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 and does not contain
Biocidal detergents, 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.
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