Sewage Solutions: Your Experts in Wastewater Management

Aerated plants can be very small and very large, in small package plants air is diffused into the wastewater, the natural bacteria created in sewage starts to feed on the waste whilst being given oxygen, this method is the best way to treat all wastewater,  and if kept optimised will treat sewage very efficiently. 

Most biological plants that we service are over 40 years old and still going, this process involves wastewater to be trickled over porous material that will allow bacteria to grow onto but also allows the bacteria access to oxygen, and not be completely submerged. The trickle trough needed a real clean on this plant, the flow was being pushed away from the splash plates.

Septic tanks are big usually underground tanks that hold and contain wastewater, the wastewater is held and contained in the tanks for awhile until the tank is full, a tanker is then required to remove the waste. Its expensive to have a septic tank, there is a risk of overflowing which can pollute the area, the septicity can smell and give off toxic fumes.

As fat cools down it sticks together and forms balls and can get even so large they cause major pollutions and blockages, the sidmouth fatberg is a good example. Fat causes all kinds of problems ranging from blocked pipes to pump burn out, it will also form around float switches and prevent them from controlling pumps. i used to work on a big 2000ltr per second treatment works and the rats were not afraid of humans and are massive.

Rag is a huge expensive problem in sewage systems, it blocks up diffusers in aeration plants suffocating bacteria and turning the plant septic, blocks the trickle filters on biological plants starving the bacteria of food and drying it out, it blocks pipes and pumps and it can conceal needles and razor blades, I have come across a lot of these dangers in my experience. most wet wipe brand says on the packet (FLUSHABLE) this just means it can be flushed down the toilet, it does not break down like toilet tissue.

Land Drainage was very popular if there was enough land to filtrate the effluent into the ground, its not ideal as it can easily pollute the land, all the pipes have to be clear from roots and debris to allow the sewage to travel the full lengths of the pipework for an even distribution, a septic tank is still required to capture the rubbish and solids and to allow the solids to settle into sludge, this will still need to be tankered away at least once a year to prevent excessive septicity entering the ground. installation requires a specific calculation of length of pipe, distance apart and flows.

Sampling is the key to correct and efficient treatment, without sampling then its difficult to tell how healthy the bacteria is etc. every treatment plant that discharges into a watercourse or ditch should have a discharge licence issued by the Environment Agency, pollutants that enter the watercourse from treatment works and  package plants include, Ammonia NH3 is toxic to fish and aquatic life in high levels. suspended solids SS is how cloudy the sample is, this is usually because a sludge holding tank needs emptying. BOD biological demand. P phosphates and Nitrates, COD Chemical Oxygen Demand. FE Iron, AI Aluminium and many more pollutants, each with a specific way to test and treat.