Whether you are an established operator or looking to move into the campsite market for the first time, considering the right sewage treatment always has to be top of your agenda.
Most people go to a campsite, caravan park or glamping site to get away from it all. You don’t find campsites in the middle of a city. So it’s not surprising that many campsites and caravan sites aren’t on the mains sewer and need their own wastewater treatment systems.
UK holidays are more popular than ever right now, with foreign travel restricted due to Covid. An increase in campers on your site is good for business, but it will put pressure on the facilities, including your wastewater treatment system.
Campsites and caravan parks which aren’t connected to the mains sewer will need to use a sewage treatment plant. But the majority of sewage treatment plants are designed for domestic use, and deal with similar quantities of water and sewage from one day to the next, one season to the next and one year to the next.
Campsites and caravan parks face huge fluctuations in demand from high season to low season. Some days, they will be full to capacity, while in the dark depths of winter, the sites might be completely empty. Normal sewage treatment plants have an issue coping with this sort of fluctuation and the final water quality can suffer. In fact, many treatment plants don’t work well when underloaded below 50% of what they were designed to deal with, so it is essential to find a treatment plant which can cope with fluctuations and low population numbers at some points of the year.
But it is important to get it right, as not having a properly functioning wastewater system could be very damaging for your business – both in terms of environmental damage and a drop in customers who won’t see your business as clean enough.
So a good sewage treatment plant for a campsite needs to be effective in all seasons. Ideally, you will want to keep running and maintenance costs down too, as you are running a business which only makes significant money for a few weeks or months of the year.
Please note: Sewage treatment plants are not suitable for disposal of the chemical toilet waste which is usually discharged / produced from touring caravans. This waste is sometimes known as “Elsan” and needs to be stored in a specific type of tank, see below. These tanks need to be emptied by a licensed waste carrier once full.
Tanks for Caravan and Camping Sites for the chemical toilet waste (Elsan) >>>
What is a sewage treatment plant?
Sewage treatment plants are the only option if you want to discharge waste from a campsite or caravan park to a stream or ditch.
A small sewage treatment plant, sometimes called a package treatment plant, does a similar job to a septic tank, but the sewage goes through a secondary treatment using bacteria, which produces non-polluting end products.
The job of a sewage treatment plant is to clean all the wastewater a site produces, so that it can then be discharged safely into a river or stream. A sewage treatment plant produces a clean and non-polluting effluent, which is as much as 95% clean and poses no threat to the environment. With all the harmful elements removed, the water produced should be safe for plants, wildlife and fish.
All sewage treatment plants work in similar ways. First, the wastewater flows into the primary chamber, where gravity separates solids from the liquid. The solids sink to the bottom to form sludge, which will be removed by a tanker – usually once a year.
The remaining liquid flows into the second chamber for treatment. This is the biological zone, where compressed air is pumped in, encouraging naturally occurring aerobic bacteria to flourish.
The treated water then goes into the final part of the tank. Here the bacteria settle at the bottom, while the clean liquid flows out to either a watercourse (subject to Environment Agency consent) or to a ground soakaway field.
Sewage treatment plants require a power source because they work by pumping in compressed air or by rotating discs. For a campsite which is off grid, the power would come from the main circuit board in a building on site or a generator.
If you’re planning to discharge your treated water to a watercourse like a river or stream, it needs to abide by certain rules laid down by the Environment Agency. If it’s not clean enough or there’s lots of it, you will need to apply for a Consent to Discharge.
Sewage treatment plants are prone to wear and tear, so it is essential that they have regular maintenance by a professional service engineer, usually once a year. They also need emptying at least once a year. The service engineer can also let you know if it has the correct level of microorganisms and whether the sludge needs removing.
Time for a new sewage treatment plant?
If you have been in business for a few years and have seen visitor numbers increasing, or noticed unpleasant smells around the site, it could be a sign that it’s time for a new sewage treatment plant. Failing to install a new treatment plant when you need one could prove to be a costly mistake, both in terms of fines and lost business.
An inefficient plant could cause damage to your grounds and facilities through things like flooding, blocked toilets and blocked showers. All of these things could really damage your business, especially if they appear in reviews on TripAdvisor. Yet still many campsites and caravan parks continue to take the risk of operating with inadequate and outdated sewage treatment facilities.
Whether you are upgrading your system or are a brand new operator, it makes sense to get advice from the experts right from the start. Not only do you have to consider the seasonal fluctuations in flow, but you need to consider the environment and any campers who may be on site while you are installing a new system.
Campsites, glamping sites and caravan parks are usually located in rural and scenic settings, with very strict compliance limits for chemicals found in waste like ammonia, nitrogen and phosphorous. This is because the treated sewage from the sewage treatment plant is often discharged into sensitive estuaries or watercourses. By working with a specialist supplier, you can make sure that your sewage treatment plant will always discharge safely.
If you have campers on site all year round, you won’t want to ruin their stay with noise and disruption from the installation of a new sewage treatment plant. So finding a solution which is portable, compact and easy to install (always by a licenced contractor, this isn’t something to attempt yourself) which will cause minimal disruption to your peaceful environment is key.
You will also want to find a plant which is low on noise and odour. Nobody wants to find their sleep disturbed by a noisy or smelly sewage treatment plant when they are on holiday! Most plants will make a buzzing or gurgling sound, so it is best to keep tents and caravans away from it. This is something a specialist supplier can advise on.
Sizing the correct plant can be difficult, so it is essential to take advice before you buy the wrong one. You can take advice from a specialist drainage company, architect or building surveyor. Alternatively, contact Tanks for Everything for assistance before purchase.
What is the law?
There are a number of rules you will need to be aware of when operating a sewage treatment plant on your campsite or caravan park.
The government’s binding rules that came into effect in 2020 state that you only need to apply for a Consent to Discharge if you are:
- Discharging over 5,000 litres per day to a watercourse
- Discharging over 2,000 litres per day to the ground
- Discharging to a chalk river
- Discharging in a site of scientific special interest (see Environment Agency website for more information)
If your campsite can’t adhere to the general binding rules, you will need to contact your local Environment Agency office, apply for a Consent to Discharge and pay an application fee, depending on the amount of sewage you propose to discharge.
It's fairly easy to comply with the general binding rules, even for a large site. The main things you need to remember are:
- Check with the Environment Agency before installing a new system in case you need a permit.
- Speak to the local council to check the system will meet planning requirements and building regulations.
- Have the system emptied regularly by a registered waste carrier (at least once a year unless the manufacturer says otherwise) to ensure it doesn't cause pollution.
- Maintain the system regularly, getting problems or faults fixed immediately.
- Make sure you stick with the maximum discharge limit per day. (Work out how much your system is discharging at www.gov.uk/small-sewage-rules.)
- Only install equipment which meets British Standard BS EN 12566.
Go to www.gov.uk/small-sewage-rules for more information, especially if you are unable to follow the rules, are concerned that your system may be causing pollution or want to check if your system needs a permit.
It is important to keep your sewage treatment plant regularly maintained, to prevent pollution (and a potential costly fine), avoid expensive repair bills and keep your energy consumption low.
Please note: Sewage treatment plants are not suitable for disposal of the chemical toilet waste which is usually discharged / produced from touring caravans. This waste is sometimes known as “Elsan” and needs to be stored in a specific type of tank, see below. These tanks need to be emptied by a licensed waste carrier once full.
Tanks for Caravan and Camping Sites for the chemical toilet waste (Elsan) >>>
