APPLICATION FOR A HOME SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT

APPLICATION FOR A HOME SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT

Application for a home sewage treatment plant

Construction notification or building permit?

Home sewage treatment plant with a capacity of up to 7.5 m3 per day do not require a building permit just construction notification (art. 29 (1) (3) and art. 30 (1) (1) of the Construction Law). The presence of the urban sewage system excludes the possibility of building a individual wastewater treatment. Moreover, it is forbidden to build it in periodically flooded areas.

Home sewage treatment plant with a capacity of up to 5.0 m3 per day (for 30 people) to meet the needs of one's own household or own farm as part of normal water use do not require a water-law permit to discharge wastewater into water or into the ground. If the capacity is more than 5.0 m3 and / or sewage discharge is planned to a drainage ditch, river, or water facility (which is not on its own land), the permit should be obtained before submitting the construction notification or before submitting the permit application for building. Then it is necessary to obtain a water-law permit.

In the case of discharging treated sewage into water devices (e.g. outlets of sewage devices used to discharge sewage into waters, into the ground or into water devices as well as ponds, water reservoirs, canals and ditches), it is necessary to obtain a water-law permit for the construction of a water device regardless of the number of waste water discharged and the type of building. However the water device is not a device that is an integral part of the treatment plant (Journal of Laws 2021.624 art. 389. [Cases where a water permit is required] - Water Law).

Where to report?

Notifications of construction or execution of other construction works are made to the architectural and construction administration authority (Poviat Starosty or the City Hall, if it is a city with poviat rights). The application for a water permit should be submitted to the water supervision authority competent for the location, it will be forwarded to the competent authority issuing the water-law permit (relevant management of the catchment area, regional water management board included in the Polish Water Management Authority). More information here.

Application procedure

Before a decision to build a home sewage treatment plant, several issues need to be established:

1. type of soil and terrain on the plot - determination of soil permeability, geological expertise
2. number of inhabitants
3. requirements of the Local Spatial Development Plan (is there a sewage system plan?)

The table presents requirements for the selection of the type of home sewage treatment plant (Tab. 1).

Tab. 1. Requirements for the selection of the type of home sewager treatment plant


A type of home sewage treatment plant

Soil requirementsDistance from the groundwater levelThe size of the plot (2)

drainage

well-drained (sand, gravel and loess).> 1,5 m (1)big (3)
biological

- soil infiltration - good permeability,
- outside the plot(6)

it does not mattersmall (4)
hydrobotanic

- soil infiltration - good permeability, 
- outside the plot(6)

it does not matterbig (5)

1 If the groundwater is too high, a filter shaft can be built. It high enough to keep the minimum distance between the drains and the groundwater level.
2 The necessity to keep the minimum distances on the plot (regulated by law) also determines the size of the plot on which the elements of the sewage treatment plant must be placed.
3 The drainage system cover an area to 90 m2 depending on the amount of discharged sewage
4 The sewage treatment plant can cover from 8 to 10 m2
5 The area of ​​the excavation with drainage and elements of the treatment plant depends on the number of household members, assuming that it will be 4 people, approx. 15 m2
6 Soil requirements are then irrelevant, but a Water Law Permit is required

The arrangement of elements of the wastewater treatment system is regulated by the Ordinance of the Minister of Infrastructure on technical conditions to be met by buildings and their location (Journal of Laws No. 75/02, item 690).

The minimum distances have to be kept:

  1. sewage treatment plant body 15 m and drainage pipes 30 m from the well,
  2. the edge of the sewage treatment plant cover and the exhaust vent have to be at least 2 m from the border of the adjacent plot, pavement or road,
  3. The home sewage treatment plant and the sewage disposal system should be located at the following distances: 0.8 m from electrical cables, 1.0 m from telecommunications cables, 0.5 - 3.0 m from the gas pipeline and 1.5 m from the water supply,
  4. the treated sewage discharge system to the ground or groundwater should be located at least 1000 m from bathing areas and beaches,
  5. 3 m from trees and shrubs (recommendation),
  6. 1.5 m distance from the highest aquifer level of groundwater.

