Sewage treatment plant

[carlsbergy]

Hi, not sure if this is the right section. I am in the process of buying a house, which is an old farm cottage. There are 6 cottages, around the back it looks like there is some kind of sewage plant. There are two circular green plastic tops on the ground, a vent sticking up from the ground and the sound of a pump humming permanently. Any assistance in what type of sewage treatment this is would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Burnerman]

Basically this is a septic tank system, very commonly used world wide where there isn't a connection to mains drainage.
Effectively, sewage solids are broken down by natural bacteria, and a clean (ish) effluent is fed to soil drainage over a large area....no effluent comes to the surface.
The system you have is a more complex bio digester type, where either a large volume of sewage is to be dealt with, or the effluent needs to drain closer to the surface than normal.
John

 

[Nige F]

The humming pump will be aerating the sewage - the system`s maintenance/replacement will be down to the users of the system - the 6 cottages . The details of who pays what and when should be in writing somewhere

 

[carlsbergy]

Thanks John

 

[carlsbergy]

Thanks Nige

 

[Burnerman]

The golden (or brown rule)......don't put anything down the loo unless its been eaten first, and that triple ply loo roll is a no-no too - together with those 'wipes' that are non degradable....removing them is such a pleasure!
John

 

[Boilerman2]

You might find that the Water Authority for your area is now responsible for the maintenance of this plant - last year the water Co's had to assume responsibillity for many previously private drains and Klargester systems
worth making enquiries about this!

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Possibly something akin to this: http://www.klargester.com/products/biotec-5-7.htm Good advice been given so far, also bear in mind it will need desludging at intervals (or will bung up and fail!), and often worthwhile getting an annual service to ensure the plant remains functional.

These things are often neglected until something goes wrong then there's panic stations when effluent is appearing in places it shouldnt.....

 

[carlsbergy]

Thanks for all your assistance

 

[Stivino]

It sounds like you are describing an RBC, Rotating Biological Contactor, sometimes called a biodisc.
http://tinyurl.com/lyu4eh9

 

[carlsbergy]

I have been told it is a septic tank, thanks all

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Assuming you do/or have bought the property then follow the advice given previously and hopefully the tank will give many trouble free years of service. Main things are not to treat it as a waste disposal unit, human waste/tissue will break down quite easily, anything else wont, avoid excessive use of detergents, (esp. bleach!) and get it serviced/emptied on a regular basis.

Once these things do go wrong it is a messy affair to clean it out and can then be a difficult process to get the correct workings restablished. Whilst it is designed to effectively treat sewage, a large part of the process still relies on naturally occurring bacteria to break down the waste.

 

[magnicon]

Had a look at one for a friend last week,as you describe it has two green fibreglass covers,under one is the biodisc (belt off and motor flooded) and under the other one is a deep sump with a submersible pump to take the effluent to (he doesn't know where).Horrible job.
You can buy some powdered bacteria stuff to flush down the loo if bacterial action is lost,works really well.