Session: Soil-Based Wastewater Treatment: Impact and Mechanisms Oral (includes student competition)

Title: Soil-Based Wastewater Treatment: Impact and Mechanisms Oral (includes student competition)

Session Description: Onsite wastewater (i.e. septic) systems are an integral part of the water infrastructure in North America. These systems rely on soil processes to safely renovate wastewater, lowering contaminant levels as the water returns to the environment. Properly functioning systems are designed to protect public health and ecosystem functions. An improved understanding of the processes involved in treatment by soil at the individual system level, as well as these systems' cumulative impacts on groundwater and surface or coastal waters at the watershed scale is essential to better management and integration of septic systems into existing water infrastructure.