As a new regular segment of YOWA’s newsletter, we will be interviewing local Health Directors to inform our readers about health departments throughout our region, the challenges they encounter, advice for our profession, and how YOWA helps them do their job.
The Fall 2024 column features an interview with Rae Dick, Health Director for the town of Westford, MA.
What is the community you work for like and roughly how many onsite wastewater systems are built in a given year?
RD: The town of Westford is a suburban community with a population of roughly 25,000 residents. Westford is known for apple orchards, lakes, town beaches, and attractions such as Kimball Farm, Nashoba Valley Ski Area, and the MIT Haystack Observatory.
Westford operates on all onsite residential wastewater systems. In addition, we are considered the Wastewater Treatment Plant capital on the state. We have over 23 different WWTP’s in the community. Inspectors conduct soil testing and septic installation inspections daily. We issue over 200 Sewage Disposal System Permits and over 100 lot testing applications per fiscal year.
What is the staffing configuration at the health department, and how many people work either full-time or part-time with onsite wastewater?
RD: We have two full time positions that split all the wastewater responsibilities, which includes testing, inspections, complaints, plan review, and issuing permits and certificates of compliances. They also provide an in-person Well and Septic System Seminar training for realtors and the public twice a year.
What are some of the challenges you find with implementing Title 5 in your community?
RD: Lot restraints with private drinking water wells, lake lots and setbacks. Homeowner’s looking for more bedroom capacity, commercial businesses looking for more flow capacity, and Title 5 doesn’t allow for it.
It’s always a challenge to explain to homeowners and realtors the timeline for completing a system from start to finish, typically 2 to 3 months. Everyone needs their plan or system in yesterday. We also find that engineers don’t always share the Massachusetts tax credit, with homeowners so we make sure to include that information to them.
If you could change any part of the Code, Title 5, what would it be, and why?
RD: Minimum setback guidance, more guidance on adding a bedroom, lots of gray areas left for interpretation. We would ask for more guidance on alternatives to perc rates, available dewatering method guidance that appears to be allowed, and many more.
What are some of the parts of managing onsite wastewater that you feel your health department does well?
RD: We deliver good customer service, daily septic inspections and lot testing, good plan review turnaround times, highly educated and trained staff, and we see a tremendous amount and variety of I/A technology installation.
We are very proud of the good rapport we have with the engineers, installers, system inspectors, pumpers, and evacuating companies. We also lean on MassDEP when questions, concerns, and issues, come up regarding the WWTP’s.
Is there anything an organization like YOWA can provide to enhance the professionalism of the on-site wastewater industry or just in general help you do your job better?
RD: Increased training and higher level of training, such as systems over 5,000 gals per day, training on WWTP’s, local upgrade approval/variances best practices and environmental hazard mitigation such as poly barriers.
What advice would you give someone entering the local public health profession?
RD: Find a mentor to reach out to with questions and for advice. Before you apply for your system inspector or soil evaluator certifications, shadow septic installation inspections, lot testing, and learn septic plan review for a full year. It will help you pass the exams and make you a better inspector.
Do you have any other observations or considerations you might wish to share with our readers?
RD: In a perfect world, it would be ideal to have a standardized septic system training program. A universal program that includes in-person and hands on septic plan review with checklists and a how to conduct inspections. A training that goes over the timeline process, best practices, I/A technology inspection checklists, violations, variances, local upgrade approvals, and universal bedroom count definition training.
It would be great if a wastewater training academy or septic school existed in our state, and it provided agents the tools to offer the best service to residents and to protect the environment.
