Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 19 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SENIOR SERVICES › Division 20 - Division of Community and Public Health › Chapter 3 - General Sanitation › Section 19 CSR 20-3.060 - Minimum Construction Standards for On-Site Sewage Disposal Systems

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This rule establishes minimum construction
				  standards for on-site sewage disposal systems. In accordance with the authority
				  granted in section
				  701.040,
				  RSMo, this rule establishes the minimum standards and criteria for the design,
				  location, installation and repair of individual on-site sewage disposal systems
				  to promote the public health and general welfare and to protect the surface and
				  ground waters of the state.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The secretary of state has
				  determined that the publication of the entire text of the material which is
				  incorporated by reference as a portion of this rule would be unduly cumbersome
				  or expensive. Therefore, the material which is so incorporated is on file with
				  the agency who filed this rule, and with the Office of the Secretary of State.
				  Any interested person may view this material at either agency's headquarters or
				  the same will be made available at the Office of the Secretary of State at a
				  cost not to exceed actual cost of copy reproduction. The entire text of the
				  rule is printed here. This note refers only to the incorporated by reference
				  material.
(1) General.
(A) Definitions. Definitions as set forth in
				Chapter 701, RSMo, On-Site Sewage Disposal Law shall apply to those terms when
				used in this rule unless the context clearly requires otherwise or as noted in
				this subsection. For the purposes of these standards, certain terms or words
				used here shall be interpreted as follows. The word shall is mandatory and the
				words should and may are permissive. All distances, unless otherwise specified,
				shall be measured horizontally:
1.
				Administrative authority-The governing body which may include, but is not
				limited to, county health departments, planning and zoning commissions, county
				building departments, county public works department, sewer districts,
				municipalities and the Missouri Department of Health which has, as authorized
				by statute, charter or other form of enabling authority, adopted these
				standards for individual on-site sewage disposal systems;
2. Aeration unit-Any sewage tank which
				utilizes the principle of oxidation in the decomposition of sewage by the
				introduction of air into the sewage;
3. Alluvium-Soil parent material which was
				transported and deposited in a running water setting;
4. Alternative-An individual sewage disposal
				system employing methods and devices as presented in section (6) of this
				rule;
5. Approved-Considered
				acceptable by the administrative authority;
6. Baffle-A device installed in a septic tank
				for proper operation of the tank and to provide maximum retention of solids.
				This includes vented sanitary tees and submerged pipes in addition to those
				devices normally called baffles;
7.
				Bedrock-That layer of geologic material which is consolidated;
8. Bedroom-Any room within a dwelling that
				might reasonably be used as a sleeping room. The number of bedrooms in a
				residence as given by an appraiser will be used in determining volumes in the
				sizing of on-site sewage disposal systems;
9. Black water-Liquid-carried waste from a
				dwelling or other establishment, which contains organic wastes, including
				excreta or other body wastes, blood or other body fluids, and
				garbage;
10. Building sewer-That
				part of the drainage system which extends from the end of the building drain
				and conveys its discharge to an on-site sewage disposal system;
11. Capacity-The liquid volume of a sewage
				tank using inside dimensions below the outlet;
12. Color-The moist color of the soil based
				on the Munsell soil color system;
13. Distribution pipes-Perforated rigid pipes
				that are used to distribute sewage tank effluent in a soil treatment
				system;
14. Dosing chamber (or pump
				pit or wet well)-A tank or separate compartment following the sewage tank which
				serves as a reservoir for the dosing device;
15. Dosing device-A pump, siphon or other
				device that discharges sewage tank effluent from the dosing chamber to the soil
				treatment system;
16. Dwelling-Any
				building or place used or intended to be used by human occupants as a
				residential unit(s);
17.
				Effluent-The liquid discharge of a septic tank or other sewage treatment
				device;
18. Gravelless system-An
				absorption system recognized by the administrative authority as an acceptable
				method of subsurface disposal of sewage without the required use of gravel. The
				following are examples:
A. Large diameter,
				eight inch (8") and ten inch (10") corrugated, perforated plastic pipe, wrapped
				in a sheath of spun-bonded filter wrap;
B. Chamber system; and
C. Drip irrigation;
19. Gray water-Liquid waste, specifically
				excluding toilet, hazardous, culinary and oily wastes, from a dwelling or other
				establishment which is produced by bathing, laundry or discharges from floor
				drains;
20. Grease trap-A device
				designed and installed so as to separate and retain oils and fats from normal
				wastes while permitting normal sewage or wastes to discharge into the drainage
				system by gravity;
21. Ground
				absorption sewage treatment and disposal system-A system that utilizes the soil
				for the subsurface disposal of partially treated or treated sewage effluent.
