appropriately trained professionals (Brooks & Ryan, 2021). Because education and training needs for decentralized wastewater and distributed water reuse remain poorly understood, the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA) and Baylor University launched the Needs for Onsite Wastewater Recycling Research (NOW-R 2 ) initiative with diverse partners. Partners included professionals in multiple disciplines who work within health departments, dierent segments of the indus- try, and academic educators and researchers. NOW-R 2 employed workforce assessment and horizon-scanning methods to examine decen- tralized wastewater education, training, and research needs by considering diverse practice perspectives in this field. We report key findings from a web-based survey, which we anticipate can inform work- force development eorts in the future. Our findings from diverse perspectives and geo- graphic regions represent an initial attempt to understand education and training needs for decentralized wastewater and distributed water reuse practitioners in the U.S. Further- more, our findings can inform related activi- ties in other countries. Methods To identify priority research needs in onsite wastewater, the NOW-R 2 survey followed a model used in previous horizon-scanning exercises (Boxall et al., 2012; Brooks et al., 2019; Fairbrother et al., 2019; Furley et al., 2018; Gaw et al., 2019; Gerding et al., 2019, 2020; Leung et al., 2020; Rudd et al., 2014; Van den Brink et al., 2018). We identified potential survey respondents through NOWRA mem- bership or attendance at previous NOWRA meetings; State Onsite Regulators Association membership; National Association of Waste- water Technicians membership; and select NEHA members who work in this field. In addition, we conducted a review of the refer- eed literature, which identified corresponding authors who had published on decentralized wastewater. Thus, our group of potential sur- vey respondents included professionals from a diverse array of academic institutions, gov- ernment agencies, businesses, and nongovern- mental organizations. The NOW-R 2 survey was launched in 2021 and remained open for 6 weeks. Follow-up with respondents included five points of con-
tact during the survey response period, fol- lowing a standard internet survey delivery protocol (Dillman et al., 2014). The survey included multiple parts, was designed to take ≤30 min to complete, and respondents could choose to leave the survey at any time without completing it. Only fully completed responses were included in our analysis. Our study specifically followed established methods previously described by Gerding et al. (2019) and Brooks et al. (2019) and was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Baylor University. The web-based survey consisted of mul- tiple-choice and open-ended questions. Multiple-choice questions collected data on basic demographics, education and training, employment history, and other professional information about the survey respondents to understand the current status of the work- force. We also asked open-ended questions related to professional needs and challenges for the future of decentralized wastewater and distributed water reuse: “Within the next 5–10 years, what decentralized wastewater issues or challenges will require new or mod- ified programs or technologies?” and “What resources or tools will you need to do your job in the future?” By the end of the survey period, we received 454 responses from professionals across mul- tiple sectors (e.g., academia, government, industry, nongovernmental organizations) and disciplines. We partitioned these open- ended responses into common themes, one of which was workforce education, training, and outreach. We examined 55 responses that were directly related to workforce education, training, and outreach needs for overlap. We then identified common problem statements, which are discussed in this article.
installation, operation, maintenance, and reg- ulation of decentralized wastewater systems. Without a competent and well-equipped workforce, however, decentralized wastewa- ter programs can fail to deliver essential envi- ronmental public health services, and when this occurs, can also fail to protect public health and the environment. Over the past 20 years, the onsite wastewater and distrib- uted water reuse workforce consistently has been noted as an issue of potential concern in environmental health and environmental engineering (Boepple-Swider, 2008; Con- verse, 2004; Deal et al., 2004, 2007; Grigg, 2009; Guvernator & Landaeta, 2020; Hacker & Binz, 2021; Olstein, 2005; Reid et al., 2007; Rupiper & Loge, 2019; Siegrist, 2014; Spirandelli et al., 2019; Struck, 2008). In 2021, in response to these workforce concerns, the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency (U.S. EPA, 2021a, 2021b, 2021c) released three reports focused on workforce implications in decentralized wastewater. Important data gaps for the onsite waste- water workforce remain, including types of occupation, demographic characteristics, and strategies to improve education and train- ing programs needed for jobs in the future (U.S. EPA, 2021b). In addition, The Water Research Foundation (2022) examined bar- riers and opportunities for onsite and dis- tributed water reuse implementation in the U.S. by specifically embracing a “One Water in the 21st Century” approach that considers all urban waters (e.g., drinking water, storm- water, wastewater) as interconnected within a systems-based context. Horizon scanning—a common tool in public health—presents a useful approach to identify emerging problems and needs in science, engineering, and health disciplines. The Understanding the Needs, Challenges, Opportunities, Vision, and Emerging Roles in Environmental Health (UNCOVER EH) initiative—led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Envi- ronmental Health Association (NEHA), and Baylor University—reported workforce characteristics (Gerding et al., 2019), iden- tified practice-based research needs (Brooks et al., 2019), and provided recommenda- tions to advance the practice of environmen- tal public health (Gerding et al., 2020). A number of professional priorities were also identified related to hiring and retaining
Results and Discussion
Demographics Of the survey respondents, one half (50.2%) were at least 55 years of age. More spe- cifically, the largest age group (26.7%) was 56–65 years. Overall, <1% of respondents were under 25 years and 7.9% represented the next-lowest age group bracket of 26–35 years. The majority of respondents (78.4%) self-identified as male. All categories of race were represented by decentralized waste- water professionals in the survey. The most
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December 2023 • Journal of Environmental Health
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