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EPA Sketch of an aerobic septic tank design using an aspirated mixer in the treatment tankResidential & Light Commercial Sewage Treatment Plants
Packaged Onsite Septic System Designs
Cluster, STEP, & Individual Sewage Treatment Plants

  • POST a QUESTION or COMMENT about the different types of septic systems, onsite wastewater disposal systems used for private onsite wastewater and graywater treatment & disposal

Packaged onsite septic systems for difficult sites or cluster septic systems for community wastewater treatment.

This septic system article series lists and describes all of the types of septic systems, including both conventional septic tank and drainfield systems and alternative septic system designs for difficult building sites such as wet sites, steep sites, rocky sites, limited space, bad soils with no percolation or sandy soils with too fast percolation, and other difficult site conditions.

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Cluster & Packaged Septic Systems: Onsite Residential and Small Commercial Septic Systems

Cluster septic system illustration, NYS DOH, discussed at InspectApedia.comDaniel Friedman, Massachusetts Title 5 Licensed Septic System Inspector, & New York State H.I. License # 16000005303 (inception to 2008).

Cluster and package centralilzed wastewater treatment systems can handle both clulsters of buildings (more cost-efficient and more-likely to work than many small septic systems in densely populated areas), and in smaller designs, packaged septic treatment systems can support individual buildings or private homes.

These complete packaged onsite wastewater treatment systems can produce sufficiently cleaned and treated wastewater that these systems may be permitted where local regulations would not permit a conventional septic tank and absorption field.

These packaged wastewater treatment plants are sold in sizes and designs suitable for residential and other smaller, non-commercial installations.

There are several packaged septic system and cluster septic system designs.

Cluster or Centralized Septic System Designs

  1. Pressure-driven centralized septic systems, typically using a grinder pump that delivers sewage to a centralized septic tank and drainfield system
  2. STEP Septic Design: A variation on pressure-driven centralized septic designs is the STEP system that uses individual septic tanks at buildings whose clarified effluent is pumped to a centralized effluent disposal field or drainfield.
  3. Gravity-operated centralized or packaged septic systems: individual septic tanks send effluent by gravity to a central disposal field - a variant on the STEP system outlined above.

    The US EPA illustration of a typical cluster septic system, shown above, is a gravity-operated cluster septic system design - cited below. .
  4. Vacuum operated centralized packaged septic systems: a central pumping station supports multiple buildings by using a large centralized pump that draws sewage to the central septic tank by suction.

    Suction or vacuum centralized septic deigns are limited by the head or lift required so work better in low-slope sites or flat sites.

Packaged Wastewater Treament Plants

Packaged septic systems range in capacity from sizes suitable for single family residences (750-1500 gallon septic tanks) to commercial applications such as camps, hotels, hospitals, having to process hundreds of thousands of gallons or more of wastewater daily.

Larger packaged septic designs typically use cascaded or in-series septic tanks and additional treatment phases to control the effluent output qualities by trapping trash, removing scum and froth, re-cycling activated sewage sludge, and additional steps of filtration, disinfection (chlorination and then de-chlorination of the effluent before disposal), and finally post-aeration and de-watering of sludge for separate disposal.

Check with your local building department and local septic engineers. Some aerobic treatment units or ATUs may also meet this specification. Some example suppliers of packaged onsite wastewater treatment systems are listed below.

Packaged Septic System Designs, Codes, Suppliers, Research

Orenco AdvanTex($) Residential Wastewater Treatment System cited & discussed at InspectApedia.com

Illustration: Orenco® AdvanTex® AX20RT Residential Wastewater Treatment Package System, illustration retrieved 2019/04/22,

Orenco is cited below. Illustration as shown here - R.C. Worst & Company Inc. 625 E. Best Avenue Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83814 USA, Tel: 855.329.4519 other offices in Spokane WA & Idaho Falls ID. Email: customer.service@rcworst.com, original source: https://www.rcworst.com/AdvanTex-sup-174-/sup-Residential-Treatment-Systems-pg104.html

[Click to enlarge any image]

"Sewage Treatment System" is used by some wastewater treatment product suppliers and designers to distinguish between conventional single-residence wastewater treatment and disposal systems such as a tank and drainfield or an aerobic treatment unit or sand bed filter, and systems which either

1.) completely treat raw sewage to provide an effluent output sufficiently sanitary to discharge to an unregulated surface or to a waterway, or

2.) systems which serve clusters of residential homes. Reading various manufacturer's language, we have found such inconsistent language on this term that we are researching and collecting data to clear up this confusion. It will appear here.

