Bacteria is what enables wastewater to be treated and safely disposed of. This applies to home septic systems as well as municipal sewage treatment plants.
The treatment difference between the two systems is the amounts of bacteria involved. A home septic system uses the same three types of bacteria aerobic, facultative, and obligate anaerobic. Aerobic bacteria require oxygen induced compressed air and are more aggressive than anaerobic bacteria, which live off non-oxygen containing food. Typically there are very few aerobic bacteria in your septic tank. A septic tank itself does not have a pure oxygen supply. Facultative bacteria also need oxygen. It can use either molecular (dissolved) oxygen or oxygen obtained from food material or sulfates or nitrates ions from wastewater and other sources. This is what produces the "rotten egg odor, " also known as hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S)
The problem with anaerobic bacteria is that they leave the septic tank and go into the leach field bed of the septic system. The anaerobic bacteria continue to feed on the non-oxygen containing unfiltered foods in the wastewater. In the process, they eventually build up a thick layer of smelly, slimy bacteria that clogs the leach field beds. Wastewater then accumulates above the bacteria layer. This causes odorous ponds and septic tank backups.
Municipal wastewater treatment plants introduce oxygen into the holding tank to enable aerobic bacteria to decompose the solids in the wastewater. Healthy aerobic bacteria work faster, are odorless and do not clog drainage systems.
The solution to most home septic systems, problems or preventative maintenance, is to introduce oxygen into the septic tank. This encourages healthy, active aerobic bacteria to decompose the solids in the wastewater. The wastewater discharged to the leach field bed now contains a substantial amount of oxygen. This severely limits the amount of non-oxygen waste that the anaerobic bacteria need to live. They are starved and disappear from the leach field beds again allowing the wastewater to properly filter through the leach field bed.
Older aerated septic systems like Aqua Safe and Aqua Aire use 8 to 200 liters per minute of air from various types of air compressors. Their largest system uses 200 liters per minute or 10 cubic foor per minute. These systems offer high airflow, noisy and high maintenance compressors and lots 2238of suspended solids in the wastewater as it flows into the leach field. They require septic filters before the aerated water goes into leach field.
Newer types of aerated systems like the Aero-Stream and Sweetfilter use 1 to 4 liters per minute or 0.1 to 0.25 cubic foot per minute. These systems offer noiseless compressors and very few suspended solids in the leaving aerated water; septic filters are seldom required.
When you install an aeration system on you septic tank your system operates like a municipal sewage plant. The big difference in the two newer systems is Aero-Stream operates on electrical power, you have added expense to your bill. The Sweetfilter is solar, you never pay a power bill to operate your aerator, and you are helping to make this island home our earth GREEN!
Dick Pennington
http://www.DickPennington.com
Email or call me for more information!
DickPennington@comcast.net
1-484-624-4909
Pennington Equipment Company
Life Customer Service
Toll Free: 1-888-261-4726
VoiceFax: 1-866-422-0018
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