WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 21, 2012 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Decentralized Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Partnership has developed four short papers on the uses and benefits of decentralized wastewater treatment and examples of where they have played an effective role in a community's wastewater treatment infrastructure.
The first paper provides an introduction to decentralized wastewater treatment, while the others focus on the economic, environmental, and public health related aspects of decentralized treatment.
The papers are intended to provide information to the public and to state, local, and industry officials on the benefits and types of decentralized wastewater treatment systems. Decentralized wastewater treatment consists of a variety of onsite approaches for collection, treatment, dispersal, and reuse of wastewater.
The MOU Partnership is an agreement between the EPA and 16 partner organizations including the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) to work collaboratively at the national level to improve decentralized performance of wastewater systems. WERF’s extensive research program on decentralized systems as part of the Decentralized Water Resources Collaborative (www.decentralizedwater.org and www.werf.org/decentralized) has helped inform the Partnership’s efforts.
To read the EPA Decentralized MOU Partnership Papers, visit the EPA Website