See our full list of sewage treatment and septic system design articles in the ARTICLE INDEX.

Cheap and technically user friendly sewage treatment facilities that can be rapidly put into place whereever natural disasters have caused damage to the residential sewage disposal system are required.

One of the most important steps to prevent disease outbreaks in Disaster struck regions is getting the Sewage Disposal system to function efficiently. - Dr C N S P Ra

Product Source List for Packaged Septic Treatment Systems

Hoot aerobic system

Klargester domestic and commercial sewage treatment plants from Kingspan Wastewater Management, an U.K. firm, cited in detail at InspectApedia.com

Orenco AdvanTex Advanced Treatment System septic system cited in detail at InspectApedia.com

 




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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Klargester domestic and commercial sewage treatment plants from Kingspan Wastewater Management, an U.K. firm, cited in detail at InspectApedia.com

Question: condition of 30 year old steel Klargester sewage treatment tank

2019/08/04 Martin said:

The apartment I am thinking about buying has klargester. It’s steel and around 30 years old. Is this likely to need replacing in the next few years

This Q&A were published originally at SEPTIC DRAINFIELD INSPECTION & TEST

Reply:

Martin:

You don't give the country and city of the apartment you're buying.

You don't tell us if the Klargester equipment at the site is a steel septic tank or a more sophisticated onsite sewage treatment plant (which is probably the case for an apartment building ).

You don't tell us the size of the apartment building nor its number of occupants.

We also don't have any information about the site, site conditions, onsite evidence of septi system condition, quality of maintnance, etc.

Even something as basic as soil chemistry can affect the life expectancy of a buried steel tank or other steel components.

No one can assess the condition of a septic system based on a one-line email, despite the age that you cite. Everything depends on the actual condition of the system and how it has been maintained: not just a steel tank but the entire system. You need an onsite inspection and perhaps some testing by an expert, and you may also want to see any records of the details of maintenance and repair of the particular Klargester system (you don't say which one is installed) at the property.

Klargester Water Management produces a range of commercial and residential sewage treatment systems, septic tanks, and related equipment.

Shown here is a snapshot of one of the company's small wastewater treatment systems for non-commercial use. You'll notice that the company's CURRENT products focus on plastic or fiberglass tanks and containers.

You will also want to see the specification, maintnance instructions, and advice for the specific wastewater treatment system from Klargester themselves.

You can contact Klargester Wastewater Management in the U.K. at
Kingspan Wastewater Management, Tel: +441296633000 Website: www.kingspan.com/gb/en-gb/products/wastewater-management

Some photos of the site, the equipment and other answers to our questions would help us make more useful comment. Let me know what you find.

Reader Question: On 2019-04-18 by Meredith McIntosh - can we shoehorn a septic system onto a site with very limited space?

Limited space for septic system needs special design options (C) InspectApedia.com MeredithI have a tight space for getting septic in. steep in back and not much room on other sides of lot. [ see photo shown above]

This Q&A were posted originally at SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN ALTERNATIVES

On 2019-04-19 by (mod)

Meredith

You need an on-site septic engineer who can look at

- available space

- soil perc

- local septic regulations

- encumbrances such as nearby wateways

and propose an appropriate system

Just bringing in the tank may be easier using a fiberglass tank but you need space for effluent disposal - a drainfield

or if there is literally not enough space, your local health department might approve a packaged wastewater treatment system that can discharge sanitary effluent.

See details above on this page.

And see the aerobic and peat septic system links in our page end Recommended Articles.


...

Continue reading  at SEPTIC DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS for ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

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Suggested citation for this web page

SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS, RESIDENTIAL at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.


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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to SEPTIC SYSTEMS

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Citations & References

In addition to any citations in the article above, a full list is available on request.