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Water Treatment Plants


Bart1664

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Hi all

 

Came here to learn more about the real world knowledge and experience of WTP.

We are due to move shortly to a house that has an old septic tank that during survey 'suggested' it is no longer compliant and will need replacement. So, having started the research I am amazed at the amount of choice and inevitably, opinions there are. The criteria we have above all else is (apart from it actually working well) is that it must be as silent as possible (ideally completely) whether that the noise from the blower or the poo bubbles happening down below!

We've been recommended to the WPL Diamond DMS2 but have read on here a few alternative such as Solido Smart, BioPure, & Klargetser. We have also looked at Eco variety such as Biorock MONOBLOCK-2 which we like due to no electrics and hence no blower hum (although it can have a pump if necessary) We ran away quickly from some guy called 'Jason' claiming to have a system that worked on worms eating everything ? 

I'd be interested to hear any advice on real world experience of WTP (6 person) as I have little knowledge and certainly no experience of these private drainage systems.

Many thanks

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  • 3 weeks later...

Have you done a search on the forum for waste treatment plants (rather than water treatment plant) as there is a huge amount of information on the forum. 
 

This is one post on treatment plants for example 

 

 

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I think you will struggle to find a plant that is completely silent, I know i looked. I settled for a blower one and it was a bit noisy but by moving the pump to a new location and sound absorbing material it’s now virtually silent. Mine is a vortex.

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19 hours ago, PeterW said:

Have you done a search on the forum for waste treatment plants (rather than water treatment plant) as there is a huge amount of information on the forum. 
 

This is one post on treatment plants for example 

 

 

Thanks for the reply Peter.

Clearly showing my naivety on the subject! I did of course mean Sewage Treatment Plants (old septic tank).

Yea, I did have a look around the site but was left even more confused (if that we re possible) ?

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19 hours ago, joe90 said:

I think you will struggle to find a plant that is completely silent, I know i looked. I settled for a blower one and it was a bit noisy but by moving the pump to a new location and sound absorbing material it’s now virtually silent. Mine is a vortex.

Thanks Joe

That seems to be what a lot of people are saying and because we have moved away from a place where the neighbours had on one side a 'hot tub' and the other a large air con unit against the fence we really want to avoid 'noise' if at possible. 

I've been looking at one called Biorock https://biorock.co.uk/

Anyone had one?

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1 minute ago, ProDave said:

The only reason you have to upgrade a septic tank is if it discharges to a watercourse.  If the ST is working and drains to a land drain then there is no present reason why you have to replace it.

We had the tank surveyed at a cost of £350 where we are and (perhaps because they wanted to sell us a new one) created concern and doubt over the existing one complying with latest regs so we began to look around at our options. Another guy who services septic tanks locally looked at the survey report and he didn't believe it needed replacing. It gets more confusing!

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Bart,

we are in the same predicament as you. We need to replace our very old sewage treatment plant. We do not want to hear any noise from pumps or blowers. We have been looking at the biorock system which looks great in principal, but lots of companies say, oh you don’t want one of those! What did you decide?

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 17/01/2021 at 08:08, Peachy said:

Hi Bart,

we are in the same predicament as you. We need to replace our very old sewage treatment plant. We do not want to hear any noise from pumps or blowers. We have been looking at the biorock system which looks great in principal, but lots of companies say, oh you don’t want one of those! What did you decide?

Hi Peachy

 

I've PM'd you but for anyone else we chose  BioPure and are (so far using for last 2 weeks) very happy with our choice.

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One of the best systems is still a septic tank with a drainage field. Less to go wrong and compliant with the regulations (in most places - these are restricted in some areas).

 

You do, however, need enough space and suitable ground for a drainage field to be viable, plus maintenance of the drainage field (no tractors or cows allowed). But I'd rather a system which works 99% of the time with minimal maintenance to keep water clean, rather than that only works for 12 months.

 

The major problem with septic tanks is people disregarding the drainage field and discharging the effluent straight to watercourses.

Edited by George
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We had one years ago at a previous house and I think it was made by a company called Balmoral. It gave perfect service and very rarely needed to be emptied compared to a normal tank which we had at the house we moved to. The Balmoral one we had was silent and we only had it serviced once in 6 years which I think cost £70 but that was about 15 years ago. Our self-build is on mains but it wouldn't bother me at all if I was looking at a treatment plant instead, and it would probably be cheaper on an annual basis than mains (though would obviously take years to recoup the install costs before someone says). Well, that was my experience for what it's worth and I dare say they're even better these days.

