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... serves to trap the bacteria before they enter the soil. Factors affecting the translocation of bacteria include bacterial numbers in the effluent, soil texture, soil wetness, loading rate, temperature, and bacterial type. Unsaturated flow beneath a drain field is important in ensuring slow travel, long residence time for bacteria, good aeration, increased opportunity for contact between effluent and soil particles, adsorption of bacteria to soil particles, and eventual die-off of bacteria. Wastewater contains a certain amount of organic material that bacteria in the environment will start decomposing, and using up oxygen in the surface waters. The lack of oxygen kills fish.
Removal of Viruses Viruses are smaller than bacteria and have a behavior in the soil environment that is different from that of bacteria. Virus removal or inactivation in the soil may be accomplished by several mechanisms, including filtration, precipitation, adsorption, biological enzyme attack, and natural die-off. The small size of viruses, and their surface properties, deriving from a protein coat that may or may not have an electrical charge, causes removal of viruses to be controlled more by absorption to soil particles than by filtration. Many of the soil properties that affect adsorption of bacteria also affect adsorption of viruses. Cation exchange properties of soils, mineralogy, texture, pH, and temperature are just a few of the soil properties that influence the survival of a virus. As with bacteria, unsaturated flow conditions in the soil beneath a septic system, resulting in good aeration, slow travel, long travel, long residence times, good effluent-contact, and opportunity for die-off, is very important in ensuring the cleanup of viruses in effluent.
The water table fluctuates as rains come and go, as rates of evaporation change with the seasons, and human activities (drainage, irrigation's, storm water management etc. ) all have an impact. One of the keys to a proper functioning of a septic system is ensuring the separation between the bottom of the drain field and the water table is large enough so that unsaturated conditions will be maintained even during wet seasons. Water travels more slowly through an unsaturated soil (i. e.
a soil whose pores are not entirely filled with water) than it would travel through the same soil were it saturated. The slower the velocity of flow, the longer is the residence time of the effluent in the unsaturated zone and the greater the opportunity for cleanup of effluent. Good aeration is necessary to achieve decomposition of organic particles and compounds, biodegradation of detergents, and die-off of bacteria and viruses. Water table fluctuations are one of the major pitfalls of the percolation test, in which the rate of water in a standard-size hole is measured in order to estimate the ability of the soil to accept effluent. The percolation test has some value in estimating the? perk?
rate of soils at a site, establishing appropriate loading rates, and predicting system performance. The test might indicate a rapid perk rate during dry times, but these figures will change during the wet season when the water table is just below the drainage field. To design a septic system such that the unsaturated zone will exist, the depth to the wet season water table must be estimated at the site, by examining soil color patterns, features of the soil profile, landscape position, the vegetation growing on the land, and additional information on water table fluctuations in the soil survey reports for the area. If a grain of sand was the size of a basketball, then a piece of silt would be the size of a marble and a particle of clay would be a pinpoint. Clay particles are so small, less than one 12 500 th of an inch, that an electron microscope must be used to see them. These tiny react well with contaminates found in waste water, but the problem is that they are shaped like tiny plates of flakes.
When the cationic influence of sodium is present, these flakes tend to stick together like a peanut butter sandwich.
In this class of failure the toilet and other facilities seem to function just fine, but untreated or poorly treated sewage is surfacing in the yard, in nearby ditches, in the neighbor's yard, or elsewhere in the environment. It is probably going to be obvious to someone in the neighborhood that a failure has occurred. 3. Class III -- Decline in Water Quality. In this case the household plumbing and drain field seem to be working perfectly. There is no smell in the neighborhood, and no excess wetness around the drain field. But a research team, using monitoring devices, groundwater sampling and tracers, observe that the system or systems are causing degradation of ground water and / or surface water. 4.
Class IV -- Long Term, Gradual, Environmental Degradation. Here there is little if any scientific evidence that waters are being degraded at a rate likely to be a problem to this or the next generation of residents. But computer modeling and / or long term monitoring indicates that very gradual environmental degradation will happen as a result of septic system practices at a particular home site, in a neighborhood, or in a region. This is the hardest type of "failure" to prove.
Inadequate setbacks from open water or wells Organic material in mound fill Fine-textured material in mound fill Improper design and / or installation Use of system beyond its designed hydraulic capacity Improper disposal of solvents, grease, etc. , in the septic tank Failure to pump out Excessive BOD, TSS, or other constituents in effluent
New York: Tab Books, 1992. Max, Alth. Constructing & Maintaining your well and septic system. Philadelphia: Blue Ridge Summit, 1984. War shall, Peter. Septic tank Practices.
New York: Garden City. 1979. web > All Septic System Information website. Pertains to how the septic system works, drawings of the leach field and tank ( web >), links to corporate home pages, tips on maintain the septic system. On line Articles web > How Sewer a Septic Systems Work web Soil Failure. htm How Sodium Contributes to Septic System and Soil Failure web > Septic Systems and the Environment web > Soils, Absorption Fields and Percolation Tests for Home Sewage Treatment
Free research essays on topics related to: soil particles, long term, water table, raw sewage, environmental degradation
Research essay sample on Soil Particles Raw Sewage