CHANGES IN THE RULES FOR HOUSEHOLD SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS 2016

On January 1, 2016, new regulations on the discharge of municipal wastewater entered into force. The new regulations introduced many changes, not necessarily beneficial for the users of household sewage treatment plants. Below are the most important changes to individual wastewater treatment plants.

• It is forbidden to install drainage treatment plants in the agglomerations designated by marshal offices. It is about an agglomeration within the meaning of the Water Law. The Act defines agglomerations as areas where the population or economic activity is sufficiently concentrated for municipal wastewater to be collected and transferred to a treatment plant. A user who already has a drainage treatment plant will not have to liquidate it, unless there would be created  a sewage network in the area inhabited by him - then it should obligatorily connect to it.

• Each treatment plant located in the agglomeration requires increased removal of biogenic compounds, i.e. nitrogen and phosphorus. Elimination of these compounds is possible with the use of appropriate technology in biological treatment plants. Pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment, domestic wastewater discharged into water or into the ground from sewage treatment plants in the agglomeration should not exceed the maximum permissible concentrations:
  
  

• five-day biological oxygen demand (BOD₅) 15mg O₂/l,
• chemical oxygen deman 125mg O₂/l,
• general suspended solids 35mg/l,
• general nitrogen 15mg/l
• general phosphorus 2mg/l

The amended act also introduces the obligation to periodically collect samples of treated sewage. The frequency would be depend on the number of users. The regulations stipulate that the greater the load on the treatment plant, the more samples per year have to be taken. The number of samples required varies from 4 to 24. Testing the quality of treated wastewater is quite expensive, it is about PLN 150-300.

A household sewage treatment plant is an ideal alternative to septic tanks. However, it is necessary to wait several years for economic benefits. When deciding on such an investment, it is worth choosing a device that has the CE mark and complies with the EN-PN12566-3 standard. Only high-quality devices will be meet legal requirements and will work for many years. Such changes will surely mean that drainage treatment plants will slowly be replaced by more technologically advanced biological treatment plants.