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Partners Creating Pathways to Integrate Onsite/Decentralized Solutions
Into Today's Wastewater Infrastructure
November 2008
In January 2005, EPA initiated a partnership through a
Memorandum of Understanding with eight public and
private sector organizations to improve decentralized
wastewater management in the U.S. Since its creation
in 2005, the partnership has generated many successes,
marked by better cooperation, collaboration, consulta-
tion, and communication among the various organiza-
tions. Some of the highlights of the efforts put forth by
the MOU participants are listed below.
Highlights
¦	Increased Training and Workshops. Attendance at
training and workshops for installers and pumpers
has increased markedly over the past three years,
and feedback has been extremely positive. The
partners have continued to collaborate on training
efforts—relying on the combined strengths of each
organization.
•	NAWT's training program for inspectors, mainte-
nance professionals, and vacuum truck operators
sponsored a total of 65 workshops for 3,000 par-
ticipants during 2005-2007. CIDWT and other part-
ners assisted in development of the course, which
provides orientation for the NEHA installer creden-
tialing program.
•	Cooperation among the organizations has
improved training curriculum consistency, allow-
ing regulators and service providers to receive the
same information regardless of which organization
sponsored the training.
•	Cross-attendance at annual meetings and confer-
ences, exposing participants to events and infor-
mation provided by other organizations. Partners
now routinely participate as speakers and trainers
almost interchangeably at industry events, improv-
ing cross-pollination of ideas and management
approaches.
¦	Installer Credentialing Program. Ajoint professional
development program for system installers nationwide
began in June 2006, featuring training workshops, a
testing program, and a new credentialing initiative
supported by several of the partner groups, which
helped to develop a standardized curriculum and
knowledge-based examining process
•	Nearly 200 people have completed the "Certified
Installers of Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems"
(CIOWTS) credentialing program. Counties in Ohio
and Iowa who are now requiring completion of
the CIOWTS program prior to performing work in
each county. Counties in Washington and Illinois
are giving special recognition to those who have
successfully completed the program. The installer
credentialing program is administered by NEHA,
with NAWT, NOWRA, and CIDWT providing support
and key assistance in curriculum development.
•	CIDWT is leading development of a new training
program for wastewater treatment system install-
ers. CIDWT is being supported by NEHA, NAWT,
NOWRA, installation professionals, and others.
¦ Model Performance Code. NOWRA has conducted regu-
lator workshops for state and local regulators as part of
the EPA-supported initiative to develop a model per-
formance code for managing onsite and cluster waste-
water treatment systems. In 2007, NOWRA held five
workshops, with some jointly sponsored by other MOU
partners, and plans to host two additional workshops.
.ImprovJ
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RCAP has provided drinking water treatment and
wastewater management technical assistance and
training to thousands of individuals in hundreds of
communities in the past. Approximately 10 percent of
the wastewater training events addressed decentral-
ized systems. RCAP coordinates its water and wastewa-
ter technical assistance and training with EPA and its
partners.
Annual State Onsite Regulators (SORA) Conference.
NESC hosted its 10th annual State Onsite Regulators
Alliance (SORA) conference in March of 2008, bringing
together regulators from 40 states to exchange infor-
mation and network with each other and the MOD
partners. NOWRA partnered with NESC and SORA in
sponsoring a regulators' session of the Model Code
Workshop. SORA reciprocated by allowing NEHA and
CIOWTS to present their workshop during the organi-
zation's annual meeting.
MOU "Partnership Alley". WEF organized the first
MOU "Partnership Alley" at WEFTEC07, one of the
wastewater industry's premier national conferences.
Partner participation in the WEF Small Communities
Committee has expanded and strengthened WEF's
support for decentralized systems as part of the
nation's wastewater treatment infrastructure.
Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Glossary. CIDWT
completed a glossary of terms pertinent to decentral-
ized wastewater in 2007 with partner support. The
glossary provides a common definition of technical
terms that are often used interchangeably.
MOU Exhibit Booth. The partners established the MOU
booth and developed a variety of outreach materials
for display at conferences and training workshops,
including an informational PowerPoint presentation
on the partnership. This effort has helped tremen-
dously in promoting the MOU partnership and its
efforts.
¦ MOU Website. NOWRA developed an MOU web site
(www.us-epamoupartners.org) that allows users from
the EPA MOU Partnership to interact via an Internet
forum. The web site includes a calendar of events and
a bulletin board forum. This forum now serves as the
communications mode for the partners.
The Future Shines Bright
The ongoing success of the MOU partnership and exten-
sive outreach regarding its benefits to the decentralized
wastewater industry has created synergy among the part-
ners and sparked interest among other organizations.
Maintaining the momentum for the next three years will
require a sustained effort by the partners to support the
MOU partnership—especially in integrating the regula-
tory, policy, and research issues of the new partners into
future MOU activities—while continuing to build upon
the group's shared goals and common interests. As the
partnership moves through the remainder of 2008 and
beyond, there will be an increased emphasis on improv-
ing consistency regarding management practices and
linking management to treatment technology types, risk
factors, and the condition of receiving waters. Training
events, conferences, webcasts, and workshops will con-
tinue to play a major role in maintaining the viability of
the viability of the partnership and enhancing the com-
petency of the public agency.
Our Partners

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ASSOCtA^0
N@WKA
National Onsite Wastewater
Recycling Association
MAW5
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
WASTEWATER TRANSPORTERS. INC.
SB
Water Environment
Federation*
Preserving & Enhancing
the Global Water Environment
NATaT
National Association of Towns and Townships
fW
National

Environmental
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Services
y j
Center
NESC
Assistance. Solutions. Knowledge. \
November 2008

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