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WERF Expands Decentralized Research
More Than $500K in New Funding Available

WERF will issue requests for proposals (RFPs) for three research projects that will examine several aspects of decentralized wastewater treatment. This research will help to ensure that decentralized systems and centralized systems are coordinated within a watershed for improved water quality management.

The research is being funded through a grant valued at nearly $4 million that was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The grant has already supplied funding for six other decentralized systems projects. Three of these projects are being managed by WERF, and the remaining projects are being conducted by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Coalition of Alternative Wastewater Treatment, and the Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment.

The following project concepts will be released as complete RFPs in April 2005:

Users Guide for Watershed Scale Modeling of Decentralized Wastewater Systems (RFP No. 04-DEC-6) This project will develop a user’s guide for the selection and application of watershed modeling tools. Users will be able to make informed decisions regarding current and future effects of decentralized wastewater systems on water quality in a watershed relative to other pollutant sources. The project will review previous research in this area, apply models to real watersheds, and prepare a document to assist users on model selection. Funding Level: $280,000

Primary Treatment in Onsite Systems: Factors That Influence Performance (RFP No. 04-DEC-7) This project will determine the level of performance that can be expected from septic tanks as primary treatment devices, considering system design, inputs, and management level. The project will yield a better understanding of where to focus research efforts in the future, leading to improved system design and operation. Funding Level: $100,000

Analysis of Existing Community-Sized Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems (RFP No. 04-DEC-9) This project will gather and assess data on the performance of well-designed and implemented community-sized systems that are between five and 20 years old. The end result will be a report comparing existing performance (both in terms of effluent quality and cost) to the design assumptions. Funding Level: $140,000

All proposals are due to WERF by June 1, 2005. The full details of these RFPs will be available in early April on WERF’s website at www.werf.org. Instructions for submitting proposals and information on other ongoing RFPs also are available on this site.