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REDUCING ONSITE SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM IMPACTS IN THE SUWANNEE RIVER BASIN
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this project is to conduct environmental monitoring to compare the nutrient loading of a conventional onsite sewage treatment and disposal system (OSTDS) to one that is retrofitted with nutrient reducing technology. The study will build upon a current project that Florida Department of Health is conducting with funding from the Gulf of Mexico Program
(Onsite Wastewater Management to Protect Suwannee Sound, Grant Number MX98488800)
and on a research project demonstrating nutrient reducing technologies in the Florida Keys. It is anticipated that retrofitting the two conventional OSTDS that are currently being studied will noticeably reduce the impact of nutrient and pathogen loading of the ground water.
Description:
To initiate the project a number of commercially available nutrient-reducing technologies suitable for onsite use will be evaluated and two will be selected for use in this study based on the following selection criteria: Level of nutrient removal - the ideal system would reduce total nitrogen to less than 10 mg/L. Installation cost - Ideally this would be comparable to, or cheaper than ATU technology. Ability to perform under seasonal stress - Systems that have a short startup time after a period of non-use are preferred. Maintenance routine requirements/costs - Ideally this cost would be comparable to, or cheaper than ATU technology. After the study being conducted under Grant Number MX98488800 is completed, the conventional septic tanks will be replaced by the nutrient-reducing devices. Samples of the effluent will be collected monthly and analyzed for dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, temperature, salinity, total organic carbon, nitrate, total kjeldahl nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, total phosphorous, ortho-phosphorous, total coliform, fecal coliform and fecal streptococci. A dye tracer study will also be conducted to determine if the effluent is finding its way directly into the ground water, springs and Suwannee River.