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Crites and Tchobanoglous (1998) list a typical flow rate of 50 to 70 gallons per person per day for an individual residence. In the past, San Joaquin County Environmental Health Department has requested that the flow rate be calculated as 140 gallons per bedroom per day to reflect maximum usage. On March 4, 2020, however, Michael Kith of the San Joaquin County Environmental Health Department dictated a new procedure for calculating residential flow, developed in consultation with Norman Hantzsche (author of the 1992 paper discussed previously). He indicated that wastewater flow from a single-family residence should be calculated as 100 gallons per day (gpd) for the first bedroom and 50 gpd for each additional bedroom; additional residences should be calculated in the same manner (personal communication, March 4, 2020). Using this method, the existing three-bedroom home and future second unit dwelling each contribute a flow of 200 gpd, and the possible two-bedroom accessory dwelling unit would contributes 150 gpd. The total flow for the Site is therefore estimated to be 400 gpd with two dwellings or 550 gpd with three dwellings. A typical residential concentration of 35 mg/L of nitrate as N was selected for the existing and future homes (Crites and Tchobanoglous, 1998). The estimated flow values discussed here should not be used for the design and sizing of the septic system. The design and sizing of the septic system should utilize the San Joaquin County Environmental Health Department On -Site Wastewater Treatment Systems Standards, which incorporates peak and surge flow factors. The estimates used in the On -Site Wastewater Treatment Systems Standards may be greater than those discussed here. Denitrification Reductions Denitrification is a process that occurs in the septic system drain field whereby certain bacteria oxidize the nitrate (NO3) in the wastewater and release nitrogen gas (N2) to the atmosphere. Due to the biologic processes in the shallow soils, nitrogen in the drain field may undergo a reduction between 10 percent to 35 percent. Soils with higher clay content, moist soil conditions, high pH, and organic material denitrify by about 35 percent, and soils with high sand content tend to denitrify at a lower rate of about 10 percent. A standard denitrification factor of 25 percent was selected for the Site because of the mixed silt and sand soil type observed at the percolation test location. Nitrate Loading Estimate Two nitrate loading scenarios were employed to determine the impact from the existing and proposed homes to ground water. The scenarios utilize the variables discussed previously, which represent the estimated conditions and uses associated with this LOGE 2234 Page 11