One of the oldest and most basic approaches for handling wastewater is the septic tank, the grand playground of bacteria. Bacteria are what makes septic systems work. They break down waste, leaving water clean enough to percolate into the environment safely. But septic tanks have one weakness that has gone down in history: The Mighty Smell.

How Do They Work?

Septic tanks are an elementary approach to separating water from waste using the rudimentary principles of settling and retention. They act like a settling pond, where greases and oils float to the top, and heavier solids fall to the bottom.

A layer of sludge, composed of inorganic solids and the by-products of bacterial digestion, sinks to the bottom. A layer of slighter scum, composed of oils, greases and fats, floats to the top.

The watery waste, known as ‘effluent’, fills the middle layer and most of the tank. This middle water is then pumped and dosed out to your soakage fields, hopefully relatively clean enough to percolate into the earth.

Why the Smell?

Over time, sludge and scum build up, and the settling zone becomes increasingly narrower. Subsequently, more solids are pumped out into the soakage fields. Here’s where the smelly problems start.

Similarly, if there’s not enough time for the solids to separate and settle, out they go into your soakage fields and start unleashing mayhem.

More than Just Smell

When the drainage field clogs up with the solids in the effluent, this prevents effluent from absorbing effectively into the soil, leading to pooling or runoff. When this happens, you deal with more than just smell. There can be groundwater contamination, overflowing trenches and surcharge of hazardous effluent, which is harmful to both humans and animals.

The NaturalFlow Solution

The NaturalFlow approach removes the scum and sludge from sewage right at the beginning of the treatment process. By separating black water and grey water at their source, the system ensures that the effluent is free of contaminates and easily filtered through natural processes before returning safely into the environment.

For enquiries about the NaturalFlow system, feel free to fill out our contact form, and we will do our best to reply within 24 hours.