Operation and Maintenance Program for Household Sewage Treatment Systems
Beginning in 1988, Pickaway County Public Health began the routine monitoring of household aeration sewage treatment systems installed after 1988. The purpose of the program is to monitor and inspect systems to ensure that the aeration systems are maintained and operated to prevent failure or sewage nuisance conditions. The program was also established to better educate homeowners on routine operation and maintenance of the systems to prolong the life of the system and to prevent early failure.
As of 2015, the program has added nearly 400 systems on the annual operation and maintenance monitoring. Under the new statewide household sewage treatment system regulations Ohio Administrative Code 3701-29-19 which became effective on January 1, 2015, local health departments are required to develop a program for the operation and maintenance of all sewage treatment systems installed after the effective date of the rule. The rules also require local health departments to develop a plan to phase in all existing sewage treatment systems installed prior to the effective date of the rules.
The Pickaway County General Health District is in the planning stages to develop policy and plans to phase in all existing sewage treatment systems into the Operation and Maintenance Program. Beginning in 2015, the household aeration sewage treatment system program was phased into the Operation and Maintenance Program. All systems installed after January 1, 2015 will also be added to the O&M program in beginning in 2016. All discharging Ohio EPA NPDES household systems were also placed into the O&M program for routine monitoring to meet NPDES permit requirements.
Please check back on our website for O&M program updates. Please give us a call at 740-477-9667 ext. 370 if you have questions about the Operation and Maintenance Program.