Effluent Results

Greetings Savvy Septic Readers. The City has been working on the draft effluent testing results for some time now and has a largely complete version ready for public consumption. We want to warn readers however, that the summary about the regulations from Origin Technical Services (OTS) is very technical. Unfortunately the issue that they speak to in their summary of the results cannot be easily condensed.

Click here for the November Effluent Testing Results.

Basically, when the City got the effluent testing results back we asked OTS to give us a summary stating which systems, if any, were not meeting ADEC standards and what the overall performance of the systems appeared to be to them. Their answer to us was there aren’t any well-defined ADEC standards to impose on our AdvanTex treatment systems. OTS has been working with the ADEC to get something in writing that will define those standards once and for all, but so far we have not reached that point. As soon as we get standards from ADEC in writing, we will share them with the Alpine Woods community as well as the larger Valdez area (these standards impact everyone). We are hopeful the standards will be available for the Septic Work Session with City Council that is still being scheduled. In the meantime, Anchorage Tank and the service provider Mike Congel continue to monitor these systems closely. Having instant feedback on how a septic system is working is a new process for everyone and we intend to work through it and learn together. The City will be testing all systems in late winter and then again in spring.

City Hall has been working hard on setting a date for the City Council work session involving an ACAT presentation of their concerns with the replacement program and suggestions for moving forward (we affectionately call it Septic Summit #2). It was originally scheduled for December but ACAT did not have enough time to put their presentation together and City Council did not want to have the meeting unless everyone was prepared and everyone could attend (that includes ADEC, Origin Technical Services, ACAT members, ACAT guests, Lanning Engineering and an Orenco systems engineer). So far we have not been able to find a date that suits everyone’s calendars. We will keep trying however, and will post the official date as soon as it is set.

Finally, Community and Economic Development is happy to announce the links to the installation pictures on the Phase I and Phase II pages of the septic replacement program website have finally been uploaded. For anyone who has ever tried to click on the photo link and been disappointed by the lack of a hotlink, today is the day to try again. We will be working on more things to add but if anyone would like to see something different or better on the City’s Alpine Woods website, please send us your suggestions. We love input! Hope everyone’s Holiday time was merry and warm. Stay tuned for more septic savvy updates.