Wastewater Treatment

Fri Jul 2 06:49:05 PDT 1999

hi Everyone 
        Just picked up this info from the Cob list serve and think it is good
info to pass on 

Aloha again,
Forgot to add this in - a recent post from the Permaculture listserv about 
"wastewater" treatment, with some emerging resource links. 
--------
http://metalab.unc.edu/london InterGarden 
london at metalab.unc.edu lflondon at worldnet.att.net
This is from the new permaculture newsgroup, alt.permaculture 
and should interest some of you gathering technical know-how 
about home-built natural wastewater treatment systems. If anyone 
has more to add to this thread I would be interested in reading it 
here. I am collecting feedback and putting it in the following locations:
http://metalab.unc.edu/london/orgfarm/aquaculture 
http://metalab.unc.edu/london/orgfarm/bioremediation 
http://metalab.unc.edu/london/orgfarm/hyperaccumulation 
and some of it here: 
http://metalab.unc.edu/london/orgfarm/permaculture 
<><><><><><><><>
>From mlomas at tinet.ie Thu Jun 17 15:56:36 1999 
From: "mud" <mlomas at tinet.ie> 
Newsgroups: alt.permaculture 
Subject: Re: Waste Water Treatment 
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 20:56:36 +0100 
Organization: Natural Technology Systems 
Lines: 68
Alan Sloan wrote in message <7k8723$p4p$1 at gxsn.com>...
>There are a few consultancies springing up...i was talking to a chap 
>associated with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust who designs these 
infernal mechanisms.

What's infernal about them Alan ? Not the ideal solution, I admit - we 
should all be composting our wastes and getting away from the 'flush and 
forget' mindset to 'close the circle'. But, if we're stuck with flushing 
toilets, reed beds are about the most effective method, since they largely 
depend on free processes such as gravity and natural mechanisms. The 
alternative requires large amounts of energy and chemicals. It's a fact 
that septic tanks on their own are responsible for a lot of pollution in 
freshwater aquifers ( a lot of borehole wells around here are contaminated 
with faecal coliforms).
>
Apparently they are largely based on Phragmite, which is a kind 
>of reed (Surprise!) They also use a whole range of other wetland plants.
Reeds
on their own do 
a lot, but rather than relying on a monoculture, a wider range of plants, 
each with it's own little niche, is more balanced. (eg, Yellow Flag Iris and 
Water Mint are naturally antiseptic)
>
He showed me a plastic matrix which looked a bit like one of those 
moulded  milk bottle crates (you know the ones?) which was designed to
increase

root area in contact with the water. It's called the "Bioblock", but I can 
>imagine that carefully chosen and sized rocks would do the job just as 
well. Crushed limestone is the best matrix. It's cheap, it's everywhere, and 
gives a large surface area but with predictable hydraulic properties.
>
Forgive me Mark if I'm totally out of range on this, but I seem to 
remember that 10 square metres of reed bed per person would need to be allowed
as 
a rule of thumb. Is this near the mark, and what happens in the winter as 
>temperatures and biological activity drop?

We're managing to design full treatment using around 3 to 5 sq.m. per 
person using a hybrid system involving different types of beds and mix of 
plants. This gives good removal of nitrate and we can also remove phosphate to
a 
high standard. ( BOD, SS, Pathogens etc are all well below acceptable 
limits ) 

In winter, it is precisely because biological activity drops that the reed 
bed maintains high effluent quality. eg. In rivers and lakes, algal blooms 
and fish kills only occur during summer, even though there's more nutrient 
washed into them during the wetter months - why ?. BOD is 
temperature-dependent.
HTH
Mark Lomas : mlomas at tinet.ie 
Web : http://surf.to/NaturalTechnology
Natural Technology Systems, Co.Clare, Eire. 
Reed Bed Wastewater Treatment. Eco-Construction

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