IBC/ Cesspools

An IBC/ cesspool is simply a single-chamber storage tank with no outlet.

The tank is usually very large (as it has to contain all waste water & sewage) and often made from concrete, brick or grp. The only way to dispose of the waste is by hiring a licensed sewage contractor to remove the sewage for off-site disposal.

The use of cesspools is no longer an option in most instances and new installations are banned in Scotland.

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How IBC/ Cesspools in Scotland work

IBC/ Cesspools are simply storage tanks, often underground, and hold untreated sewage.

There is no treatment process in IBC/ cesspools and are generally used when it's not possible to pump wastewater to a mains sewer, the ground conditions aren't suitable for the effluent to soak away, or,  where there's no watercourse for treated waste to be discharged to.

They can be good option on temporary sites or those that don't produce much waste, and because they are completely sealed, they're also good for environmentally sensitive sites, where even treated effluent could be a pollution problem.

Maintaining your IBC/ Cesspool in Scotland

Wastewater needs to be tankered away regularly, which is where we come in. Your job is to simply check the sewage levels and give us a a quick call when the tank's almost full. it is recommended that you check your cesspool at least once a fortnight. If a full tank isn't emptied it will overflow and you'll notice unpleasant smells, drains backing up, and pools of waste appearing around manhole covers. This kind of pollution can lead to prosecution and hefty fines.

Septic Tanks

A septic tank is a multi-chamber storage tank allowing liquid (effluent) and solid waste (sludge) to separate, the effluent flows out of the system, usualy in to a soakaway.

Sewage enters a settlement chamber, allowing solid waste (sludge) to sink and the liquid (effluent) to rise to the surface. the surface liquid makes contact with oxygen and the organic matter starts to breakdown biologically. While this liquid (effluent) still contains sewage it is in small enough particles to be carried through the discharge outlet and into the ground (soakaway).

Only partial treatment takes place in septic tanks, and the treated effluent is often low quality and smelly. 

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How Septic Tanks in Scotland Work

Wastewater leaves your property via the plumbing system, and enters the septic tank. Here, gravity separates solids and liquids. the heavy solids (known as sludge) build up at the bottom of the tank, while lighter greases and oils, or scum, float to the top of the liquid layer. Micro-organisms begin to break down the contaminants in the liquid, which are naturally present, partially treating the wastewater. This process generates natural gases, which are released through installed plumbing vents.

The liquid in the tank (called effluent) flows into a soakaway system. This will usually be a series of pipes, set underground in a bed of crushed rock, that allow the effluent to seep slowly into the ground. The rock acts as a filter, while natural bacteria helps break down the waste even further.

Maintaining your Septic Tank in Scotland

At least once a year, you'll need to arrange for your septic tank to be desludged. This keeps your tank working efficiently and helps prevent irreversable damage to your soakaway. 

Every septic tank system is designed to handle a certain volume of waste. If more people are using the tank, you might need to have it emptied more often, or increase the size of the tank or soakaway to cope with the extra usage.

If you don't have your tank desludged regularly, sludge builds up which means there's less space for new solids to settle. The new sludge would then get carried through the system in to the soakaway, which will cause irreversable damage called 'blinding' and will block the soakaway; making the whole system ineffective. You'll know you've got a problem when:-

• Sinks and toilets take a long time to drain;
• Sewage backs up in to the prooerty;
• Manholes or the tank itself overflows, or pools appear around the tank or soakaway area.

Sewage Treatment Plants

A sewage treatment plant is a sewage-works system that converts raw sewage into water (effluent) and solid waste (sludge). These ‘packaged’ plants come in all shapes and sizes but treat the waste using the same principles - combining oxygen and food (organic waste) to speed up a natural biological breakdown. 

All treatment plants need routine maintenance to keep them working at their optimum levels but treat them right and they are an environmentally friendly way of solving an off-mains drainage problem when a pumping station is not possible.

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How Sewage Treatment Plants in Scotland work

Sewage treatment plants create an artificial environment to speed up the natural process of breaking down the pollutants in sewage. The treated effluent can then be safely discharged into a local watercourse or soakaway system.

There are three main process types:-

• Rotating biological contactor (rbc);
• Aerated filter;
• Submerged aerated media (sam).

Primary treatment

Solid matter (sludge) separates from liquid waste and settles at the bottom of the primary settlement tanks, while lighter material forms a layer of scum on the top of the liquid. Sludge and scum need to be removed regularly. If it's not removed, the sludge will build up and eventually carry over into the secondary treatment stage, where it could interfere with the biological process, block the biological filter or pollute the watercourse or soakaway. 

Secondary treatment

The remaining liquid is broken down by live, naturally occurring micro-organisms (biomass) until the quality is high enough for it to be safely discharged to a watercourse or soakaway. The biomass is fed with oxygen to speed up the digestion process.

