Sewage Solutions - Sewage Treatment Plants or Septic Tanks

Sewage Treatment Plants or Septic Tanks

Sewage Solutions Ltd

Independent suppliers of Drainage and Sewage products

Septic tanks do not really treat the sewage but split it into liquid effluent and solids, which are removed once a year by a tanker. The traditional septic tanks as shown above, were built in brick, block or concrete. They had a large surface area in contact with the air, so some aerobic digestion took place, as in a sewage treatment plant. However, the modern fibreglass 'onion' shaped septic tanks have very little surface area interface between the air and the effluent and the effluent which comes out is often more polluting than that which goes in. The liquid part of the septic tank effluent is highly polluting and is NOT allowed to be discharged to any watercourse, or find its way into a watercourse as it strips the oxygen out of the water and kills all life in it.

Septic tank effluent also kills all earthworms, beetles, etc. which live in or near the soil of the soakaway.

Because of these factors, septic tanks are generally no longer accepted for sewage treatment in rural areas.

A sewage treatment plant treats sewage by providing an environment in which aerobic (oxygen-breathing) bacteria are cultured. These bacteria digest the biological matter in the sewage. Because the bacteria are aerobic, they need free access to oxygen, usually via an air pump or compressor.

Most sewage treatment plants still settle out the solids first in a primary settlement tank for regular emptying by tanker, and simply treat the organic matter in the liquid part of the sewage. Bio Pure sewage plants digest the solids as well in an extended aeration process and achieve 95% to 97% total solids digestion.

The main differences are shown in the table below:-

	Septic Tank	Crystal
Removes the Pollutants	NO	YES
Noxious smells	YES	NO
Regular Emptying	YES	NO
Pollution Risk to Water	YES	NO
Kills Earthworms and soil fauna	YES	NO
Expensive Installation	YES	NO
Requires Electricity	NO	YES (very little)

Stricter guidelines on the design of soakaways will mean that even fewer successful septic tank treatment installations are likely in the future.

Think very carefully before installing a septic tank as future legislation could mean that the septic effluent is no longer clean enough to be discharged, even to ground.

If you have an existing septic tank and would like to upgrade it to a full sewage treatment plant which can discharge into a watercourse, then a Bio Pure sewage treatment plant is the ideal solution.

Please Call 0800 0978 130

. For more information please call 0800 097 8130.

We Install sewage treatment plants in: Middlesex, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Somerset, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Berkshire, Oxon, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Avon, Gloucestershire, Surrey, Essex, London, Basingstoke, Alton, Andover, Salisbury, Winchester, Petersfield, Liss, Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet, Hook, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Reading, Tadley, Thatcham, Newbury, Slough, Heathrow, Bracknell, Woking, Guildford, London, South London, South West London, North London, Wokingham, Farnham, Swindon, Fareham, Ringwood, Maidenhead, High Wycombe, Eastleigh, Chandlers ford, New Forest, New Milton, Richmond, Kingston, We Supply sewage treatment plants Europe wide! For a full list of towns and cities click here!

Sewage treatment alternative, consent to discharge, Environment Agency