A WVU-based center helps solve
water problems around the nation.
If you ask, you'll find that most people in the Mountain State know someone who has experienced a drinking water or wastewater treatment problem. Yet many people don't know that the nation's preeminent information and assistance center to help solve these problems is located on WVU's Evansdale campus. The National Environmental Services Center (NESC) has been helping solve water-related problems throughout the state and nation for more than 20 years through its four federally funded programs: the National Small Flows Clearinghouse, National Drinking Water Clearinghouse, National Environmental Training Center for Small Communities, and National Onsite Demonstration Program.
Even as the 21st century dawns, basic water and wastewater infrastructure problems remain all too common, especially in small towns and rural areas, such as those in West Virginia. Just ask Kenny Accord, whose well in Pritchard, W.Va., ran dry this summer.
"It's hard in this heat to haul water to fill up a washer and all," says Accord, who gets water from a neighbor's well for household purposes but has been told it's not safe to drink. Accord, who is disabled and lives with his elderly mother, often catches the bus to the community center, where he fills jugs with potable water to carry home.
There are many other people with problems similar to Accord's. A recent federal assessment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that seven million U.S. residents face severe water quality or dependability problems, and another million lack basic indoor plumbing. Even communities with drinking water systems in place face increasing challenges, as infrastructure ages and regulations increase. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates it will take more than $150 billion over the next 20 years to ensure the safety of our existing community water systems.
Ed Gnaedinger and his neighbors in Palouse, Washington, can tell you that wastewater treatment systems also are expensive. A few years ago, they learned their 1950s-era treatment plant was not meeting state regulations and was estimated to cost between $7 million and $8 million to replace. The price was prohibitive for the town's 1,000 residents, so Gnaedinger called NESC's toll-free assistance line for help. A Small Flows Clearinghouse technical assistant suggested an alternative system that ultimately saved the community more than $5 million and spared 100 acres of land.
But more than a third of the U.S. population cannot afford or does not have access to central sewage systems, such as the one in Palouse, creating a need for onsite systems. These systems include septic tanks and other technologies that treat wastewater on individual lots or for small clusters of homes. In Monongalia County alone—home to WVU—between 40 and 50 percent of residents use onsite sewage systems.
And not only rural areas employ onsite systems. People living in places that are particularly environmentally sensitive or where soils are poor or slopes steep also use them. Of the more than 100 million housing units in the U.S., 25 percent are served by septic systems, and many of these are located in suburban developments.
Thanks
to WVU's early and continued support of NESC's work and funding
from the EPA and U.S. Department of Agriculture, NESC's national
information repository has been able to serve every county in
West Virginia, every state in the nation, and dozens of other
countries (see sidebar on page 35). The center accomplishes this
through the collaborative work of 51 full- time and 27 part-time
employees, many of whom are WVU graduates or students.
NESC's engineers, public health specialists, writers, designers, educators, computer programmers, and related support staff offer technical assistance via telephone and in the field. They develop and conduct training courses, supply educational products and referral information, and facilitate and oversee demonstration projects around the country. Homeowners, mayors, regulators, consultants, trainers, teachers, plant operators, developers, and countless others read NESC's Small Flows Quarterly and On Tap magazines and seek NESC's services to help them make better decisions and perform their jobs more effectively.
"The people there at WVU were the catalyst that started the ball rolling for Palouse," says former city councilman Gnaedinger. "They asked the right questions and provided the contact that ultimately solved our problem . . . with excellent results."
Demonstrating Innovation
"I see it time and time again," says Clement Solomon,
NESC demonstration project program coordinator. "These demonstration
projects become community-wide efforts. Local, state, regional,
and federal officials are brought together, and the partnerships
last even after we leave. After the projects end, the education,
assistance, and training continue.
"It's a very wise, strategic way to use our funds, getting the maximum bang for the buck," he continues. "We try these demonstrations on a smaller scale, in someone's backyard, before applying these technologies community-wide. It takes out the fear factor and provides an opportunity for homeowners to be involved in protecting their health and the environment."