				The following are examples:
A. Chamber
				system-A system that uses an open bottom structure which forms an underground
				chamber over the soil's infil-trative surface. The wastewater is discharged
				into the chamber through a central weir, trough or splash plate and is allowed
				to flow over the infiltrative surface in any direction;
B. Conventional soil absorption sys-tem-A
				system that distributes effluent by gravity flow from the septic or other
				treatment tank and applies effluent to the soil through the use of a seepage
				trench or bed;
C. Dosing soil
				absorption system-A system that distributes effluent by a pump or automatic
				siphon to elevate or distribute effluent to the soil through the use of a
				seepage trench or bed;
D. Drip soil
				absorption system-An experimental system that distributes effluent through drip
				lines in a grid pattern (also known as trickle irrigation); and
E. Pressure distribution system-A soil
				absorption system that distributes effluent by a pump and smaller diameter
				distribution piping with small diameter perforations to distribute
				effluent;
22. Hazardous
				waste-Any waste or combination of wastes, as determined by the Hazardous Waste
				Commission by rules, which, because of its quantity, concentration, or
				physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, may cause or significantly
				contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible,
				or incapacitating reversible, illness, or pose a present or potential threat to
				the health of humans or the environment;
23. High ground water-Zones of soil
				saturation which include: perched water tables, shallow regional groundwater
				tables or aquifers, or zones that are seasonally, periodically or permanently
				saturated;
24. High-water level-The
				highest known flood water elevation of any lake, stream, pond or flowage or the
				regional flood elevation established by a state or federal agency;
25. Holding tank-A watertight tank for
				temporary storage of sewage until it can be transported to a point of approved
				treatment and disposal;
26.
				Horizon-A layer of soil, approximately parallel to the surface, that has
				distinct characteristics relative to adjacent layers;
27. Individual sewage disposal system- A
				sewage disposal system, or part of a system, serving a dwelling(s) or other
				establish-ment(s), which utilizes subsurface soil treatment and
				disposal;
28. Intermittent sand
				filters-Intermittent sand filters are beds of granular materials twenty-four to
				thirty-six inches (24-36") thick underlain by graded gravel and collecting
				pipe. Waste water is applied intermittently to the surface of the bed through
				distribution pipes or troughs and the bed is under-drained to collect and
				discharge the final effluent. Uniform distribution is normally obtained by
				dosing so as to flood the entire surface of the bed. Filters may be designed to
				provide free access (open filters) or may be buried in the ground (buried
				filters or subsurface sand filters);
29. Matrix color-The dominant color of a soil
				material;
30. Mottling-Spots or
				splotches of color interspersed in the dominant (or matrix color) of a soil
				material. Mottles may be of a wide variety of colors;
31. Mound system-A system where the soil
				treatment area is built above the ground to overcome limits imposed by
				proximity to water table or bedrock or by rapidly or slowly permeable
				soils;
32. Non-ground absorption
				sewage disposal system-A facility for waste treatment designed not to discharge
				to the soil, land surface, or surface waters, including, but not limited to,
				incinerating toilets, mechanical toilets, composting toilets and recycling
				systems;
33. Other
				establishment-Any public or private structure other than a dwelling which
				generates sewage;
34. Pan-A soil
				horizon compacted, hard or very high in clay content. These horizons are
				usually very slowly permeable. Common pans in Missouri are claypans and
				fragipans;
35. Perched water
				table-A saturated zone above and separated from the water table by a horizon
				which is unsaturated;
36.
				Percolation rate-The time rate of drop of a water surface in a test hole as
				specified in subsection (2)(C) of this rule and expressed in minutes per
				inch;
37. Permeability-The ease
				with which liquids and gases move within the soil or rock;
38. Plastic limit-A soil moisture content
				below which the soil may be manipulated for purposes of installing a soil
				treatment system and above which manipulation will cause compaction, puddling
				and smearing, as determined by the administrative authority. This is not to be
				confused with plastic limit as used or defined in the Unified Soil
				Classification System;
39. Privy-An
				outhouse or structure used for receiving human excrement in a container or
				vault beneath the structure;
40.
				Registered geologist-A person who meets the requirements of Chapter 256,
				RSMo;
41. Restrictive horizon-A
				soil horizon that is capable of perching groundwater or sewage effluent and
				that is brittle and strongly compacted or strongly cemented with iron,
				aluminum, silica, organic matter or other compounds. Restrictive horizons may
				occur as fragipans, iron pans or organic pans and are recognized by their
				resistance in excavation or in use of a soil auger;
42. Rock fragments-The percentage by volume
				of rock fragments in a soil that are greater than two millimeters (2 mm) in
				diameter or retained on a No. 10 sieve which may include, but is not restricted
				to, chert, sandstone, shale, limestone or dolomite;
43. Sanitarian-A person registered either as
				a sanitarian or environmental health professional by the National Environmental
				Health Association or the Missouri Board of Certification for Environmental
				Health Professionals or employed as a sanitarian or environmental health
				professional by the administrative authority;
44. Seepage bed-An excavated area larger than
				three feet (3') in width which contains a bedding of aggregate and has more
				than one (1) distribution line;
45.
