Did you know that a typical household (with a family of four) can generate around 400-500 litres of sewage per day?
Sewage is made up of all forms of wastewater from our homes, and in particular our appliances; baths, showers, toilets, sinks, washing machines, and dishwashers are all responsible for creating sewage.
Most people will associate the term ‘sewage’ with waste and rubbish, but sewage is actually 99.8% water!
Sewage Sludge
It’s common for folk to confuse sewage sludge and sewage, especially when sewage can sometimes be sludgy! Sewage sludge is actually the term for semi-solid material that is created from sewage treatment. Sewage sludge is the remains of raw sewage after it passes through several stages of treatment. The treatment that raw sewage receives is designed to remove disease-carrying organisms and break down organic materials while removing solids.
Once the treatment is completed the sewage sludge (what is left behind) is often dried before being disposed of in a landfill or used as land fertiliser.
Harmful Sewage
Some elements within sewage can cause harm to humans, animals and the environment, the most common cause of sewage issues is the disposal of items that shouldn’t be going down our drains: face wipes, sanitary products, latex-based products, fats, greases and oils. Non-biodegradable items such as these will have to be filtered out of sewage during an extra stage of the sewage treatment process.
Pharmaceutical products, chemicals and metals can also be sometimes found within our sewage, this poses the problems when aiming to reuse sewage sludge.
Natural By-product
Sewage sludge is a typical by-product when treating wastewater and sewage. If we as individuals ensure that we only flush or pour the appropriate waste down our drains, then it can be disposed of safely.
Incorrectly disposing of items in our drains can result in blockages, fatbergs, and build-ups. Should your pipes become backed up with wastewater or sewage, Happy Drains will be available to restore your drains, however, looking after them will avoid this and will look after Britain’s sewage too!
