What is a domestic wastewater treatment plant?
It is a system that takes all household wastewater, treats it through 4 stages of treatment and recycles the water by irrigation on a landscaped area.The four stages are:
- Primary anaerobic digestion and sedimentation.
- Aerobic biological oxidation of primary effluent.
- Chlorination to destroy pathogens.
- Nutrient removal by transpiration and evaporation.
How does it work
Stage One - Solids are broken down by anaerobic bacteria, which is a bacteria that thrives without oxygen and lighting within the septic tank. In time, most of the solids will decompose or break up, others will not and these collect at the bottom of the tank as sludge.Stage Two - The effluent from the primary stage (stage one) still contains dangerous substances which are attacked by aerobic bacteria. Aerobic bacteria require oxygen for their continued existence. The bacteria grow on a filtered media which is aerated by a positive blower or aerator, by rotating contractors or by a plastic media trickling filter. The aerobic bacteria work by attacking the dangerous substances in the liquid and uniting them with oxygen to form harmless nitrates.
Stage Three - The effluent now passes over solid chlorine tablet into an effluent storage compartment which provides adequate chlorine contact time.
Stage Four - Nutrient removal by transpiration and evaporation is accomplished by an automatic pump distributing the effluent to the irrigated area via an irrigation system.