Solomon points to Burnett, Washington, a small, unincorporated former coal-mining town. When NESC became involved there, more than a third of the town's 50 families had failing onsite treatment systems, and wastewater was spewing into nearby South Prairie Creek, an important steelhead salmon spawning habitat.
"The homeowners couldn't get loans to fix the problem," Solomon says, "so the solution involved a number of partners coming together. Now Burnett's property values have increased, and they are interacting with the local health department, which before there was some hesitance to do."
In the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands in Alaska, Doug Abbas also works with NESC on a demonstration project. There, on islands of volcanic rock, construction itself can be a challenge.
"The village of Nelson Lagoon is built on a narrow peninsula there that is approximately 11 miles long and is all sand," says Abbas. "The demonstration project is helping raise awareness of the specialized training needed for installing septic systems, and has helped us get a handle on why the island systems were failing. It's an important base for the communities to start from."
Around the country, NESC's demonstration projects help small communities to solve critical public health problems. They also build a local community's decision-making capacity, educate the public about environmental issues, and serve as models for other communities facing similar challenges.
Catalysts of Positive
Change
NESC Manager John Mori calls the center "a positive change
agency" and sums up its work by saying, "Our business
is your community's public and environmental health." Indeed,
the consequences of infrastructure failures are serious, ranging
from ground and surface water pollution, to increased potential
for such waterborne diseases as cholera, to lost economic and
community development opportunities.
NESC's work to combat water treatment problems has evolved over the years from both its experience and its deliberate efforts to identify the information and assistance needed most. This expertise has helped give NESC the clout needed to focus attention on critical problems and to bring people together from around the country to help solve them.
For example, NESC's national training center sponsored a six-day Environmental Training Institute for Small Communities in Morgantown last year, which drew more than 100 local officials and assistance providers from 21 states. It was so well received that the institute was held again in August 2001. In 1999, the Small Flows Clearinghouse brought together onsite wastewater system regulators from 41 states for a first- ever conference, also in Morgantown. Now held annually at locations around the country, the conference is driven entirely by the regulators themselves.
A new organization with more than 120 members, the American Onsite Management Association, was formed as a result of NESC's demonstration projects. These projects also have played a direct role in several states' modifying their onsite regulations, including West Virginia. The state now requires that owners of mechanical onsite wastewater systems, such as home aeration units, receive permits to operate them from both the state Department of Environmental Protection and either the local county health department or the state Bureau of Public Health. In addition, the systems must be inspected four times a year.
"These systems require maintenance," says Art Adams, manager of the Monongalia County public health program. "Homeowners often don't have the time or expertise to properly maintain them, and when they're not maintained, they can potentially impact public health."
NESC has forged partnerships in other ways to help its home state. A $100,000 revolving loan fund was started in Monongalia County as part of a demonstration project. "We take taxpayer money and give it back to the people to correct their onsite wastewater problems," explains Environmental Inspector Kirk Powroznik, who along with NESC's Mike Aiton oversaw the fund's creation. "They repay the loan with only two percent interest. Then the money's there for the next person."
The Drinking Water Clearinghouse spearheaded a state coalition in 1998 to coordinate training for West Virginia drinking water system operators and managers. This group includes representatives from the state Bureau of Public Health, the state Public Service Commission, and other assistance and trade organizations. In addition, NESC is working with Governor Bob Wise's office to identify ways to further serve West Virginia communities in need.
Meanwhile, as the water resources of the state and nation become increasingly valued, the ripples of NESC's center of excellence continue to grow as well, spreading from a Morgantown hilltop throughout West Virginia, and to countless people beyond.
NESC's Global
Reach
By Diana Knott
Each year, National Environmental Services
Center (NESC) programs field about 50,000 telephone calls, distribute
more than 120,000 informational products (some in Spanish), and
provide quarterly newsletters and magazines to 100,000 subscribers.
Although the organization's mission is to serve the United States
and its territories, people from all over the world seek out
NESC for information and guidance regarding water treatment issues.
Last year alone, more than 70,000 individuals accessed NESC's
web site, which is part of WVU's. Those who logged on to www.nesc.wvu.edu
included people from Australia, Singapore, Germany, Poland, Sweden,
Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Brazil, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand,
South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Hungary, and Spain.
