Knowledge Area: Decentralized Systems

Our Objective

WERF will improve the capacity of public and private agencies to respond to the increasing complexities of, and expanding need for, decentralized wastewater and stormwater systems, as part of an integrated water management approach. WERF will achieve this primarily through support of research and development projects that help communities, engineers, regulators, and others address critical knowledge and information gaps in decentralized systems.

Jeff Moeller, PE
jmoeller@werf.org

+ Decentralized Water
Resources Collaborative

+ Establishing Successful RMEs

New Onsite Installation Guidance Provides Best Practices
A new training guide will help ensure utility managers properly install onsite wastewater treatment systems to avoid potential operational problems.

Low-Interest Funds Available for Upgrading Decentralized Wastewater Systems
Wastewater managers can take advantage of low-or-no interest funding sources for installing, repairing, or upgrading decentralized wastewater systems in small town, rural or suburban settings.

WEF, NOWRA Partnership to Support Integrated Water Resource Management
The Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA) announced a significant new partnership to support integrated water resource management. The partnership took effect Feb. 1, 2010.

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Report Reviews Quantitative Tools to Determine Wastewater Soil Treatment Unit Performance
The research (DEC1R06) summarizes available literature on best practices and tools for soil treatment unit (STU) design and performance. It describes STU performance based on data and information from the literature and discusses available modeling tools for constituent modeling.

Report Helps Aid in the Design and Management of Onsite Wastewater Systems
This research (No. 04DEC1) characterizes the composition of modern single residential source onsite raw wastewater and primary treated effluent to aid in the design and management of onsite wastewater systems.

Guidance Now Available for Establishing Successful Responsible Management Entities
New resources (www.werf.org/rme) provide guidance for successfully establishing and running organizations that manage decentralized wastewater systems -- Responsible Management Entities.

Report Provides Guidance on Modeling Onsite Wastewater Systems
A WERF report gives planners and regulators guidance in developing and using models to evaluate watershed-scale water quality scenarios associated with decentralized or onsite wastewater systems. It includes resources for each step of the planning process, and explains modeling philosophy, model selection, model sensitivity analysis and calibration and other concepts.

Decentralized Stormwater Controls for Urban Retrofit and CSO Reduction (Phase 2)
Learn more about the planning necessary to integrate decentralized stormwater controls for combined sewer overflow management.

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Coalition of Alternative Wastewater Treatment (CAWT)

Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment (CIDWT)

National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA)

National Rural Electric Cooperation Association (NRECA)

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

National Decentralized Water Resources Capacity Development Project

WERF research examines the social, economic, and environmental aspects of challenges confronting wastewater and stormwater facilities.