Abstract
Groundwater effluent sample collectors(zero-tension lysimeters) were installed directlybelow the drainfields of three residential onsitetreatment systems in the Clover/Chambers Creek aquiferregion of Pierce County near Tacoma, WA. The use of asplit effluent delivery system from the septic tank,where half the effluent was delivered under pressureto a normal native soil-only filter system and halfwas delivered to a sand filter system, allowed thedirect comparison of the two commonly-utilized septicsystems for treatment levels. Septic tank effluent(from the septic tank) and percolating water (between0.3 and 0.9 m beneath the effluent distributionlines) was collected between May 1991 and April 1994on 30 occasions. Samples were analyzed for fecalcoliform bacteria, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium andtotal reduced (Kjeldahl) nitrogen. Results of thisstudy indicate that the use of sand filters greatlyincreased removal of fecal coliform bacteria and totalnitrogen. Soil-only filter systems had an average of91% removal of fecal coliforms and 47%of total N; whereas sand filter systems had an averageof 99.8% removal of fecal coliforms and 80% of total N.
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Harrison, R.B., Turner, N.S., Hoyle, J.A. et al. Treatment of Septic Effluent for Fecal Coliform and Nitrogen in Coarse-textured Soils: Use of Soil-only and Sand Filter Systems. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 124, 205–215 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005298932244
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005298932244