Onsite Domestic Wastewater Treatment Systems

1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE

This standard specifies the requirements regarding materials, watertightness, structural resistance, noise, mechanical and electrical components and other physical characteristics of onsite domestic wastewater treatment systems as well as requirements on performance based on the minimal characteristics of the effluent treated with such systems. This standard also specifies the documentation to be provided by the manufacturers of these systems.

This standard specifies a 360-day performance and seasonal reliability test performed to ensure that each onsite domestic wastewater treatment system supplied with influent wastewater meeting known criteria produces a treated effluent conforming to the requirements applicable to its classification throughout all four seasons prevailing in Canada. This standard also specifies an annual continued performance test performed to ensure that an onsite domestic wastewater treatment system installed, used and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations continuously produces a treated effluent conforming to the requirements applicable to its classification.

This standard applies only to systems treating domestic wastewater, to the exclusion of any system designed exclusively for the treatment of black or grey water. This standard does not cover the capability nor the capacity of an onsite domestic wastewater treatment system to treat effluent from drinking water treatment systems or devices, or backwash water from swimming pools or spas.

This standard does not apply to any assessment required to ensure that a treated effluent is safely returned to the environment as such assessments depend on the requirements and legislation in force, type and class of treatment of the onsite domestic wastewater treatment systems, properties of the receiving environment, and need for additional treatment systems such as leaching fields or absorption system (infiltration into soil).

NOTE — Principles laid out in this standard are specific to onsite domestic wastewater treatment systems that are used to treat residential dwellings wastewater. Wastewater from commercial and public buildings is considered as domestic wastewater when it meets the requirements of Table A.1 without prior treatment, and when it does not impose stress loadings that are more stringent than the hydraulic loadings specified in Clauses A.8.3 to A.8.7 on the onsite domestic wastewater treatment systems. It is the user, or his representative (consultant or other)’s responsibility to evaluate the suitability of this standard if the onsite domestic wastewater treatment systems are dedicated to other applications. Special considerations may also apply if the onsite domestic wastewater treatment systems are used in plant hardiness zones other than 3 or 4 or 5a, as defined by Natural Resources Canada in the document Canada’s Plant Hardiness Zones.

This standard is developed to serve as a reference document as part of the conformity assessment activities related to such products.