What To Avoid Putting Into Your Sewage Treatment Plant

Caring for your sewage treatment plant

By owning a sewage treatment plant, you are responsible for the water that enters the environment. You can ensure the treatment plant does its job well by following the advise in this article.

This article gives you a list of items you shouldn’t be putting into the sewage treatment plant and why you shouldn’t be doing it.

Items that may block the sewage treatment plant

Sewage treatment plants sometimes have pumps or moving parts, it is highly advisable to avoid anything that can block up a pump or interfere with the internal workings of a system. Things to avoid are:

• Sanitary material
• Wet wipes/face wipes
• Rags/cloths
• Nappies
• Soft toys

These should be disposed of in a bin. A polite notice can be written for guests and a bin provided next to the Toilet.

Substances that will kill bacteria

A sewage treatment plant is a mechanism for enhancing bacterial growth. It is the bacteria that digest pollutants in the water prior to it being discharged into the environment. Substances that will have a negative effect on bacterial growth are:

• Motor oil, grease, anti-freeze, brake fluid, etc.
• Weed-killers, insecticides, fungicides and other gardening chemicals
• Medicines – all should be taken to your nearest pharmacy for safe disposal
• Paint, thinners, white spirit, turpentine, creosote, etc.
• Photographic developing fluids
• Large quantities of bleach
• Large quantities of washing detergent

The last 2, bleach and washing detergent can be used, but try not to use too much. Spread washing loads throughout the week and if at all possible, buy Eco-friendly detergents that don’t contain bleach like the Faith in nature detergent

Substances that can biologically overload a treatment plant

A sewage treatment plant is sized to handle a certain amount of organic waste (from us!). Too much organic waste will biologically overload the system resulting in poor quality final effluent (the water that comes out). You should minimise the following:

• Cooking oil and fat – This will smell really bad, and can coat any filter material in the treatment plant preventing the growth of bacteria.
• Food waste – This should be broken down in our bodies, not the treatment plant. Catch all food waste from going down sinks with a strainer and scrape plates into a bin prior to washing.
• Pet waste – Disposing of pet waste into a treatment plant is not good. It is like adding another person to the system.

Take Home Message

Bacteria are living organisms that like organic waste as food. Keep them happy and you will avoid a smelly sewage treatment plant which could be polluting the land.