What Are Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plants?
When people think of domestic wastewater treatment plants, they often think of septic tanks. Interestingly enough, they are not the same thing, and, while they share commonalities, they also differ from one another in several ways.
What is a septic tank?
A septic tank is defined as an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass or plastic through which domestic wastewater flows for basic treatment (EcoSeptic also offers septic tanks as part of our services). Septic tanks are often installed for the purification and recycling of wastewater collected from sinks and showers, as water flowing from these locations are generally benign and light in waste products. Due to this, natural settling and anaerobic processes easily reduce solids and organics, but the treatment efficiency is only moderate.
What is a domestic wastewater treatment plant?
Wastewater treatment systems work much more efficiently than septic tanks, as their aeration systems are powered by a pump, assisting in the flow of oxygen to decompose organic compounds. As you can see, a key difference lies in the method of aeration. When dealing with light wastewater, allowing time for natural bacteria to reduce solid waste comes with no consequence. When dealing with sewage wastewater, however, it is not desirable to allow naturally occurring bacteria extended periods of time to breakdown the water’s waste content. This does not mean to suggest that septic tanks are the more natural or eco-friendly approach to wastewater treatment. Both are, in fact, environmentally sustainable and both rely on naturally occurring bacteria, its just that in domestic wastewater treatment plants, the bacteria are helped along by pumps.
Domestic treatment plants, like septic tanks, do require emptying and servicing at regular intervals, although the interval will depend on the size of the plant as well as the usage. Our professionals at EcoSeptic will assist you in selecting the right size treatment plant for your home and will also take care of servicing and maintenance requirements.
Contact us for a free and fast quote:
We cover all Sydney suburbs, regions of Southern Highlands, North and Mid-North Coast, South Coast, Snowy Mountains, Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury, Riverina, Laguna, Narooma, Bateman’s Bay, Nowra, Cobargo, Mallacoota, Moruya, Mogo, Dural, Glenn Ines, Werrington, Balmoral, Kenthurst, East Kurrajong, Lowe MacDonald, Braidwood, Grose Wold and the surrounding areas.
