By January 2020 if you own, live in, or are planning to develop a property that needs private sewage treatment, you should be aware of the important change in legislation set around septic tanks. In an effort to reduce water pollution, the Environment Agency has set out General Binding Rules, which mean you had until January 1st this year (2020) to replace or upgrade your system.
The new General Binding Rules for small sewage discharges (SSDs) have been drawn up in a bid to protect England’s waterways from further uncontrolled pollution caused by septic tanks and other sewage treatment plants. This means you cannot let low quality effluent flow from septic tanks directly into ditches, streams or other watercourses.
As of January 2020 you now have two options;
- Replace your system entirely with a Sewage Treatment Plant.
- Upgrade it to integrate a drainage field, known as an infiltration system.
If you’re the owner or user of a septic tank that is recognised as polluting surface water, then the new general binding rules apply to you and you have a few options to get it sorted: You can install a drainage field as mentioned above or replace your septic tank with a Sewage Treatment Plant.
At County Contractors we specialise in the installation of Sewage Treatment Plant as a replacement to a septic tank. In our expereince this technoglogy provides many years of trouble free oppertion whilst easily delivering the requirments for waste teatment as set out in the Environment Agency General Binding Rules.
For more information contact us