Overview
ABSTRACT
Before it was seen as an alternative to the collective sewage system, non-collective sewage treatment, also known as "autonomous sewage treatment" or "individual sewage treatment", was the general practice.
Because of its low population density and housing structure, France will always have a high proportion of its population connected to on-site sanitation systems, whether single-family or grouped.
It is therefore essential to ensure the quality of sanitation practices.
So, in a series of three articles, we're going to present the state of the art in terms of the different techniques available
In this first article, after a brief history and review of the legislation and regulations governing non-collective sanitation, we look at wastewater pre-treatment and lifting techniques.
Key words: non-collective sanitation, regulations, grease trap, all-water tank
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Read the articleAUTHOR
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Jean-Marc BERLAND: Doctor of Environmental Science and Technology from the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussée - Project Manager at the International Office for Water
INTRODUCTION
Even in the first half of the 20th century, in rural areas, the use of latrines of varying degrees of design was common, when it was not open defecation in a discreet corner of the surroundings of the house that was the norm.
Due to urban development and modernization, the situation has changed. In addition, hygienist doctrine advocated transporting dirty water out of the city, allowing it to flow by gravity. This led to the construction of the first sewers, which collected water indiscriminately from all sources: homes, roads, human activities, etc.
Wastewater collection and treatment only developed and became widespread after World War II, with water agencies playing a major role in this development from the 1970s onwards.
However, in some areas, the "all-pipe" approach has reached its limits. On the one hand, the cost of connecting isolated houses and buildings can be prohibitive. On the other hand, the added value of connecting them to the network in terms of environmental protection can be virtually non-existent.
In such cases, it is preferable to install an on-site wastewater treatment system that complies with all industry standards, rather than attempting to build a low-cost public wastewater treatment system. However, these systems must be well designed, well constructed, and well maintained.
As we shall see, regulations initially evolved to provide increasingly effective oversight of these various stages, resulting in a relatively complex regulatory framework that establishes a public collective sanitation service, specifies authorized channels, and subjects micro-wastewater treatment plant-type purification systems to an approval procedure.
Some French homes are still not connected to such regulatory systems even today. These are older homes in rural communities or homes located in mountainous areas where installing a septic tank can pose real implementation problems .
This type of sanitation system is used in individual homes that are not connected to a public wastewater collection network, representing 10% of the French population according to the portal on non-collective sanitation (see its website for more information).
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KEYWORDS
regulation | wastewater | on-site sanitation | grease trap | all-water tank
EDITIONS
Other editions of this article are available:
CAN BE ALSO FOUND IN:
Technique and management of on-site sanitation systems
Regulation – From mistrust to strict oversight
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