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Thousands of homes in the rural areas of the U.S., as well as many businesses, use onsite systems to treat their wastewater. This article will examine problems associated with treating commercially generated wastewater onsite. It will also suggest ways to treat nonresidential wastewater to an acceptable level. T Commercial establishments funeral homes, taxidermy shops, car washes, beauty shops, food processing facilities, restaurants and nursing homes are often located in rural areas and use onsite systems for wastewater treatment. However, a restaurant or dry cleaning establishment produces very different wastewater from what a residence produces, both in quantity and quality. When these differences are not planned for, and sewage treatment plant systems often fail.
This issue describes character- istics of wastewater from various sources and sug- gests treatment solutions. Wastewater characteris- tics refers to the contaminants in the effluent. As a rule, an onsite waste- water treatment system design is based solely on how much liquid waste must be treated. Designers commonly assume that the quality of the wastewater, which means the concentration of various elements in the waste, is similar to residential waste. However, wastewater from some commercial enterprises is very different in concentration and flow rates. Generally, commercial establishments produce wastewater considered high strength and often produce this effluent at sporadically high flow rates. (Note that some specific commercial installations fall under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]"Class V Injection Wells" ruling and, as such, are not allowed to use any type of onsite wastewater treatment system.
When a wastewater engineer uses the term "high-strength" wastewater, it can mean it contains greater amounts of fats, oils, and greases (FOG) or other organic components than residential wastewater. It can also mean the effluent contains large quantities of suspended solids or high amounts of certain chemicals, such as disinfectants. Any or all of these components can interfere with the normal biological processes most onsite sys- tems use. These characteristics vary from day to day, even hour to hour, and they can have a major impact on how a system performs. The major concern of having high amounts of organic components (high organic loading) in wastewater is drainfield clogging. Physical clog- ging occurs when solid material, such as grit, organic material, and grease, flows beyond the septic tank to the soil absorption field, where it is deposited on the biomat. Biological clogging generally occurs when excessive organic elements flow into the bio mat. Microbes, bacteria, etc. grow so fast that the effluent can't pass into the soil. Chemical clogging often occurs in clay type soils when high concentrations of sodium ions (salt) cause the soil to lose its structure and not allow the effluent to flow through. The major concern of having high amounts of organic components (high organic loading) in wastewater is drainfield clogging. Treatment plants are generally designed for average peak flow rates and average wastewater characteristics. Designing a treatment plant based only on these average values will result in sewage treatment plants that may not be able to handle peak conditions. Conversely, if a plant is designed for peak conditions, it may be too big to function well the rest of the time.
About The Septic Tank ShopWe have been installing repairing and selling septic tanks and sewage treatment systems for many years now. For free advice please contact us or visit www.theseptictankshop.co.uk
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