Pillars of Governmental Environmental Public Health | A Guide to Scalable Environmental Public Health Programs
Some EPH departments are involved in plan review and initial permitting. Ongoing maintenance and monitoring activities represent important considerations for long-term public health protection, though such activities were not reported as common across many jurisdictions.
Meaningful Outcome Measures
PURPOSE
METRIC
Program effectiveness
• Number of contaminated wells within a certain distance of a septic system/ number of inspected wells within a certain distance of a septic system • Number of complaints per year • Average time (in days) from plan submission to permit approval per year * • Number of initial permit reviews performed within 2 weeks • Number of site location assessments completed per year *
Definition Onsite wastewater programs involve the planning, permit- ting, inspection, monitoring, and complaint response for systems used to treat and dispose of or recycle wastewa- ter from onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems. Jurisdictional responsibility for onsite systems varies and can be defined by daily volume capacity, wastewater type and characteristics, facility square footage requiring soil sizing, or population served. These defining factors gen - erally distinguish onsite systems from community-wide wastewater systems, which are typically regulated by state agencies. Program scope often encompasses the full lifecycle of onsite wastewater management from initial system design through ongoing operational oversight.
Workload management
Public health protection • Number of repaired septic systems/number of detected failing systems Partner engagement • Number of partner education events/contacts conducted per year * EPH professionals who participated in focus groups, key informant interviews, and/or the national field survey consistently identified this metric as moderately to extremely useful. To measure success, a program can benefit from having records of the location of wastewater systems within its jurisdiction. EPH departments with adequate resources can store geolocation for systems in the jurisdiction in a centralized electronic database. This process allows wastewater programs to more easily monitor and maintain current systems, plan the installation of new systems, or expedite the identification of problematic systems. For areas with both wells and septic systems, the number of wells showing sewage contamination (exceeding criti- cal coliform limits) could indicate how well the inspection program is performing. In areas where there are agricul-
Characteristics of a Successful Onsite Wastewater Program
Success in onsite wastewater programs can be demon- strated through the prevention of contamination of water sources through early detection and prompt remediation of older, damaged, failing, or illegally installed systems while minimizing repair timeframes to protect both public health and property owners from extended exposure to contaminated conditions. Effective programs might emphasize collaboration and education with property owners, contractors, installers, and academic institutions through a customer service approach. We found that some jurisdictions conduct indus- try surveys to assess relationship quality with wastewa- ter system installers and other partners, recognizing that positive industry relationships facilitate compliance and system quality. Regulatory consistency across jurisdic- tions can also improve program effectiveness by allowing installers to work efficiently across multiple areas with uniform codes and fee structures.
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