Final settlement

This final stage allows the contents of the humus tank to settle out. Where discharge consent is more stringent, tertiary treatment is likely. This adds significantly to overall process costs (i.e. nitrification units, sand filters and reed beds). Not forgetting the need for more frequent desludging.

Final disposal

If a watercourse is available and you've been given permission by the environment agency, this is the simplest way to dispose of the treated effluent.

Maintaining your Sewage Treatment Plant in Scotland

Regular tanker visits are essential to prevent sludge and scum building up in the tank. equally as important is having the system maintained by a properly trained engineer. 

Day to day you’ll need to keep the system and electrics well looked after – it is recommended that you get into the habit of inspecting the plant every day to check everything’s working properly. Its crucial the electricity supply is never turned off, as this will stop the treatment plant from working.

Your sewage treatment plant should be desludged and serviced at least once a year. However, each system is different and you should always arrange a desludge and service inline with the manufactures recommendations. This will ensure your sewage treatment plant is in proper working order and that your not breaking the law.

Pump Stations

If you pollute the surrounding area you could face prosecution and some hefty fines. If the biomass is harmed, it will usually recover with time and patience. But until it does, you’ll have to live with a pretty foul smell. A pump station is a chamber with electrical pumps inside. they are designed simply to move wastewater (or sewage) uphill or over a distance where gravity is insufficient to provide the required flowrate. 

Consisting of a chamber with either single or multiple electric pump units, the pump station is tailored to site conditions, automatically monitoring and maintaining a specific flow of wastewater over a certain length and height. pump stations are the most environmentally friendly option available if your property is within 30m of a mains sewer. Alarms are often fitted to warn of any blockage or failure.

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How Pumping Stations in Scotland Work

If the mains sewer is above the level of the property, you'll need a pump to raise the waste to the required level. Here, we'll install a chamber below the level of the house. waste discharged into the chamber is then automatically pumped out in to the sewer. Pumped mains need to be serviced, desludged and jetted regularly. some debris will build up in the bottom and sides of the chamber, so you'll need us to come and clear it from time to time. We'll also jet-wash the chamber to remove any build-up on the walls, float controls ans the pump itself.

An alarm can alert you of any problems, but if you don't have one fitted it's best to take a quick look at the chamber every day. The electrics and mechanics will need to be kept in good working order too.

If you don't get the sludge/ debris removed, solids and grits can build up in the chamber and cause damage to the pump - it's essential for keeping the pump and float switches working properly, and if the equipment isn't services regularly, the pump itself could fail - which can be an expensive replacement and may involve a number of emergency tanker attendances.

The pump chamber usually holds 24 hours' worth of waste, after which waste will either overflow or back up to the property.

Soakaways

If you have a sewage treatment plant or septic tank, you’ll probably have a soakaway system which takes the treated effluent from the tank and disperses it into the ground. The most common way of doing this is to use a herringbone layout of rigid, slotted pipework surrounded by drainage stone. 

Your could also have a reed bed is a product often specified in order to obtain an even higher level of water quality of a treatment plant before it seeps out into the surrounding land or watercourse. 

Soakaways have a limited lifespan which is heavily affected by the quality and volume of effluent dispersed through it. Typically soakaways last up to 10-25 years. the main cause of soakaway failures failing to have regular desludges carried out on your septic tank or sewage treatment plant, which allows untreated waste to flow in to the soakaway and causes a binging effect on the surrounding crushed rock preventing the soakaway from working correctly, this is irreversible.

Grease Traps

Fats, oils and grease (fog's) can create big problems for your business, left unchecked, and land you with some pretty hefty fines - as well as bad publicity for your business.

Grease traps are equipment used to treat the wastewater produced by kitchens and food processing areas. The waste usually contains a mixture of fog (fat, oils and grease) that has lesser density than water and therefor floats on the surface of the water. Grease trap helps in the separation of such fog particles from the wastewater and prevent them from flowing through the drainage pipe.

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How Grease Traps in Scotland work

Separated fats, oils & grease are retained inside the grease trap by a series of baffled chambers and the solid food waste is contained by the internal strainer basket whereas the cleaner 'grey' wastewater passes through the separator via a submerged outlet to the main drain.

Maintaining your Grease Trap in Scotland

Monthly visits are essential and are also a legal requirement to prevent fats, oils & grease from entering the public drainage network. Most system also have filters that require periodic replacement. 

The uk building regulations (part h 2.21) states that:-

• Drainage serving kitchens in commercial hot food premises should be fitted with a grease separator complying with en 1825-1 and designed in accordance with en 1825-2 or other effective means of grease removal.

BSEN 1825 1 and 2 standard states that:-

• Grease traps should be emptied at least once a month or preferably twice a month; 
• When it is 25% full of grease it should be emptied.