Wastewater Treatment System Pumpout/Desludge
What is a Desludge?
Over time, your wastewater treatment system will gradually build up a layer of sludge (solid particles that have been in your household wastewater) in the base of the Primary Chamber of your system. This is entirely normal and how your system is supposed to work.
Desludging is the process of removing this sludge, usually with a vacuum truck, to allow your system to continue working effectively. Desludging is very important for the health of your wastewater treatment system. If the solids accumulate too deep, the system will not be able to work effectively. The longer your system goes without a desludge, the more the final quality of the treated water output is compromised.
A desludge for an AWTS is required when the sludge depth exceeds 35cm. This typically occurs every 3-5 years, depending on the health of your onsite wastewater treatment system and the volume of wastewater it processes.
A desludge is also commonly known as a pumpout.
Have any more questions or like to book in a Desludge/Pumpout? Call or send an enquiry - we'd love to help!
What does a desludge for an AWTS include?
Scheduling of the vacuum truck and EnviroTas technician supervision of the staged pump-out of liquid and sludge from the system.
Pressure cleaning of system internals (including walls, baffles and pipework).
Check condition of submerged components.
Scheduling of a water truck and supervision of staged re-filling of the system with potable water to the baffle support height.
Isolation and reset of aeration and float controls.
Inspection of tank and baffle condition and reporting of any concerns.
Final test to ensure the system is operating as designed.
Council notification of works.
EnviroTas technician will record all information on a De-sludge disposal certificate ,which will be supplied to the system owner, stored on record at EnviroTas and lodged with local council.
Desludge/Pumpout Frequently Asked Questions
No, or at least we highly recommend against it.
Pumping out a Wastewater Treatment System is not the same as pumping out a regular septic tank or grease trap. There are several internal baffles, filtration media, pumps, pipework and other treatment equipment inside your AWTS. If the vacuum truck operator is inexperienced, equipment can be damaged, or chambers will be pumped out unevenly leading to uneven fluid/weight distribution. This can cause extensive repair works, equipment replacement or worst of all, tank baffle wall collapse.
EnviroTas are experienced with the workings of an AWTS and trained to complete a desludge to ensure nothing is damaged, the systems are desludged and refilled correctly, and your system is left in good working order.
We can, but it is normally cheaper for you to get a water truck.
In the same way the system needs to be pumped out evenly, it also needs to be refilled evenly to prevent uneven fluid/weight distribution and baffle collapse. Using a garden hose, you would end up paying for an EnviroTas technician for 3-4 hours just to refill your system. With a water truck, refilling will only take 10-15 minutes, so what you pay for in water, you save by not paying a technician for the duration of the time.
Also, if you are on tank water and we have any water leftover, we can put it in your rainwater tank.
Yes.
You are welcome to organise the vacuum and water truck yourself, pay for these directly and organise for an EnviroTas technician to attend site. You will just need to send us a copy of the disposal certificate so we can lodge this with council.
We do this to keep the cost down for the system owner.
We understand that a desludge is an expensive exercise, which is why we genuinely try to keep the costs down where we can. If we can coordinate the desludge at your next scheduled service, this keeps our labour charge down to an absolute minimum.
A wastewater treatment system requires desludging approximately every 3-5 years.
The frequency of a desludge is dependent on many factors, including the health of the system and the load that the system is subject to. Your EnviroTas Service Technician will record the sludge level in your AWTS as part of our standard scheduled service. Once the sludge depth exceeds 35cm we will carefully monitor the health of the system and advise you with as much notice as possible when a desludge is required.
Like some more information on a desludge or pumpout?
With thousands of wastewater treatment system desludges completed, the team at EnviroTas brings proven experience and a streamlined experience for the property owner.
Get in touch and we'll take care of the rest!
