Septic Sludge BuildUP Fast

[DonC377]

Hi folks,
I have a 500 gallon sewer treatment tank with a constant aeration pump going which has a high pressure and low pressure alarm. The high pressure alarm will come in at least 1 time a year because of a big sludge layer building on the top. Is it normal for a sludge layer to build so quickly. I know folks who have not had to pump their tanks out for years. I do have a family of 5 using this system is my system undersized? We don't dump grease down the sink and don't have a garbage disposal. I do add some bugs a guy sold to me at a weak moment. Could it be the bugs I am adding to the tank, maybe a bio bloom and then the bugs dieing and floating to the top? Instead of wasting the sludge to a vacuum truck I have been able to dig it off with a shovel and have been placing it around my oak trees. I get about 3 wheel borrows full of this stuff but do notice that when it dries up it's almost nothing at all, alot of water is held in this sludge.

Thanks,
Don

[AllanJ]

A normal septic tank just sits there about 85% full, it does not have an aerator going inside it day in and day out. As more liquid enters from the house, liquid exits to the leaching field. The solid matter decomposes and only a small percentage of what appears to be solid going in remains as sludge. Five people and a 500 gallon tank should take a few years for the sludge to build up. Is yours some kind of a special sewage treatment system or did you put the aerator in it? Constant churning up of the contents by the aerator may have prevented the decomposing action by the bacteria that gives a septic tank its name. Also the churned up solids take up more space than solids left to settle so the tank looks to be more full.

[suemarkp]

For a normal gravity system, a 500 gallon tank is woefully small. A 1500 gallon tank would be more normal and perhaps a 2000 gallon tank for a 4 bedroom house. But perhaps the aeration changes this, or the aeration tank is the second (smaller) chamber of a larger system. I thought effulent needed to sit for a week anerobically before being pumped out to be worked on by the aerobic bacteria. If this is a dual chamber tank, I'd check the output baffle from the first to the second, as the first tank should contain all the scum.

In a normal system, there should be no need for additives unless you're constantly dumping bleach down the drain. So first I'd stop using the "Bugs".

[blenkhorn]

Your system is a sewage treatment plant (http://www.wte-ltd.co.uk), if it has an aerater. There should be NO build up of crust in the aeration chamber, as aerobic bacteria digest it if it is working properly and the aeration chamber should never require emptying.

If it is an extended aeration type, then the crust builds up only in the final clarification chamber, but this would not trigger the alarm in the aeration chamber.
If it is a 3 stage system, then the aeration chamber never requires emptying, and the first (primary settlement tank) and last (final settlement tank) are the ones to empty.

I agree with suemarkup, the system is too small, but something else is wrong as well to enable a crust to form in the aeration chamber as this simply should not happen.

What size blower do you have on the system please, as it would suggest that it is either too small, or that the diffusers are blocked, as if enough aeration was taking place, the bacterial colony would take care of the organic matter.

If you can tell me exactly which system you have, then I can try to diagnose what may be the problem.

[Wgoodrich]

Blenkhorn, I commend your level of advice and knowledge on this private sewage treatment plant. I agree with your suspicions the aeration is too weak and the plant is too small for a family of 5. Hope you can help the poster more if more info comes in.

Cudo s

Wg

[chris_davis]

Wow several things wrong with advice.

For 5 people, anthing larger than a two bedroom you will be needing to pump your trash tank more than normal (4-5years state specs.)
Which says your tank is to small for the house, but you can make it work with more often maintenance(pumping).

I would check the baffle as sue said. The next step would be to remove the aerator if it was retrofitted to the system. The add on aerators you see online that you can put into your non aerobic systems to "make it work better" are a joke there scams just like rid-x.

The odd thing is your shoveling it off top which means your getting the floating solids, normaly I would say this was grease, since we see this alot on resturants. Aerators shoot b.o.d. (biological oxygen demand) throu the roof when hot grease is involved and completely destroys aerobic action. But you say no grease so it's odd.

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Your system is a sewage treatment plant, if it has an aerater. There should be NO build up of crust in the aeration chamber, as aerobic bacteria digest it if it is working properly and the aeration chamber should never require emptying.

If it is an extended aeration type, then the crust builds up only in the final clarification chamber, but this would not trigger the alarm in the aeration chamber.
If it is a 3 stage system, then the aeration chamber never requires emptying, and the first (primary settlement tank) and last (final settlement tank) are the ones to empty.

I agree with suemarkup, the system is too small, but something else is wrong as well to enable a crust to form in the aeration chamber as this simply should not happen.

What size blower do you have on the system please, as it would suggest that it is either too small, or that the diffusers are blocked, as if enough aeration was taking place, the bacterial colony would take care of the organic matter.

If you can tell me exactly which system you have, then I can try to diagnose what may be the problem.
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This above I wouldn't know where to start, you have never serviced an aerobic system thats for sure. I printed this off my buddies at the health department should get a good laugh out of it.