With about 1.75 million Australians not connected to public wastewater management systems, the safe handling of sludge from home and industrial septic systems remains a problem for local authorities and related organisations contracted to deal with the waste.
“Dealing with receivals from residential, community, rural, and commercial premises is an enduring OH&S, environmental and efficiency issue that is growing, not shrinking,” said wastewater and environmental protection specialist, Michael Bambridge.
“The proportion of Australians not connected to a public system has remained pretty constant for the last decade at about seven per cent, so the issue is actually expanding in terms of absolute numbers,” said Mr Bambridge, whose CST Wastewater Solutions organisation manufactures a rugged stainless steel Septic Tanker Receival Station tailored particularly to the safe, low-maintenance needs of country areas, where the use of septic systems is most prevalent. Such systems are especially common in tourist and island destinations in and around Australia and New Zealand. CST septic receival stations have been widely used in Australia since 2005 and are now manufactured here.
To allow councils and operators to control and measure the discharges to their sewage plants, CST Wastewater Solutions’ receival packages include flowmeter, control valve, and fully automated controller, plus self-contained screen to remove septic solids before entering local sewage ponds, for example.
The tanker driver accesses the plant by using a designated fob and then driver connects to the CST system using a standard Kamlock fitting. This allows any discharges to be accounted, measured, and potentially charged to the tanker services delivering from homes and businesses.
All material above 5mm is removed and dewatered before the filtrate flows to the sewage plant inlet, lessening the chances of blockages.
The package system – designed to allow the tankers to discharge within 20-30 minutes – is engineered for reliability and simplicity of operation in areas where councils and wastewater operations do not have large engineering and operational staff.
Turnkey packages include:
- Design for local conditions, project management, control system, mechanical equipment, and installation
- A robust control system that includes data management of tanker discharge for efficient operation with direct discharge from tankers up to 100kL/h
- Complete stainless-steel fabrication, which provides superior resistance to corrosion, and which is totally enclosed for WHS compliance
- Optional integrated stone traps for separation of coarse material
- Heavy duty screening to process septage and industrial sludge that is delivered in tankers to wastewater treatment plants for further processing. The septic receival station removes rags, plastics and other non-biodegradable solids that can overload treatment plants and damage the environment
For higher-feed applications, CST Wastewater Solutions’ rotary drum system is also suitable for particular installations.
Filtrate can be further treated using CST’s Multi-disc KDS separator with the aid of chemical conditioning to significantly reduce the BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand), dewater, and compact the captured solids.
“Both the receival stations and the rotary drum systems are manufactured from high-quality stainless steel here in Australia to ensure they are optimally fit for purpose. They are built to achieve top standards of reliability and, importantly backed by onshore support in Australia and New Zealand for times when expansions, modifications and maintenance are required while ensuring services to sometime remote communities dependent on them.”
Featured image: Effluent flows into a waterway, creating expensive environmental issues. Image credit: CST Wastewater Solutions.