Researchers, engineers, consultants, and government officials
from South Africa, Jamaica, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom
are among the hundreds of visitors to a NESC onsite wastewater
treatment demonstration site at Chestnut Ridge Park in West Virginia.
Another NESC demonstration site in Centerville, Pennsylvania,
serves to educate Central European engineers as part of the Central
European Linkage Program, funded by the Pittsburgh-based Heinz
endowment. Others have traveled to WVU to see first-hand how
NESC operates, including officials from Quebec, Indonesia, and,
most recently, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and
UNICEF.
Geraldo Galvis, a PAHO program coordinator, said he first learned
about NESC's programs on the Internet while conducting research
for his thesis at the University of Surrey in the U.K. He later
met drinking water director Sanjay Saxena, when Saxena was invited
to make a presentation at an international water conference in
Colombia. Galvis, then director of the conference's sponsoring
organization, became interested in applying the clearinghouse
model to Latin American countries.
"It's important that this model be known and recognized
in other countries of the world," Galvis says from his Washington,
D.C., office. "Although the subject matter is often complex,
NESC makes information simple, straightforward, and easier to
understand and obtain."
NESC Engineering Scientist and Adjunct Associate Professor David
Pask has spent the last 20 years developing and teaching better
ways to design, build, and operate individual onsite sewage disposal
systems. His designs can be found in West Virginia, as well as
other places in the U.S., Canada, and a number of other countries.
Pask, who was born and raised in Great Britain and who worked
in Mauritius and Nova Scotia before joining NESC, has since traveled
to Eastern Slovakia to study potential sites for alternative
wastewater treatment and conducted studies in Kazakhstan and
the Ukraine on behalf of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
At the request of U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, Saxena
traveled to China to present information about NESC's clearinghouses,
and in June made a presentation to World Bank officials, at their
request. As a result of NESC's international standing, Saxena
has been able to forge a partnership and possible exchange program
with IRC, an international research center in The Netherlands,
whose specialty is international development.
His work has reinforced to him the importance of NESC's personalized
customer service orientation. "Organizations don't complete
projects," he says, "it's the people within them who
do. The person-to-person transfer of information and knowledge
are key."
Born and raised in India, Saxena has found that other countries
face environmental and infrastructure challenges very much like
those in the United States. They often must address these problems
with limited financial resources, few qualified personnel, and
the "brain drain" of young professionals to more urban
areas, he says.
Luckily for them, today information, such as that supplied by
NESC, can flow freely across geographic borders-just like water
itself.
Congressional Support
"Having grown up in small communities
in Southern West Virginia, I have seen the problems caused by
inadequate drinking water and sewer systems. Unfortunately, despite
the technological advances that we have made in this country,
there are still many communities that suffer from unsanitary
wastewater conditions. Changing that reality is one of the goals
of the National Environmental Services Center
at West Virginia University.
"Throughout my career, I have worked
diligently to prepare West Virginia for economic growth. To be
competitive in attracting new business and industry, we must
have the proper infrastructure in place. Like improved highways
and bridges, effective drinking water and wastewater management
systems are vital to the continued expansion of West Virginia
communities. The National Environmental Services Center is making
development possible in regions where a central waste management
system is not affordable or feasible. Due in part to the experience
and expertise housed at the National Environmental
Services Center, our communities are cleaner, safer, and prepared
to move forward in the 21st century."
—U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va.
"The lack of adequate drinking and wastewater systems in our local communities is, in my opinion, one of the most serious problems facing the United States today. Systems that are obsolete—and, in many cases, non-existent—not only threaten public health and safety, but also hinder growth.
"According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, there is an annual $23 billion shortfall in funding for our nation's drinking and wastewater systems. Unfortunately, the budgetary course that Congress set earlier this year will prevent us from making the investments that are needed to fix this growing problem.
"Given this environment, the services provided by NESC will become even more crucial. I am pleased to join Senator Byrd in support of the center's role in finding effective, cost-efficient solutions for our local communities."
—Congressman Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va.