				Seepage trench-An area excavated one to three feet (1-3') in width which
				contains a bedding of aggregate and a single distribution line;
46. Septage-Those solids and liquids removed
				during periodic maintenance of a septic or aeration unit tank or those solids
				and liquids removed from a holding tank;
47. Septic tank-Any watertight, covered
				receptacle designed and constructed to receive the discharge of sewage from a
				building sewer, separate solids from liquid, digest organic matter, store
				liquids through a period of detention and allow the clarified liquids to
				discharge to a soil treatment system;
48. Setback-A separation distance measured
				horizontally;
49. Severe geological
				limitations-Site-specific geologic conditions which are indicative of rapid
				recharge of an aquifer and likely groundwater contamination. Locations with
				significant groundwater contamination potential should be investigated by a
				registered geologist to determine if the site has severe geological
				limitations. Standardized criteria for determination of severe geological
				limitations are available in the form
Assessment of Individual On-Site
				Waste Disposal Geological Limitations
from the Department of Natural
				Resources, Division of Geology and Land Survey;
50. Sewage-Any water-carried domestic waste,
				exclusive of footings and roof drainage. Domestic waste includes, but is not
				limited to, liquid waste produced by bathing, laundry, culinary operations,
				liquid wastes from toilets and floor drains and specifically excludes animal
				waste and commercial process water. Also known as wastewater;
51. Sewage flow-Flow as determined by
				measurement of actual water use or, if actual measurements are unavailable, as
				estimated by the best available data provided by Table 2A in subsection (1)(E)
				of this rule;
52. Sewage tank-A
				watertight tank used in the treatment of sewage which includes, but is not
				limited to, septic tanks and aeration units;
53. Sewage tank effluent-That liquid which
				flows from a septic tank or aeration unit under normal operation;
54. Significant groundwater contamination
				potential-Any condition which would cause or indicate rapid recharge of an
				aquifer. This includes, but is not limited to, the following conditions or
				parameters: a water sample from an on-site well which exceeds drinking water
				standards with respect to fecal coliform; a hydrologic connection is
				established between the on-site waste disposal system and any well; a disposal
				field to be placed in Class V soils or soils with a percolation rate less than
				ten minutes per inch (10 min./in.); a disposal field within one hundred feet
				(100') of the topographic drainage of a sinkhole; or a sewage tank with fifty
				feet (50') of the topographic drainage of a sinkhole;
55. Sinkhole-A land surface depression that
				is hydraulically connected with a subterranean passage developed by a solution
				or collapse into the underlying bedrock, or both;
56. Site-The area bounded by the dimensions
				required for the proper location of the soil treatment system;
57. Slope-The ratio of vertical rise or fall
				to horizontal distance;
58.
				Soil-The naturally occurring, unconsolidated mineral or organic material of the
				land surface developed from rock or other parent material and consisting of
				sand, silt and clay-sized particles and variable amount of organic
				materials;
59. Soil
				characteristics, limiting-Those soil characteristics which preclude the
				installation of a standard system, including, but not limited to, evidence of
				water table or bedrock closer than three feet (3') to the ground surface and
				percolation rates slower than one hundred twenty minutes per inch (120
				min./in.);
60. Soil saturation-The
				condition that occurs when all the pores in a soil are filled with
				water;
61. Soil scientist-An
				individual who has a minimum of fifteen (15) semester credit hours of soils
				course work including a minimum of three (3) hours in the area of soil
				morphology and interpretations, and has a minimum of two (2) years of field
				experience;
62. Soil textural
				classification-Soil particle sizes or textures specified in this rule refer to
				the soil textural classification in the
Soil Survey Manual Handbook No.
				18
, United States Department of Agriculture, 1993;
63. Soil treatment area-That area of trench
				or bed bottom which is in direct contact with the trench rock of the soil
				treatment system;
64. Soil
				treatment system-A system where sewage tank effluent is treated and disposed of
				below ground surface by filtration and percolation through the soil. It
				includes those systems commonly known as seepage bed, trench, drainfield,
				disposal field and includes mound and low pressure pipe systems;
65. Standard system-An individual sewage
				disposal system employing a building sewer, sewage tank and the soil treatment
				system commonly known as seepage bed or trenches, drainfield or
				leachfield;
66. Toilet waste-Fecal
				matter, urine, toilet paper and any water used for flushing;
67. Trench rock-Clean rock, washed creek
				gravel or similar insoluble, durable and decay-resistant material free from
				dust, sand, silt or clay. The size shall range from one inch to two and
				one-half inches (1"-2 1/2"). If limestone, dolomite or other crushed white rock
				is used, it shall be washed and be a minimum size of one and one-half inches (1
				1/2");
68. Valve box-Any device
				which can stop sewage tank effluent from flowing to a portion of the soil
				treatment area. This includes, but is not limited to, caps or plugs on
				distribution or drop box outlets, divider boards, butterfly valves, gate valves
				or other mechanisms;
69. Very
				slowly permeable-Soils, bedrock and soil horizon or layer having a vertical
				permeability less than one inch (1") in twenty-four (24) hours;
70. Wastewater-same as sewage as defined in
				paragraph (1)(A)50. of this rule;
71. Wastewater stabilization pond-A sealed
				earthen basin which uses the natural unaided biological processes to stabilize
				wastewater (also known as a sewage lagoon);
72. Water table-The highest elevation in the
				soil or rock where all voids are filled with water, as evidenced by presence of
				water or soil mottling or other information. This includes perched water tables
				or perched zones of saturation; and
73. Watertight-Constructed so that no water
				can get in or out below the level of the outlet.