Preparing for Spring Groundwater Monitoring
Anyone not on city sewer who is planning to construct or add on to a building with plumbing next year needs to have a Wastewater Treatment System Permit, and now is a good time to begin the application process. Groundwater monitoring is often required to make sure a site is suitable for a septic system, and applications for groundwater monitoring will be accepted by the Ravalli County Environmental Health Department from January 2, 2008 to March 3, 2008.
Getting a permit before construction begins
County regulations require a septic permit prior to starting construction on a structure or moving a structure onto a parcel. The process of obtaining such a permit usually begins with a property owner filling out a Wastewater Treatment System Permit Application, available at the Environmental Health Office or Website --http://www.ravallicounty.mt.gov/environmental.
After receiving the application and required fees, the Department will usually schedule a site evaluation by a registered sanitarian. Such an evaluation includes digging a soil test hole to depth of at least eight feet so the Department’s sanitarian can observe the soil profile and determine whether the site is appropriate for a septic system.
Determining if groundwater monitoring is necessary
If the site evaluation reveals evidence of seasonally high groundwater, observed groundwater, wetland vegetation or irrigation, the sanitarian will likely require groundwater monitoring during the seasonally high groundwater period (typically March to October). Such monitoring helps determine the level of the groundwater in a specific area. If groundwater is too high (less than 4 feet from the surface), there’s a danger of effluent leaching into the water table.
Since groundwater monitoring begins in March, it’s important for people considering construction to be ready, if necessary, for what may be an eight-month monitoring process.
Groundwater monitoring requirements
Currently, the application fee for groundwater monitoring on a site is $150 for one pipe and an additional $30 for each additional pipe. There is also a one-time mileage fee for each site, ranging from $20 to $50 depending on the distance of the site from Hamilton.
Adding additional pipes can improve your chances of finding a suitable site on your property for a wastewater treatment system since the depth to water table may vary on a given parcel. It may also give you more choices on where to build, since wastewater drain fields must be placed within 25 feet of a monitoring pipe.
Monitoring pipes must be four-inch-diameter, ten-feet-long PVC pipe, placed vertically at least eight feet below the natural ground surface. Backfilling around the pipes must be level with the natural topography.
Pipes should be placed in natural ground (not fill) at least 100 feet from wells (including neighbors’ wells), surface water (including ditches, ponds and intermittent streams) and the 100-year floodplain. The pipes must also be at least 50 feet from a slope of 25 percent or greater and not located on a slope greater than 15 percent.
Because pipes will be monitored weekly throughout the spring and summer, access to must be provided for the entire monitoring season. Monitoring personnel must be able to safely drive a car to within 100 feet of the pipes, and pipes must be visible and accessible at all times.
Duration of monitoring
Pipes will be monitored weekly, either until the groundwater level comes to within 48 inches of the surface (at which point the pipe fails) or until the groundwater level reaches a peak and a sustained decline. The seasonal peak for spring runoff can be anywhere from March to mid-July, and areas that are irrigated or located near large irrigation ditches may not peak until October.
Once the seasonal peak has been established for all the pipes within a parcel, the results will be recorded and sent to the property owner. Only after receiving the results in writing may the property owner obtain a permit and begin construction.
Groundwater monitoring results are valid in future years unless site conditions change in a way that could affect the level of ground water. For instance, the installation or resumption of an irrigation ditch on or near the property might require new monitoring if a wastewater treatment permit has not been issued.
For more information on Wastewater Treatment Permits or groundwater monitoring, contact the Ravalli County Environmental Health Department at 375-6565 or visit the Department Web site at www.ravallicounty.mt.gov/environmental.
In order to help citizens understand more clearly many of the environmental health issues in Ravalli County and the role of the Environmental Health Department in addressing these issues, our department will run a series of weekly newspaper articles titled “Environmental Health Talk.”
In this ongoing series we hope to help raise the community’s awareness of issues such as air and water quality and give readers useful tips on topics like recycling, collecting and disposing of hazardous materials and maintaining septic systems, just to name a few. To this end, we welcome pubic comment. If there’s an environmental health issue you’d like us to address, write call or email the department: RCEH, c/o “EnviroHealth Talk,” 215 South 4th St, Suite D, Hamilton MT 59840. Phone: 375-6571. Email: rdaniel@ravallicounty.mt.gov
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