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Ministry of The Environment Sewage Systems

The construction and installation of large septic systems (with design sewage flows of greater than 10,000 litres / day) is regulated by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and are subject to approval requirements for sewage works under Section 53 of the Ontario Water Resources Act. Such systems require a Sewage Works Approval, which is issued by the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch.  The permit issued by the MECP is called an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA).  The consideration for the daily design sewage flow is based on the sum of all septic systems located on one property.

The application to the MECP will require specific supporting documents and may include the following:

  • A “Reasonable Use Assessment” technical support document
  • A hydrogeological assessment completed to requirements of Chapter 22 of the MOE Design Guidelines for Sewage Works, 2008.
  • A detailed sewage system design report and sewage system drawings.

Field investigations would also be conducted to determine on-site subsurface soil characteristics and groundwater monitors may also be installed to determine the horizontal movement of the shallow groundwater flow.  Once all of the pertinent information has been gathered, then a suitable sewage treatment system would be designed.  Most MECP sewage systems are designed by an engineering firm, including supervision of the installation.

Gunnell Engineering has extensive experience with the MECP sewage works approval process, and is well qualified for the design of large sewage works including restaurants, residential developments, campgrounds, commercial projects and golf course projects.