NEXT MEETING
When: October 8th, 2025 | 9:00am - 11:00am
Where: Collaboratory - 2031 Jackson St, Fort Myers, FL 33901
Training Topic: Environmental Public Health and Septic Systems (Approved for 2 CEHs)
Speakers: Melanie Brese, Environmental Administrator for the Florida Department of Health, Charlotte County & Alex Trammell, Environmental Supervisor II at Charlotte County Health Department
Agenda:
1. Split into 2 sections OSTDS and Facilities
a. OSTDS is further broken down into routine inspections, requested
inspections, and complaints
b. Facilities are further broken down into pools, mobile home parks,
limited use wells, food, group care, biomedical waste, tattoos, body
piercing, tanning, and healthy beaches
2. Sanitary nuisances that DOH can handle
a. Untreated or improperly treated human waste, garbage, offal, dead
animals, or dangerous waste materials from manufacturing
processes harmful to human or animal life and air pollutants, gases,
and noisome odors which are harmful to human or animal life.
b. Improperly built or maintained septic tanks, water closets, or
privies.
c. The keeping of diseased animals dangerous to human health.
d. Unclean or filthy places where animals are slaughtered.
e. The creation, maintenance, or causing of any condition capable of
breeding flies, mosquitoes, or other arthropods capable of
transmitting diseases, directly or indirectly to humans.
f. Any other condition determined to be a sanitary nuisance as
defined in s. 386.01.
3. Basics of Septic System Design
a. Gravity Flow
b. Dosed
4. ATU/PBTS
a. ATU
i. NSF 40
ii. NSF 245
iii. A specialized tank that incorporates air into the tank to
create aerobic bacteria which help break down waste more
efficiently.
iv. Require OP and MA
v. Are used for certain lot conditions (big house with small lot,
setback reductions), BMAP requirements, or owner/builder
preference
5. PBTS
a. NSF 40 STS
i. Allows for 25% reduction in setbacks or drain field size, and
25% increase in authorized sewage flow
ii. Requires sampling: Ponding depth quarterly, fecal semi
annually
b. NSF 245 ASTS
i. Allows for 40% reduction in setbacks or drain field size, and
50% increase in authorized sewage flow
ii. Ponding depth quarterly, fecal, TN, and TP semi annually
c. Ponding refers to the drain field size reduction, and by checking for
ponding in the drain field you can see if the drain field is clogging
(CBOD/TSS); fecal, TN, TP are the contaminants related to the
authorized sewage flow (lot size x max gpd/acre)
6. Big Systems belong to DEP