Water News Archive

Septic Tank Design

A septic tank must be watertight. The wastewater has not been fully treated, so it must be contained and prevented from escaping into the environment. Septic tanks can be made of concrete, concrete blocks, fiber-reinforced plastic, high-density plastic or fiberglass.

Soil & Site Evaluation

The ability of soil to accept water or for water to travel through soil is called soil permeability. Percolation is the movement of water through soil. A soil percolation test is designed to measure the rate of water movement in saturated soil (mimicking conditions that soil treatment systems have) so that one can decide the appropriate type and size of treatment system.

How does a septic system work?

A system typically has 3 parts: plumbing from the house, a septic tank, and an effluent treatment system.

NAWMN Partners and Contacts

A full list of NAWMN Project contacts in Nebraska Extension as well as NAWMN Project partner contacts.

The Nebraska Ag Water Management Network (NAWMN, Irmak (2005)) project is designed for encouraging the adoption of newer technologies that will enable farmers to use water and energy resources associated with irrigated crop production efficiently.

Extension Publications

NAWMN Weekly Data Collection Form

Using Modified Atmometers (ETgage®) for Irrigation Management
Describes the atmometer (evapotranspiration gauge) and explains how it can be used for irrigation scheduling. Examples are provided to show how information collected with an atmometer can be used to estimate crop water use for corn and soybean.
PDF version (975 KB)

See assembly and placement of an evaportranspiration guage, how to assemble and prepare watermark sensors, and more.

Everyone lives in a watershed. A watershed is the land area that contributes water to a location, usually a stream, pond, lake or river. Everything that we do on the surface of our watershed impacts the water quality of our streams, wetlands, ponds, lakes and rivers. What happens in one locality affects other downstream areas.

Focused Watershed Projects

Focused watershed projects bring together the combined resources and knowledge of many agencies and organizations to solve local watershed issues. Focused watershed projects that involve University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension include the following. (By clicking on the linked titles you may go to the individual project Web site.)

Water News Archive

Septic Tank Design

Soil & Site Evaluation

How does a septic system work?

Related Links

NAWMN Partners and Contacts

Project Background

Extension Publications

Videos on Evapotranspiration Gauges and Sensors

Introduction to Watersheds

Focused Watershed Projects