 

The only irritation ours gave was it was difficult to hide the hatch and the electrical box for it but it had been fitted by the previous owners and could have been done much better with some thought. That would be my advice, carefully consider where you position the tank and the control box if it has one. Good luck.

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On 04/02/2021 at 13:40, George said:

The major problem with septic tanks is people disregarding the drainage field and discharging the effluent straight to watercourses.

Which is now against the regulations and not allowed.

 

I'm going for the cheapest septic tank I can find and will fit a discharge filter to reduce the solids being carried and install a well designed drainage field.

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4 minutes ago, Triassic said:

Which is now against the regulations and not allowed.

 

I'm going for the cheapest septic tank I can find and will fit a discharge filter to reduce the solids being carried and install a well designed drainage field.

 

I was going to go down the new septic route but not enough land to put a drainage field. Good luck to you. I was told though that the EA can't keep up with the work and have no idea how many homes have good, bad or ugly septic tanks anyway. Hopefully personal responsibility to do the right thing by the environment will ensure new ones are compliant!

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11 minutes ago, Bart1664 said:

Hopefully personal responsibility to do the right thing by the environment will ensure new ones are compliant!

The design of the system has to be signed off by Building Control, the septic tank has to be fully compliant, tested and approved to EN12566 Part 1 and the drainage field sized in accordance with the peculation test results (Approved Document H). Finally the discharge has to be registered and approved by the EA. (Guidance for the registration of small effluent discharges”, Environment Agency).

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8 minutes ago, Triassic said:

The design of the system has to be signed off by Building Control, the septic tank has to be fully compliant, tested and approved to EN12566 Part 1 and the drainage field sized in accordance with the peculation test results (Approved Document H). Finally the discharge has to be registered and approved by the EA. (Guidance for the registration of small effluent discharges”, Environment Agency).

Yes...'thems the rules' but in rural areas I understand that things are sometimes done slightly off piste!

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15 hours ago, Triassic said:

Which is now against the regulations and not allowed.

 

I'm going for the cheapest septic tank I can find and will fit a discharge filter to reduce the solids being carried and install a well designed drainage field.

 

Oh of course. Indeed, it's been in the rules for many years but the new regulations made it enforced when a house was being sold and now apply to everyone with no grandfather rights.

 

All my point was people seem to have jumped to the conclusion 'septic tank bad' which isn't the case when combined with drainage fields.

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  • 2 weeks later...
12 hours ago, Triassic said:

The next question is about the drainage field. Which is cheaper, perforated pipe and gravel bedding, or pre wrapped and filled drainage pipe (klargester easydrain)?

I am pretty familiar with septic tank/wastewater treatment and drainage fields but I hadn't heard of Ezy Drain.  On the face of it, it seems like a great product saving installation time and materials (i.e. no shingle/gravel or separate geotextile membrane).  The product itself is not stocked by the usual online discounters and the cheapest I could find online was £49 for 3m length.  I spoke to some installers and they didn't use it, presumably because it's not the most cost effective method.  Housebuilder's Bible has budget range for drainage field of £2-3.5k FWIW.

 

On 07/02/2021 at 18:07, Triassic said:

I'm going for the cheapest septic tank I can find and will fit a discharge filter to reduce the solids being carried and install a well designed drainage field.

Septic tank to drainage field may well be the lowest cost solution for both installation and maintenance.  Not sure about fitting a filter though as surely that would clog and cause problems?  My inherited planning permission requires a sewage treatment plant.  This gives the small benefit that the drainage field can be smaller (0.2 factor in the area calculation rather than 0.25) but more importantly the better effluent quality should extend the life of the drainage field.  It also mitigates the risk of the rules tightening further, potentially making discharge of septic tank to ground illegal.

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43 minutes ago, Triassic said:

Out of interest, which plant did you go for?

I am awaiting approval of my planning amendment so have not selected/purchase/installed the sewage treatment plant yet.  Based on my previous experience as a civil engineer working in wastewater treatment for a time and my research since starting on my self-build journey, I would suggest selecting an activated sludge type plant with three chambers (i.e. primary settlement/aeration/clarification) with the blower housed outside the plant.  I would avoid plants with mechanicals in the wastewater.

 

I thought you were going for the cheapest septic tank available.  Having second thoughts?

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23 minutes ago, Phaedrus said:

thought you were going for the cheapest septic tank available.  Having second thoughts?

I’m always considering my options. My current position is the cheapest septic tank. I can’t justify the extra £1000+ for a treatment plant.

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