Magic worms

[scottishjohn]

https://www.septictank.co.uk/how-to-beat-the-2020-septic-tank-ban/

 

first thing is this true that 2020 could be a problem for those without a proper recorded of tank servicing.

secondly ,if its red worms will they be the same as live in the bottom of my pond,which the fish dig for all the time?

looks like a con --but maybe some mileage in dumping some from a pond in the septic tank 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

I think it's a con, for the simple reason that all worms are "oxygen breathers" (aerobic), like us (except worms "breathe" through their skin).  A septic tank is, exactly as its name implies, anaerobic, so there will be virtually no free oxygen available in the tank sludge at all.  It is this lack of oxygen in the tank sludge and effluent that causes so much environmental damage when septic tanks leak or land drains stop working (as they always do), as the effluent that ends up in watercourses etc has a very high biological oxygen demand (BOD).  This high BOD results in the organisms in the effluent depleting the oxygen in any watercourse it's been spilled into, causes the death of fish, crustaceans, and pretty much all other forms of waterborne life.

 

Treatment plants are very different, in that they are aerobic, as all use some form of aeration in order to treat the effluent.  The result is that the discharge from a treatment plant has a low BOD, so can be safely discharged into a watercourse, with no requirement for land drains.  Additionally, if land drains are used with a treatment plant, they will have a very long life, as they won't cause oxygen depletion in the surrounding soil, which is the thing that always causes septic tank land drains to fail to work properly after a few years.

[Hastings]

@dogman says he has worms living in his:

It must depend very much on the exact conditions present.

[Jeremy Harris]

It cannot be a septic tank, as by definition a septic tank is anaerobic, hence the need for tertiary aerobic treatment in order to make the effluent safe, by reducing it's BOD.  If worms are living in the thing then it has to be non-septic and aerobic, although how it remains aerobic when being filled with high BOD effluent I've no idea.

[Roger440]

That link is wrong on so many levels.

The new rules coming into force do not mean your septic tank is no longer legal, UNLESS its discharging to a watercourse.

Their proposed worms are for the soakaway.

If you have a soakaway, then the new rules dont apply.

Plus of course, id like to see anyone prove that the worms have made a system compliant for discharge to a water course. Do they have an EA cert for this? Errr, No

Irresponsible marketing and taking advatage of peoplesognorance.