What Happens to Sewage?
The sewage management process after you flush
It’s the one question that’s been bothering you every minute, of every day, since the very beginning… The one question keeping you up at night… The one question keeping you going…
What happens to the doo-doo after you flush the toilet?
Well, strap yourselves in, folks. Your favourite drain cleaning company is going to put your question to rest. The mystery ends today.
How does a toilet work when you flush?
Most toilets are made of two parts: the bowl and the tank.
Water from the public water supply or your personal well enters your home and makes its way to the toilet tank. The water in the tank patiently waits until you activate the flush process.
When you push down on the toilet handle, a connected chain pulls up the flapper. When the flapper lifts, gravity pulls the water down into the toilet bowl. This water takes two paths into the bowl: one path leads to holes in the rim which clean the bowl and one path leads to the bottom through the siphon jet which pushes the water out to the trap and beyond.The Trap is a bendy tube in your toilet that always blocks airflow with water. This prevents sewer gas from rising and escaping out the toilet.
How does your home’s drain system work?
Once you flush the toilet, the water, waste, and toilet paper are pushed out of the toilet and into the drain by more water from the tank.
All of the plumbing drains in your home are connected in one way or another. The toilet drain carries the contents of the toilet into a drain stack.
It’s important to note that as water moves through the drain, air in the drain is also forced to move down the line. Because of physics, this should create a vacuum that will interfere with your flush and drainage. To prevent this vacuum, air vents are installed and connected to your drain system. As water and air move through your drain pipes, more air is pulled in through the vent to fill the void.Gravity remains the hero of the drain process, as gravity pulls the flushed contents down through the stack, towards the sewer lateral, and out to the municipal drain system.
How do sewers work?
Once your flushed waste enters the municipal drain system, aka sewer, you might be surprised to learn that gravity is again the hero.
Sewer systems are designed in such a way that gravity can do most of the heavy lifting.
All of the homes in your area connect to the same sewer system. Thick, durable sewer pipes that can accommodate the waste for everyone nearby are laid out downhill and buried underground.
The simplified story is that at the bottom of this hill is a sewage treatment plant.There is a lot of thoughtful engineering that goes into these sewers. Engineers carefully plan sewers so that they require as little work as possible, last as long as possible, and accommodate the future population as best as possible.
The next time you cross paths with your local sewer engineer, remember to give him a friendly pat on the back and say nice work!
What’s the process at a sewage treatment plant?
Once the sewage and wastewater find their way to the wastewater treatment plant, it goes through a number of treatments and filters before the water is released into the wild.
First, it goes through the pretreatment phase. During this phase, debris is removed. Some of this debris may include plastic, cloth, and ‘flushable’ butt wipes (if the flushable wipes didn’t cause a blocked toilet!).
Next, the water goes through settling tanks. In settling tanks, solids that passed through the pretreatment phase settle at the bottom.
Any solids that passed through the settling tanks are called suspended solids. These suspended solids face the next treatment: microorganisms. Microorganisms break down the suspended solids and create clumps of particles that are more likely to settle at the bottom of the final settling tanks.
All of the solids and flocs from the settling chambers are pumped into digesters. Digesters turn this gunk into “biosolids.” Biosolids are clean, safe, and nutrient-rich. Best of all, they can be used for farming.
Once the solids are all removed, the last treatment process for wastewater is disinfection. Oakville wastewater is treated with ultraviolet radiation to disinfect the water. Ultraviolet rays destroy bacteria and viruses.
After all the solids are removed and the water is sterilized, the treated wastewater is pumped back into the nearby water supply.
Sewage and Toilet Flushing FAQ’s
Sewer backups can occur for many reasons.
In our experience, the most common cause of sewer backups is an issue with your personal sewer or drain system. Tree roots, for example, can make their way into your sewer lateral pipe and interfere with the movement of waste. This makes it difficult for solids to pass through, so they often don’t. Instead, the solids clump together into a sewer lateral blockage.
When your waste can’t go out the proper path due to a blockage, it will find another place to go. This is usually another drain, usually a floor drain in the basement.
Other common reasons include broken sewer lines, collapsed sewer lines, cracked sewer lines, and much more.
All that being said, sewage backups can also be a return from the sewerage system. If there is a blockage in the sewerage pipes or too much water has entered the sewer system at once, all the sewage will find somewhere else to escape.
Unfortunately, this is usually the nearest, lowest drains – which could be in your basement.
The sound of gurgling drains from a sink drain when you flush the toilet indicates that you have a partial drain blockage.
Over years of drain usage, matter can stick to the pipes and build up. As more matter builds, the worse the blockage becomes.
Eventually, you may notice slow drains, frequent clogging, and gurgling drains.
The solution is getting your drains cleaned. When you need Oakville drain cleaners, we hope that you’ll consider calling John The Plumber!
Our professional drain cleaners come equipped to quickly remove and clean any drain blockages. When we’re done and gone, so are your drain gurgles!That, my friend, sounds like a clogged shower. Although it could be related to your sewer, if it is the only drain being affected then it is likely isolated to your shower drain. There are many home remedies for blocked drains (such as baking soda and vinegar), however you might need a plumber Oakville has come to trust, such as John The Plumber!
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We’re excited about the opportunity to serve our neighbours far and wide, offering a level of service that few plumbing companies can match.
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