Have you ever wondered… “Where does it all go?” … “Does it run down the sink, or get flushed down the toilet and magically disappear?” It surely does not!
There is a very interesting, complex and engineered series of Plumbing, Pumping and Treatment processes to remove and process our wastewater from businesses, industry and residential allotments.
Firstly, the sanitary wastewater from your home and business premises, classed as domestic wastewater, makes its way from your fixtures through a series of standard graded drainage piping, finally making its way to the street connection, commonly referred to as the GIO (Government Inspection Opening). From here on the downstream side of the GIO we enter the Sewer network which is owned and controlled by our network utility operator SA Water. From the GIO the wastewater travels via large expansive utility piping to one of the three major metropolitan treatment facilities at Bolivar, Glenelg, or Christies Beach. There is over 8700km of SA Water-controlled sewer network piping in Adelaide.
During production and operation processes, businesses and industry can often produce liquid waste that needs to eventually discharge into the Sewer network. This is commonly referred to as “Trade waste” and there are many various types of trade wastewater produced. Trade waste is any wastewater that may be produced from your business or premise that is not considered normal domestic wastewater. For example, this could be from restaurants and cafes, science labs, contaminated stormwater, cash wash facilities, factories, supermarkets - the list goes on.
SA Water has set out an acceptable discharge requirement with maximum allowable contaminant concentrations acceptable for discharge to the sewer network. This also includes temperature and PH restrictions on the discharge. The reason for this is the extra contaminants will cause major issues, not only at the wastewater treatment facility but can have catastrophic implications within the Sewer network itself, slowing the flow and reacting with the piping and fittings within the system.
To combat the Trade wastewater from entering the Sewer network, applications are made to SA Water with details of the business operation and intended usages. SA Water will then approve a specific pre-treatment system/device specific to your exact business operation and usage. This system is to be installed and commissioned by licensed professionals to ensure the integrity and quality of the installation. Once installed, the system will require routine maintenance to ensure the wastewater treatment process is continually operating within the discharge guidelines. SA Water inspectors monitor these systems regularly to make sure this is the case and have the authority to enforce remote monitoring systems on businesses they catch not operating within the guidelines.
So the next time you turn on your tap at home or go out to eat at a café or restaurant, you may now have an increased appreciation for the work of your Plumber, SA Water workers, and the restrictions that are in place to improve the quality of living for all of us.
For more information, please call us on 8367 8383 or email
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