Registration 

The notification should specify: the type, scope, place and manner of construction works as well as the date of their commencement. The notification must be accompanied by:

  1. a declaration of the right to use the property for construction purposes (Art. 32 (4) (2) of the Construction Law),
  2. sketches or drawings - depending on the needs,
  3. geotechnical research,
  4. water permit, if applicable,
  5. declaration of performance or national declaration of performance.

Construction notification or execution of other construction works shall be made in paper form or an electronic document via the electronic address specified in the Public Information Bulletin on the website of the office.

Water-law permit

The application for a water permit should be accompanied by:

  1. Water law survey - is a document (in graphic and descriptive form) which contains detailed information about the investment. In order to prepare a document, you only need to have adequate knowledge of water and wastewater management and information on a given investment (e.g. technological scheme, composition of sewage, maximum hourly, daily average and maximum annual amount of sewage discharge),
  2. Design of the notified device,
  3. Description of the intended activity,
  4. An excerpt from the local spatial development plan or a decision on development conditions (if not available).
The deadline for issuing a water permit is usually around one month. Construction works may be commenced after 21 days from the delivery of the construction application, provided that the architectural and construction administration authority has not raised an objection.

Agglomerations

In the case of agglomeration areas, i.e. land where the population or economic activity is sufficiently concentrated for municipal wastewater to be collected and sent to treatment plants, drainage treatment plants are not allowed to be installed. The law regulates that only biological treatment plants should be established in the above-mentioned area. The agglomeration areas are defined by resolutions appropriate for the authorities in a given area.
Wastewater from agglomeration areas:
1) discharged into waters, should not exceed the maximum permissible values ​​of pollution indicators, appropriate for the agglomeration's p.e. (§4 (9) of the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 18 November 2014 on the conditions to be met when discharging sewage into water or soil , and on substances particularly harmful to the aquatic environment);

Tab. 2. The highest permissible values ​​of pollution indicators or the minimum percentage of pollution reduction for sewage discharged into water or into the ground from sewage treatment plants in an agglomeration for p.e.:

No.
Name of the indicator

Unit 2000 - 999910000-1499915000-99999100000<
1
Five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5 at 20 ⁰C), determined with the addition of a nitrification inhibitor

mg O2/l min. % reduction 25 or 70-9025 or 70-9015 or 9015 or 90
2
Chemical oxygen demand (CODR) determined by the bichromate method

mg O2/l min. % reduction 125 or 75125 or 75125 or 75125 or 75
3
Total suspended

mg/l min. % reduction mg 35 or 90 35 or 90 35 or 90 35 or 90 
4
Total nitrogen (sum of the Kjeldahl nitrogen (NNorg + NNH4) of nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen)

mg N/l min % reduction 1515 or 70-8015 or 70-8010 or 70-80
5
Total phosphorus

mg P/l min % reduction 22 or 802 or 801 or 80

Source: Appx. 3 to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 18 November 2014 on the conditions to be met when discharging sewage into water or soil, and on substances particularly harmful to the aquatic environment

2) may be introduced into the water system, within the land owned by the introducing entity, provided that the following conditions are jointly met:
  1. their quantity does not exceed 5.0 m3 per day,
  2. do not exceed the maximum permissible values ​​of pollution indicators for the p.e. of the agglomeration in which the farm is located (specified in Annex 3 to the Regulation),
  3. the highest usable groundwater aquifer is at least 1.5 m below the bottom of this device. (§ 13 section 8 of the above-mentioned Regulation).
The owners of home sewage treatment plants must periodically collect samples of the treated wastewater. How often samples are taken depends on the p.e. The regulations stipulate that the greater the load on the treatment plant (which means a higher p.e.), the more frequently the samples will be taken.

Principles (tab. 2) require the use of additional bacteria that break down pollutants. In the agglomeration, it is necessary to use an eco-bio-treatment plant. In addition to the classic approach to biological treatment, also uses an approach based on chemicals. An examplary of a chemical used in the treatment process is iron (III) chloride, which is acidic.

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