Case Studies

Reed Beds

WCI was one of the first Pollution Control companies to design and construct reed beds in the United Kingdom. We have now been constructing reed beds for over 15 years and have over 1000 reed bed cells installed throughout the British Isles.

A reed bed or constructed wetland is a natural form of treatment for sewage or industrial waste water. Reed bed schemes have proven themselves to be an effective, sustainable, reliable, environmentally-friendly and economical method of treatment.

Although it is possible to design reed beds to treat the organic waste as well as the liquid, it is usual to install a primary tank to retain the organic and non organic waste material.

Contact WCI now to discuss your reed bed options and arrange a site visit (free for sites within 50 miles of Wiveliscombe, otherwise there will be a charge for mileage only).

The primary tank settles out the solids and allows liquor to pass to the reed bed for further treatment

Bacteria around the gravels and plant roots ‘break down’ the effluent, the reeds uptake the nutrients during their growth, and fine, inert, particulate matter settles in the bed

The treated effluent discharges to a watercourse or to land, as specified by the Environment Agency ‘Consent to Discharge’

Treatment occurs all year round within the reed bed, however the level of bacterial action is increased during the Summer months, making reed beds ideal for seasonally loaded applications such as caravan parks and holiday lets

The primary tank will be emptied when necessary (generally once per year)

Year in, year out, little maintenance is required

After 3-5 growing seasons the established reeds can be cut down to encourage new growth from the rhizomes

Minimum sizing for a horizontal flow reed bed is 80m2 (8m x 10m area) for up to and including a 4 bedroom property

Applications

The major limiting factor in the use of reed beds is the availability and topography of the land. If there is sufficient land available, a suitable scheme can be designed and constructed as either secondary or tertiary treatment, post a primary tank. The design and installation of a reed bed sewage treatment system will depend upon the Environment Agency ‘Consent to Discharge’ documentation.

WCI has successful designed, installed (or supervised) reed beds used to treat effluent from the following types of applications:- safari parks, hotels, restaurants and public houses, nursing and residential homes, housing developments, environmental parks and ‘eco builds’, service stations, lorry wash-down areas, caravan parks and visitor centres, industrial businesses including micro-breweries, bakers and bottling plants, not forgetting individual properties.

Reed Beds Overseas

One of the main problems with producing a private sewage treatment scheme in a developing country is the poor continuity of electrical power and lack of money for the general repair and maintenance of any scheme. With reed beds there are no mechanical or electrical parts to go wrong, and once they are established, providing the primary tank is emptied regularly, they are virtually indestructible. Using local labour and materials means that the capital outlay for the scheme is also considerably reduced as expensive imports are almost totally eliminated.