Much of the work involved installing a second septic tank that would work in combination with the existing unit on the site, excavating the area where two large wetlands cells would be housed, and installing other needed features such as berms, piping, and monitoring equipment. In basic terms, the system ues two septic tanks for primary wastewater treatment. The existing tank measures 6' deep x 9' wide and 24' long while a newly installed septic tank is 6' deep, 11' wide, and 24' long. The combined capacity of the two tanks is 21,000 gallons. Both tanks are designed to store three days of sewage.
Wastewater flows by gravity into two clay-lined wetlands cells.
The dimensions of each bed are 30' wide x 200' long x 1.5' deep. The system is designed to store a volume equivalent to eight days of wastewater flows. The wetlands are meant to be operated independently, not in series. Narrow catchment areas are sited between the cells to trap sediments. In addition, a rock-filled retaining wall has been built at the end of the final cell to catch duckweed, debris and sediments that could otherwise enter into the finished effluent and lessen its quality.