NOWRA Installer Academy

The National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association offers an Installer Academy to ensure best practices nation wide. “By participating in NOWRA’s Education Programs, members gain a learning foundation that continuously builds personal and professional opportunities.”

The academy offers the following classes:

• Onsite Wastewater A-Z: For the brand new service technicians to the experienced inspectors, there is something for everyone in this class which teaches how wastewater is treated, the differences between various onsite technologies, how to recognize important site considerations, and comprehend key factors in collection and management of wastewater for decentralized systems. The course can be modified from one to four days to fit the audience.

• Basics of Onsite Wastewater: Class covers the foundation of installing, inspecting, designing and understanding onsite wastewater systems. Participants will learn the basic biology of wastewater and how soils can change and treat effluent. Become familiar with “wastewater math” and remove the fears of calculating tank capacity, pump down, gallons per inch and more. Review conventional systems and look at alternative wastewater systems. Gives you a solid foundation for future classes. This is a 6-hour class.

• Choosing the Correct System to Fit the Site: This 3-hour class helps you to break out of your comfort zone and learn a variety of onsite systems and how each one best fits the conditions so you can present the best solution to your customer. You’ll learn everything from the most basic and least expensive systems to the most advanced allowing you to become a more knowledgeable provider and expand your profit opportunities.

• Earthen Structures: Learn about onsite lagoons, constructed wetlands, at-grade systems and curtain drains and how the best designed system can be compromised by improper handling of the soil component. This 6-hour class will teach you how to keep soil working for you, not against you.

• High Strength Waste: There are many reasons why an onsite wastewater treatment system may not effectively accept and treat wastewater. While wastewater strength may not be the cause for malfunction, it can certainly compound the problem and must be addressed in crafting the solution. This 2-day (12-hour) workshop is designed to provide specific guidance to determine if organic and/or hydraulic loading is higher than expected from typical residential or commercial sources. The designer and service provider must consider not only the wastewater source, but also the treatment capability of the technologies. Additionally, the long-term operation and maintenance needs of the system must be addressed to ensure effective onsite wastewater treatment.

• Hydraulics: Many onsite systems are now using pumps to perform different duties. In this 6-hour class, you will learn how to read a pump curve, create a systems curve and determine friction loss in a pressure system. You will also learn how to determine “total dynamic head (TDH)” and “gallons per minute (GPM)” the two most important things when sizing a pump. More and more onsite systems are being designed by engineers. Installation contractors and onsite system inspectors will find it important to be able to discuss the hydraulics of these systems with the engineer.

• National Installer Training Program: There is a critical need for education of decentralized wastewater system installers to ensure sound, long-lasting construction for all types of systems. This course covers business models and ethics, soil and site characteristics, installation techniques and material for installing a range of systems from pretreatment units to drainfield components. The installer program is a great preparation for the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) exam for the Certified Installer of Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (CIOWTS) credential. The National Installer Training Program course can be modified in length to suit the audience ranging from one to four days.

• Troubleshooting Onsite Systems: This 6-hour course will help you understand the onsite system “treatment train” and how the components work together from the house to final dispersal. You’ll use the same troubleshooting techniques that Mission Control or a brain surgeon would use to narrow down the options and finally pinpoint the problem. Take this course to make your troubleshooting visit efficient and effective. Learn how to “run the rope” and eliminate the guess work when troubleshooting.

Call NOWRA at 800-966-2942 or email service@nowra.org for more information or to schedule training for your organization. NOWRA is also working on an online training version but a date has not been given.

Information provided by NOWRA, www.nowra.org.

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