Can Septage Become a Revenue Stream?
For many wastewater treatment plants, a complete septage plant can change how operators view hauled wastewater. Septage can create treatment challenges, yet the right infrastructure can turn that waste stream into a controlled municipal service. Septage adds loading to treatment processes and may introduce debris, contaminants, and unpredictable waste characteristics. Accepting loads from outside a municipality also raises an important financial question: Why should local ratepayers subsidize the treatment of someone else’s wastewater?
A recent article in Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine examines exactly that issue. “Understanding why WWTPs may or may not choose to accept septage” explores why some facilities refuse septage while others embrace it. The article raises an important question for municipalities considering hauled wastewater. Perhaps the decision isn’t simply whether a wastewater treatment plant should accept septage. Instead, operators should consider whether they can accept it responsibly and economically.
Septage Can Create Real Treatment Challenges
The concerns surrounding septage are legitimate. Many wastewater treatment plants already operate near capacity. According to ES&E, septage can create biological oxygen demand levels up to 12 times greater than normal influent loading. Uncontrolled septage can therefore place significant additional pressure on treatment processes. The economics can become contentious as well.
ES&E highlights a dispute between Midland and Tiny Township in Ontario. Midland found that 88% of its septage intake originated outside the municipality. Tiny Township alone represented 59% of that intake. As a result, Midland faced an uncomfortable situation. Residents were helping subsidize wastewater treatment services for surrounding communities. However, the story didn’t end with septage haulers being turned away. Tiny Township later received funding for dedicated septage receiving infrastructure at Midland’s wastewater treatment plant. That distinction matters because the right infrastructure changes how septage can be managed.
Turn Every Septage Load Into an Accountable Transaction
Accepting septage should involve more than opening a valve and allowing a truck to discharge. Operators should know who delivered each load and when it arrived. They should also know its volume and the account responsible for it. Modern automation makes that accountability possible. Flowpoint systems, for example, can authenticate haulers using RFID or PIN credentials. The system then records information associated with each authorized transaction.
Automated manifests and billing can also connect those transactions with individual customer accounts. As a result, each authorized load becomes a measurable and traceable transaction. That visibility helps municipalities determine whether septage receiving covers its costs. Accurate billing can also prevent local wastewater customers from unintentionally subsidizing users outside their service area. Accountability, however, addresses only part of the challenge.
A Complete Septage Plant Can Protect Downstream Processes
Wastewater operators must also consider what arrives inside each truck. Septage can contain rocks, rags, grease, solids, and other unwanted materials. Pretreatment can therefore protect equipment while reducing downstream operational problems. A complete septage plant can incorporate heavy-object rock traps to capture damaging material before it travels downstream. Grinders can then reduce troublesome solids and improve material handling.
Additional instrumentation can provide another layer of protection. For example, pH probes can help operators monitor incoming loads for abnormal conditions. Conductivity probes provide another useful measurement, while hydrocarbon probes can help identify potentially problematic material. If necessary, an automated sampler can be added to test streams as you see fit. These safeguards provide operators with more information before incoming septage enters deeper stages of the treatment process.
For more demanding applications, integrated automated screening can further remove unwanted solids. Equalization can also play an important role. An integrated equalization tank temporarily holds incoming septage and allows operators to control its introduction downstream. Consequently, concentrated truckloads don’t necessarily enter sensitive treatment processes simultaneously. That controlled introduction can help reduce shock on downstream processes. The appropriate configuration, however, depends on each facility’s waste characteristics, treatment capacity, regulations, and operating objectives.
Septage Doesn’t Have to Be a Cost Centre
Perhaps the most interesting point in the ES&E article is the financial one. The Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District in Illinois invested in dedicated septage acceptance equipment. Revenue from accepting septage subsequently played a significant role in the facility’s successful operation. According to ES&E, the system paid for itself in only 14 months. That example reinforces an important distinction. Municipal infrastructure doesn’t always need years to demonstrate its financial value. Under the right circumstances, septage infrastructure can achieve payback within several months rather than years.
Of course, municipalities shouldn’t treat one facility’s performance as a guaranteed result. Hauler demand, disposal rates, treatment capacity, capital costs, and operating expenses will affect the economics of every project. Nevertheless, the ES&E example demonstrates the potential value of treating septage as a managed and billable service. That approach can fundamentally change the financial conversation. Instead of asking how much septage will cost the municipality, operators can ask a different question: Can we provide this service while recovering our costs and generating additional revenue?
Start Thinking of Septage as a Managed Commodity
The ES&E article ultimately encourages readers to rethink septage as a commodity rather than an unwanted nuisance. That’s an important shift. Without suitable infrastructure, septage can create operational uncertainty, administrative work, and additional treatment costs. With proper controls, however, the same material can become a measurable and billable waste stream. The difference comes down to management.
First, municipalities can control which haulers access the facility. Operators can then measure each customer’s deliveries and maintain a transaction history. Pretreatment, meanwhile, can help protect downstream equipment from damaging or unwanted material. Monitoring provides greater insight into incoming loads, while equalization can moderate their introduction into treatment processes. Finally, accurate transaction data allows municipalities to establish and apply appropriate disposal rates. Together, these capabilities can change the economics of septage receiving.
Build your Complete Septage Plant Around the Treatment Process
Not every wastewater treatment plant should accept unlimited septage. Capacity still matters, and so do treatment capabilities. Regulatory requirements must also remain central to every decision. However, facilities don’t have to view septage as an uncontrollable burden. A purpose-built complete septage plant can provide greater control over incoming hauled waste. Automation also creates the commercial accountability needed to operate receiving as a sustainable municipal service.
Flowpoint designs septage systems around each facility’s operational requirements. Systems can integrate access control, transaction management, monitoring, pretreatment, screening, and equalization into a single solution. Ultimately, the goal isn’t simply to accept more septage. It’s to know who’s delivering it, understand what’s entering the facility, protect the treatment process, and recover service costs. When those pieces work together, septage becomes more than waste requiring disposal. It can become a controlled and potentially valuable part of wastewater operations.
