Guaranteed Effluent Quality

That is a big statement!  But one that we will put our reputation on. 

"Biotank Ltd. guarantee, that for a Biokube system that has a maintenance agreement in place, that the quality of the effluent coming from the system will meet the standard specified at the time of order."

The annual maintenance agreement requires Biotank Ltd. or our appointed agents, to service the tank once per year.  At this time Biotank Ltd. will also test the quality of the outgoing effluent stream to confirm the levels of contaminants in the effluent are within limits. Click here for an example of Biokube test results and analysis

We believe that we are the only company in the UK that is currently prepared to give such a guarantee.

European Standard EN 12566

A requirement of the EN 12566 standard for small systems less than 50 PE is that packaged sewage treatment systems, such as the BioKube, treat sewage to a certain quality and to the National Standard required in the country that the product will be used.  The BioKube was tested in Denmark to their quality standard.  A standard which is far tighter than the current UK Royal Commission quality standard.  The testing regime used for the European Standard is very strict.  It requires testing to be carried out over 38 weeks once the system has been installed and brought up to working level.  The system is then stressed by under and over loading as well as having simulated holidays.

For the effluent testing requirement, BioKube AS had 4 units in test under laboratory conditions.  All 4 far exceeded the quality requirements of the test.  This is why Biotank Ltd. are able to give the guarantee above.

What does effluent quality really mean?  It almost sounds like a bad word "Effluent"! The Effluent from a Sewage Treatment Tank is virtually pure water.

We receive many questions regarding the quality of the effluent that is produced by Sewage Treatment Tanks.  The standard by which effluent from a sewage treatment system in the UK is measured is called the "Royal Commission" standard.

The "Royal Commission" standard is expressed normally as 20:30.  This means that the maximum permissible BOD, (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) of the effluent is 20 ppm, (parts per million), and the maximum permissible SS, (suspended solids), is 30 ppm.  

The above figures are the "Royal Commission" standard.  This does not stop either the Environmental Agency or SEPA in Scotland imposing their own quality levels depending on the local situation.  (Site of Scientific Interest, Nature Reserve, Aquifer etc.).

The BioKube system was tested in Denmark where the requirements for discharges are much tighter than in the UK.  Thus BioKube A/S have produced their Elite Standard where the water is to be re-used for irrigation purposes.

The "BIG" word currently is Ammonia!  More and more consents, issued by SEPA and the EA, that we see, are mentioning ammonia.  Normally this is set at around 15 ppm, but we have had people come to us with consents that require less than 2 ppm in the final effluent, very difficult to achieve consistently, but possible.  One of the main functions of the BioKube Sewage Treatment Tank is to remove ammonia from the sample.  SEPA issue all consents with an Ammonium level applied to them.  The system is designed to "De-nitrify" the outgoing water.  This is only possible in a 2 or 3 tank system such as the Biokube system.  Most systems on the market are single tank systems.

The other pollutant that is coming more prominent is Phosphorus. With effluent discharges going directly to bodies of water, such as ponds and lakes, the level of phosphorus in the water is important.  High levels of phosphorus lead to algae blooms.  The "Blue Green Algae" problem that most ponds exhibit in the spring and summer is mainly due to high levels of phosphorus.  Reducing the levels will reduce the occurrence of these blooms.

BOD, or Biochemical Oxygen Demand, is the amount of oxygen used by micro organisms when they biodegrade organic material in a water sample. It is used as a measure of the degree of water contamination. In biological wastewater treatment, the BOD test is used to determine the waste content of influent streams and to measure the removal efficiency of the waste treatment plant. Other parameters can be used to determine the degree of contamination of a water sample; however, the most direct and appropriate test for the determination of how effectively the micro organisms in a biological treatment plant will remove organic pollutants from an influent stream, and how efficiently the plant is operating, is the BOD test.