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Five Types of Residential Septic Wastewater Treatment Processes SepticAPedia © Enter your search terms Submit search form   Search This Website - InspectAPedia.com

• Septic Systems Design, Five Types of Residential Septic Wastewater Treatment Processes are described
• An explanation of the five basic processes in wastewater treatment: mechanical filtration, biological oxidation, disinfection, waster disposal, and byproduct or solid waste disposal

This chapter describes Five Types of Residential Septic Wastewater Treatment Processesd Citation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Use of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for sale is reserved to the author. Technical review by industry experts has been performed and is ongoing - reviewers welcomed and are listed at "References." This document is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems. © Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Five Types of Wastewater Treatment Processes

1. Aerobic wastewater treatment: use microbes (bacteria, fungi which require oxygen) to treat septic effluent. There are four aerobic processes available:
1. Activated sludge - in which "activated" or "pepped up" bacteria treat the wastewater
2. Trickling filters - effluent is trickled (by gravity) over a filter media containing the bacteria
3. Treatment lagoons - not found in a single-family residential system
4. Soil beds - such as a conventional soil absorption or "leach field" or perhaps a sand bed filter system
2. Anoxic wastewater treatment: these processes work where oxygen is not available and remove nitrogen (denitrification using heterotrophic bacteria) and phosphorous from wastewater (also using bacteria).
3. Anaerobic wastewater treatment used to treat septic sludge by heterotrophic bacterial processes requiring little or no oxygen.
4. Combined wastewater treatment processes which make use of more than one of the methods listed
5. Pond wastewater treatment processes by using natural-forming bacteria or algae in (usually) site-built ponds, possibly supplemented by an air pump or spray system to add oxygen to the treatment water and treatment process. Sludge settled to the bottom of a pond forms an anaerobic treatment zone and waste in the upper level of the pond is treated aerobically (facultative ponds - [Burks/Minnis].

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Technical Reviewers

Particular thanks are due to experts and also consumers who read these articles and suggest corrections, changes, and additions to the material. Content suggestions, technical corrections and content critique are invited for any of the content at our website.

• Daniel Friedman - InspectAPedia.com ^TM Website Author/Editor
• Advanced Onsite Wastewwater Systems Technologies, Anish R. Jantrania, Mark A. Gross, Taylor & Francis 2006. Wastewater treatment levels are given for various system designs including conventional septic systems [this text p. 9] This text can be purchased directly online by clicking on the Septic Systems category in our InspectAPedia Bookstore
• Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems, Bennette D. Burks, Mary Margaret Minnis, Hogarth House 1994. This text can be purchased directly online by clicking on the Septic Systems category in our InspectAPedia Bookstore
• Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution.

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The Septic Systems Online Book - Where Are We?

• This Chapter: INTRODUCTION of the Septic Systems Online Book
• Next Chapter: SAFETY WARNINGS
• Contents: CONTENTS of the Septic Systems Online Book

More expert information on this topic

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

More Reading about septic system function and onsite wastewater treatment:
Biomats: Septic System Drainfield Absorption System Biomat Formation - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
Buyers' Guide: Home Buyer's Detailed Guide to Septic Systems - Buying a Home With a Septic Tank
Components of a Septic System- the Basic Parts of a Conventional Septic Tank and Leachfield, a chapter in the Home Buyers Guide to Septic Systems
Design Alternatives: Advanced Onsite Wastewater Disposal Designs for Septic Systems - design engineers, consultants, products, books for special problem situations, difficult soils, old system repairs. Aerobic septic systems, chemical, composting, incinerating & waterless toilets, Evaporation-Transpiration (ET) Septic Systems, septic media filters, greywater systems, holding tank septic systems, mound septics, raised bed septics, pressure dosing septic systems, sand bed filters, peat beds, constructed wetlands, septic disinfection systems.
Retention Time & Net Free Area and effective septic tank working volume are discussed at "retention time" in our septic tank pumping guide.
Safety Septic System, Septic Tank, & Cesspool Safety Warnings for Septic Inspectors, Septic Pumpers, and Homeowners.
Sketches of the Septic System Components Private Sewage Disposal Systems - Septic Drawing Library
What is a Septic System An Engineer's View - Types of treatment tanks, adsorption systems, pumps, and other special equipment are discussed in some further detail in this text
Reference sources for this web page:
Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems, Bennette D. Burks, Mary Margaret Minnis, Hogarth House 1994 - one of the best books around, small font, weak index
Anish Jantrania, Ph.D., P.E., M.B.A., Consulting Engineer, Mechanicsville VA, 804-550-0389 new (2006) book, Advanced Onsite Wastewater Systems Technologies can be ordered from his publisher. Outstanding technical reference especially on alternative septic system design alternatives, written for designers and engineers.
Septic System Owner's Manual, Lloyd Kahn, Blair Allen, Julie Jones, Shelter Publications, 2000 $14.95 U.S. - easy to understand, well illustrated, one of the best practical references around on septic design basics including some advanced systems; a little short on safety and maintenance. Buy this book here

Septic Systems Online Book

Basic references on septic systems

• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems
• Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
• Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow, calculating required septic tank size, calculating septic tank volume from size measurements
• How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
• Septic System Drainfield Absorption System Biomat Formation - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Table of Required Septic & Well Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.

Pennsylvania State Fact Sheets relating to domestic wastewater treatment systems include

• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-162, The Soil Media and the Percolation Test
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-l64, Mound Systems for Wastewater Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-165, Septic Tank-Soil Absorption Systems
• Document Sources used for this web page include but are not limited to: Agricultural Fact Sheet #SW-161 "Septic Tank Pumping," by Paul D. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin. Penn State College of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension, edited and annotated by Dan Friedman (Thanks: to Bob Mackey for proofreading the original source material.)

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