Domestic/Small Commercial

Application: Domestic dwelling, ‘granny annex' and offices, Co Antrim

Installed: Spring 2005

Consent: Experimental system to treat whole sewage using reed beds.

Solution: Settlement tank containing a grinder pump. The pump periodically doses the surface of a vertical flow reed bed with whole sewage, where secondary treatment takes place. The solids are caught on the surface and decompose aerobically (with no smell) while the water passes down through the bed. Water then flows by gravity to a sub-surface horizontal flow reed bed for tertiary treatment before discharge to the environment.

Result: This system has been operating for three years. Current effluent analysis shows BOD and SS reduced to less than 5mg/litre and faecal coliforms reduced by several orders of magnitude.