Septic tanks and sewage treatment

Sewage Treatment and Septic Tanks

Many buildings simply don’t have access to the mains sewer system and need a Septic Tank. Usually, these structures are in remote areas where the infrastructure is simply not available. A property not connected to mains sewage drains will most likely have or require a cesspool, septic tank or sewage treatment plant. This is very common in remote and rural locations. These cheap to run systems have no connection to the public sewerage system. We call this off-mains drainage.

3 Types of Sewage Tank

Basically, there are 3 types of tank offering different levels of treatment.

1. A simple holding tank, known as a cesspool has no sewage system. Cesspools hold the waste which empties via a vacuum tank before the tank fills. High running costs and the frequency of tank purges are the biggest downsides for these systems. They keep 100% of the waste within the tank, therefore they require no soak-away or drainage.
2. Septic Tanks design is to provide primary crude sewage water treatment. It retains solids and allows them to settle out in a primary settlement chamber. Here they are partially broken down by biological action so that only the remaining liquor (normally called effluent) is then sufficiently treated. The Effluent can then soak from the septic system into the ground in an underground soak-away system. There the oxygen and bacteria in the earth will provide further biological treatment.
3. Sewage Treatment Plants are designed to treat the waste to a much cleaner level within the tank. Treated wastewater is up to 97% clean and is allowed to drain into a watercourse, stream, ditch or soak-away system. We achieve this by introducing more oxygen and/or mechanical devices to anaerobically digest the waste. This allows for fast biological decomposing to take place. To achieve this on larger installations they use a system of several tanks forming a wastewater treatment plant. Each specifically designed to process waste sewage using different methods.

Treatment Process

Some systems have separate chambers with different treatment processes. Initially, they pass the waste through a settlement tank, separating the clarified water from the solid matter. The Solid Mass then begins to biodegrade. An Aeration Chamber is the secondary treatment process. A combo of mobile Filter Media and a Bubble Diffuser encourage bacteria to break down the waste in a biological reaction. Then a final Effluent Tank allows the remaining small solids to sink to the bottom. The Clarified Effluent can then naturally drain from the plant via displacement allowing the earth to further treat it.

Soak-away systems

A sewage treatment system without access to open drainage or a septic tank will require a well designed and installed a soak-away system. This allows the discharge from the tank to soak away into the ground for further biological treatment. Lack of maintenance and soak-away systems, that cannot cope with the rate of output, cause problems with septic tanks and systems for obvious reasons.

Where you might find them

Work sites are often without on-site toilets and washing stations however, it is possible to provide a better standard in the workplace with in-situ waste treatment. It is worth it to be up to date with the Health and Safety Regulations on a works site to avoid problems. We offer excellent temporary effluent waste storage tanks for siting underneath toilet blocks, kitchens, canteens and welfare units!

These systems are within the binding rules of environmental agencies. However, if you are unsure you should call us on 01722 714514 or Contact Us via email.