to the Health District. Homeowners who fail to submit three inspections at 2 I. intervals of every four months will be required to enter into a licensed OSSF maintenance contract. b. Homeowners with existing ATU's that exceed the two year warranty contract and wish to maintain their own ATU's shall have the NSF monitoring system installed and activated. In order to maintain their own unit and submit the required inspections, the homeowner must demonstrate to a licensed Designated Representative (DR) of the Health District, that they can perform the proper procedures for maintaining their aerobic treatment unit. The inspection procedures that are required, but not limited to, due to the various types of ATU manufacturers include; replacing air filters, cleaning aerobic diffusers - spinners- agitators, cleaning pumps, chlorine and/or fecal coli form testing, turbidity, scum and sludge build up, odor, and ensuring the application area is distributing properly and according to the original system design. Inspections and submittal of paper reports must be made to the Health District at a minimum of three times per year at four month intervals when the homeowner maintains their own ATU. c. Installing the NSF Monitoring Program will reduce the inspection frequency to one per year when contracted with a licensed OSSF maintenance provider. d. Obtaining a contract from a licensed OSSF maintenance provider without the Monitoring Program will require at least three inspections per year at four month intervals. e. When the NSF Program is used, all applicable electronic components and alarms associated with the aerobic system must be plugged into the NSF communication device and activated. When the ATU is activated, the property owner or maintenance company must then activate the account with the NSF On -site Monitoring Program. f. The NSF account must be kept active in perpetuity and subscription for the NSF service must be paid by the homeowner. g. When the NSF Monitoring Program is used and contracted with a Maintenance Company the Maintenance Company may input service /maintenance visits into the NSF communication system which will eliminate the need to submit paper maintenance reports to the regulating authority unless imminent violations are present or repairs needed. This is to ensure continued maintenance on all aerobic treatment plants. Designated Representatives (DR's) of Wichita County must ensure that the residents herein are receiving the quality of maintenance examination and protection they deserve. This is accomplished by the On -site Monitoring Program notifying the regulating authority when problems occur that may impact public health. Along with these requirements are further measures to protect surface and/or ground waters where such OSSF's may be installed. With this amendment, homeowners will monetarily benefit from costs by reducing the testing and reporting frequency from themselves or contracted service providers. 7. All components that need replaced on an aerobic treatment unit shall be performed by a individual licensed by the TCEQ to maintain ATU's and must be listed by the manufacturer per speck model as required by Rule. This is to ensure all maintenance on ATU's is performed by licensed OSSF maintenance providers. This will guarantee that appropriate parts are being utilized and do not detour NSF approval standards. Unacceptable parts may reduce the effluent quality and pose a public health risk. The proposed amendments for Aerobic Treatment Units are for the protection of our public health that became necessary when State Legislature was passed eliminating the need for ATU maintenance (testing and reporting) contracts. Currently, and with sporadic monitoring of ATU's; Inspectors have found an increasing number of violations that would have been avoided with a maintenance contract or the NSF monitoring system. Ms. Morris explained the maintenance contract is actually a testing and reporting contract that has been misnamed for years. The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) is a non - profit organization that tests the aerobic systems and has an electronic monitoring system. When a system is not working properly it triggers an alarm that automatically sends an e-mail to the home owner, health department, and the maintenance company to alert them of a problem. The home owner then has 72 hours to fix the problem before the health department follows -up with an inspection to verify it is working properly. 3 Mr. Gonzalez and Dr. Mattar voiced concern that all replaced components on aerobic units must be compatible components and asked about the purchase of cheaper priced components the same size with the same power. Mr. Garcia responded that the components must be listed by the manufacturer that the systems are tested for 6 months for the amount of sewage they treat. A same size tank treats 500 or 600 gallons of sewage with the only difference being the compressor size and the amount of air that creates the aerobic bacteria with off the shelf components they may not be appropriate to treat the amount of sewage the system was designed for. Ms. Morris stated components must be tested by NSF for those not tested it is not known they would not pollute so why take the chance that rebuilt and generic components are available. Ms. Franklin added they held public meetings with installers, maintenance providers, inspectors, realtors those invested in the ordinance and they all wanted the compatible components in the ordinance to have controls so not just anything can be put in. The systems are so intricate if they do not work properly the homeowners hate them. Dr. Sultemeier needed clarification on the installation of aerobic systems versus lateral lines. Ms. Franklin stated there are several other types of sewage facility treatment systems other than the aerobic system and lateral lines. Mr. Garcia created a form with information for all new installations to advise the home owners to ask their sight evaluator what types are suitable and available, that the Health department does not require the aerobic treatment units. Home builders prefer the aerobic systems because the overall cost is cheaper. Another option is the ET beds a little more expensive then the aerobic but there is not the on going maintenance cost just checked from time to time. It consists of two large beds with a valve switch that's switched from one bed to the other that allows one bed to dry out and decompose while you switch to the other usually done on a bi- annual basis. The drip emitter which is sub service can require or not require aerobic treatment it depends on whether there is high level ground, the other system low pressure dowsing is very expensive. Low pressure dowsing would not require continued maintenance but the initial cost detours home owners from wanting the system. Ms. Morris advised the aerobic system besides being easy and quick to install is least expensive of the others except for the standard system. Ms. Franklin stated the standard lateral line system works off the premise that it is going to go through the pipe, filter out and the ground serves as the filtration system. One of the problems with this area is clay soil the standard lateral line system can not be installed because it sits and pools causing a cesspool underground. She explained the city ordinance states if there is accessibility to the sewer system then they have to connect to the city sewer. There are older locations prior to sewer availability and those where their systems have failed have hooked up to the city sewer system. In talks with all partners involved the installers, realtors, home builders, inspectors all gave their approval and endorsement of the proposed amendment along with TCEQ and the State. Mr. Bryan Press asked for a motion to recommend the proposed amendments for Council. The motion was made by Dr. Carlston and seconded by Ms. Moreno. All in favor none opposed. IV. NEXT MEETING DATE June 26, 2009 4 .• t V. ADJOURN Mr. Bryan Press requested a motion to adjourn. The motion was made by Dr. Carlston and seconded by Ms. Moreno. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m. Richard Sutton, M.D., Chair, Bryan Press, Vice Ch ir, or Kathy Sultemeier, D.V.M., Secretary Public Health Board <._ ,�. ��, �. U: ,� Pik.. a.,�dCe (�� � -� �os ., i�3o ,y� ._� �,