Critical point monitoring - A new framework for monitoring on-site wastewater systems

Continuous oversight of on-site wastewater system performance is important in order to avoid public health and water quality problems, high system repair costs, and impaired consumer confidence. The Critical Point Monitoring (CPM) process is being developed to help meet a statewide monitoring mandate for local health agencies in Washington State to develop and implement plans to initiate periodic monitoring of all on-site wastewater systems. The principles of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system were integrated into the monitoring process to provide more rigorous control and oversight of operation, monitoring and maintenance activities to ensure systems are consistently meeting their performance requirements. The CPM process provides a systematic preventive-based approach for monitoring on-site wastewater systems. By concentrating on the wastewater flow points in a system that are most critical to monitor and control, CPM catches problems in the early stages before they become serious and expensive to correct. While CPM is a process standard, in practice its application requires choosing performance standards for the identified critical monitoring points. The seven steps in the CPM process include a system hazard analysis, critical monitoring point identification, establishing critical limits, monitoring procedures, corrective actions, record keeping, and verification procedures.