WCI was approached by the new owners of a four bedroomed property in rural Devon who, having recently moved in, wanted to check everything was as it should be with their sewage treatment plant. They suspected it wasn’t. Regrettably, they hadn’t known to book a foul drainage report prior to purchase and had unknowingly inherited a raft of problems with the existing system.
Our first visit to conduct a service unearthed some obvious issues. The system clearly hadn’t been serviced or desludged in recent years. At the discharge point there was evidence of sewage fungus and a strong smell. The filter media bales were out of place because of the sheer amount of sludge that had accumulated underneath. Very little aeration was observed due to the airline having become detached from the diffuser, and the sludge return line was also missing. All in all, it was in a pretty sorry state.
However, our engineers believed it was salvageable and set about returning the system to its original condition. Having contacted the good people at Tricel (Ryan Odey) to source parts, they shared our suspicions that paint had been in the system which, combined with a lack of emptying and maintenance, would have caused the solids to build up under the media pack, dislodge it and damage the diffuser.
After acceptance of a quote to rectify the plant, two of our service engineers returned to undertake the work needed to bring the existing plant back to an operational and serviceable standard. All worked was undertaken by a 2-man confined spaces trained and British Water accredited service team. Work included removing the media bales, and a full empty and clean of the system. The installation of a new diffuser, airlines, new media bales, and finally a new sludge return line completed the rectification.
We disposed of the old media bales and a follow-up visit was scheduled to check the plant was performing correctly following our rectification. An ammonia reading of 3.6mg/l, a clear sample and a thumbs up from the property owners, all confirmed that the rectification had been a success and this Tricel sewage treatment plant, now under a WCI annual service contract should reliably serve the property for years to come.
Whilst it may seem more straight forward to simply replace a non-performing treatment plant, it’s often more cost effective and environmentally responsible to find a way to repair an existing system. As an independent business, we will always act in the best interests of our customers to find a solution that is economical and provides longevity.
A note from the owners:
“It is wonderful to have a company that understands what is quite a tricky set up and get it back up and running efficiently at a very reasonable cost”.
Alastair, Devon
If you have a water or wastewater treatment plant that you feel needs our attention get in touch service@wci.co.uk or give us a call on 01984 623404.
