ON SITE SEWAGE SYSTEM TRAINING

As of April 1999, if you are an installer or inspector involved in the private sewage disposal industry you are required to be certified by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Over the past few years, courses and challenge exams have been offered across the province, by both the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and the Ontario Building Officals Association. If you have not obtained your certification, please read on.

Canadian Shield Consultants has facilitated a number of these courses, and offer out services, manuals and tutoring, for those interested in obtaining their certification. Courses can be customized according to the participants needs and schedules. Our compentent staff have completed two day tutorials, and four and half day courses. Success is ensured if you participate in these formal training sessions.

The responsibility for regulating on-site sanitary sewage systems for not more than 10,000 litres per day has moved from the Ministry of the Environment to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. As a result, the Ontario Building Code has been revised, and now includes a regulation that stipulates that a septic system is part of the building from where the sewage originates. The course offered by Canadian Shield Consultants will familiarize installers and inspectors of on-site sanitary sewage systems of not more than 10kL/d with the minimum requirements and standards of the Ontario Building Code.

This course was developed in consultation with practising installers and inspectors, and representatives of the Ministry of Husing and Municipal Affairs.

This course is divided into a series of nine learning modules. Each module is broken down into a number of learning tasks; these tasks are in turn divided into a series of steps.

Module 1 will teach you about the Ontario Building Code Act, and how the regulations to the Act affect the design and installation of on-site sanitary sewage systems. You will also learn about the Building Permit and what hass to be done for application of a permit. Next you will learn the basic principles of how an on-site sanitary sewage system works and how the sanitary sewage is both treated and disposed of on-site. It will also deal with the responsibilities and duites of both inspectors and installers, and includes comments on the responsibilities of the owners.

Module 2 will describe the importance of observing and measuring the general site conditions and the physical measurements of the property. Next, you will learn how to investigate the subsoil and groundwater conditions that lay beneath the site through observations and measurements taken in a test pit. You will learn how to predict how quickly or slowly water will move through these subsoil, and finally how to review your site evaluation.

Module 3 deals with general conditions of on-site sanitary sewage systems, including the regulations that affect the different classes of the systems, their operations, and maintenance. It also deals with how to calculate the total daily design sanitary sewage flows are for both residential occupancy and all other occupancies. You will learn some of the characteristics of sanitary sewage that can originate from domestic, institutional, commercial, or industrial sources.

Module 4 deals with Class 1, 2, and 3 sewage systems where you will learn the use limitations, design parameters, and construction techniques of the Class 1 (privy), Class 2 (greywater pit), and Class 3 (cesspool) systems.

Module 5 focuses on the Class 4 sanitary sewage system where you will learn the general requirements of the Class 4 system and what factors affect the design. You will also learn the differences in the components of the system, including the septic tank, the leaching beds and absorption trenches and the distribution system. The module contains a description of the clearance distances that the system must be from different physical features on the site, and describes different leaching bed designs.

Module 6 takes a look at the Class 5 sewage system, the holding tank. You will learn how the regulations affect the limitation of use, design, and construction of holding tanks.

Module 7 will describe how to install a septic tank, how to survey in the elevations for vertical control, how to install different types of leaching bed, and finally, how to inspect the system.

Module 8 is about occupational health and safety. It is important for all installers and inspectors to be aware of safety requirements when working on sanitary sewage systems. This module highlights those aspects of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that apply to the installation of on-site sanitary sewage systems.

Module 9, the final module, describes some of the wways in which on-site sanitary sewage systems can malfunction and what to do about them when they do.