Reedbed information, Reedbed filtration, Reedbed filtration, reedbed construction, reedbed maintenance, vertical flow reedbed, reedbed water purification, build reedbed system, reed beds for grey water, reedbed drainage, domestic sewage treatment, reedbed construction, reedbed maintenance, vertical flow reedbed, reedbed water purification, build reedbed system, reed beds for grey water, reedbed drainage, domestic sewage treatment, reedbed sewage filtration systems, waste water treatment, water treatment specialists, farm yard run off, industrial waste water treatment, mine water filtration, sustainable urban drainage, sludge treatment,

		Reedbed's are a natural sewage and treatment system. Reed Bed Sewage Treatment Systems, Reedbed Builders, Reedbed Experts, Domestic, Agricultural and Industrial, Waste Water Treatment         Contact Melvyn.Rutter@btinternet.com
Click on the Links below for Much More Information How Clean is Clean Just Built & Established   Farm Yard Run off Reedbeds How your YES        Reedbed Look           Reedbed Test Results How to look after your Reedbed System Check List of questions  Living Soak Away    How to do Percolation Tests    Czech Trial Reedbed -12 C + 2m snow  So Why a Modulated System ?  Reedbeds use the Same Technology as Sewage Works   In the Beginning Mobile Reedbed Results      What are YES Vertical Flow Reedbeds                                               Reedbeds can save your marriage, its true Click on the Links Above for Much More Information		Reedbed Summer Sale £300 off the price of Household Reedbeds 6m2 for 4 to 6 people was £2,500 Now £2,200 10m2 for 6 to 10 people was £3,300 Now £3,000 There are no additional or hidden prices. The conditions are that the reedbeds are installed and paid for, within 4 weeks of our proposal. No other system works better, few work as good, and none at these prices Contact Melvyn.Rutter@btinternet.com Yes-Reedbeds are an effective, long lasting and low cost method of waste water treatment. There should be no standing water and therefore No Smell, only clean, clear outflows. Yes Reedbeds reduce nutrients and minerals by 95-99%, and they continue to work for a great many years. YES Reedbeds are ideal for House Renovations, Caravan Sites, Farms and a host of Industrial Applications. No system works better, few work as well, and none at these low prices. Prices include after sales care, too. Our low prices aim to allow everyone access to this natural waste water treatment. We work throughout the UK. All we need to know is :- How many people ?     Is there a slope ?    Where will the outflows goto We can build household systems within a day. And we make return visits to make sure your system is established. Should you have any problems with your reedbed, then you can always call us, and we can pop in on our way past, and we pass all the time. It is important that Yes Reedbeds work well. Sadly prices will rise from 1st February 2010. The new prices are as follows :- The sizes and prices for Reedbeds, including VAT, are as follows:- *4m2 - 6 m2 for 4 to 6 people                                           £2500 *10m2 for 10 people / 1000 L/day                                     £3300 *20m2 for 20 people / 2000 L/day                                     £4000 *30m2 for 30 people / 3000 L/day                                     £5000 *50m2 for 50 people / 5000 L/day                                     £6000 *100m2 for 100 people / 10000 L/day                                £9,000 *200m2 for 200 people / 20000 L/day                               £18,000 *300m2 for 300 people / 30000 L/day                               £26,000 *400m2 for 400 people / 40000 L/day                               £33,500 These prices are for fully installed systems, anywhere in the UK mainland. They are for normal conditions. Abnormal, or difficult digging conditions ( solid rock, concrete, tarmac, hidden foundations etc ) may require additional time and equipment. But these would be no more than nominal additional fees.  Click here to view our Terms and Conditions Typical prices for alternative Reedbed suppliers and package treatment systems are priced between £7000 and £12,000. And there is no after sales care for these prices. If the system doesn't work, or is somehow damaged, then it is your fault and they won't help.  We believe that Yes Reedbeds are the Best design, they are Built by the the Best Technicians, to the Highest Standards, with the Best After Sales Care and for the Best Prices.   Contact Melvyn.Rutter@btinternet.com Mobile 07884 253827 0113 2524786 Return to The Home Page Return to top of the page Contact:-  Melvyn.Rutter@btinternet.com		Reedbed System Dirty Water In   Clear water Out

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How your YES Reedbeds look

YES Reedbeds are vertical flow systems, where there should be no standing water, and therefore no smell. The outflows should be stream water quality. We make return visits to ensure the system is established and working well. If you feel there is a problem, then do call us and we will sort out any problem with the reedbed, usually within no more than a couple of weeks. 

Click for Photos of          Domestic Systems            Caravan Site Systems        Reedbed Construction

Fruit Farmer Systems for Population of Migrant Workers        Industrial Reedbeds        Tests of Industrial Effluents

Domestic Systems

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Caravan Site Systems

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Fruit Farmer Systems for Population of Migrant Workers

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Industrial Reedbeds

300 m2 for surface water treatment that was polluting a local lake.

And Below is how this site looks like today ( October 08 )

Brewery waste

During 2005 YES have constructed 30 Reedbed Filtration Systems. They range from 4m2 to 300m2, throughout the UK totaling more than 3000m2, filtering more than 42,000 tons every year. We at YES believe that the arguments about Reedbeds working have been well proven. So lets not ask them again, lets just get on with the job of making the world a better place.

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Tests of Industrial Effluents

Reedbed Construction

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Before & After Photo's

The following photos are of how reedbeds look when they are built and how they look later, when they mature.

Summer Photos                        &                     Winter Photos

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How Clean is Clean, Clear, Stream Water Quality

YES Reedbeds produce clean, clear, stream water quality, outflows. All water treatment utilises bacterial breakdown in one form or another. YES Reedbeds create conditions for aerobic bacterial breakdown of biological components. The outflows from YES Reedbeds remain full of bacteria. 

Just as you would not expect to be able to drink water from the stream, then you would not use outflows from our Reedbeds for any form of drinking purpose, re-use in the toilet system, or watering vegetables. The watering of grass and lawns, trees and coppice willow is a perfect re-use of this water resource. 

Indeed the idea of collecting roof water for use in the toilet system, flushing the toilet water through a Reedbed, to irrigate a willow coppice, which then produces woven willow products, is a fine example of the intelligent use of this ever more precious resource.

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With all the best will in the world, we are willing to help as much as we can. However, we can only be responsible for the building of the Reedbed systems. We cannot be held responsible for situations outside our control, or experience.  

If you have any specific requirements regarding the groundwork, please let us know while we are on site. This way we can ensure you are happy with the finished works.

Any unauthorised alterations to the Reedbeds are not the responsibility of YES Ltd, and remedial work will be charged for. 

( People keep making alterations to our beds grrrr )  

Price Comparison with a standard Package Treatment System

The price of a household package treatment system for 6 people can be:-

*   £3,400 + delivery ( £500 ) 

*   + VAT ( £682 ) 

*   + the cost of two days excavation of a digger ( £500 ) 

*   + concrete  ( £300 ) 

*   + The work of a builder two days ( £400 ). 

This could make a total of approximately £5800, and probably £6000. If something goes wrong with the installation then that is not the responsibility of the tank company, and you may have to buy another tank system. 

And then there is the continued costs of power to run these tank systems. 

There is no after care for the tank system built into the price of the tank. 

Photos of discharge into a field from a package treatment system after only 3 to 4 years

No tank system works better than a YES Reedbed, and many break down after only 4 years, as in the photos above. If these photos were of a YES Reedbed then you would simply call us to sort out the problems. No YES Reedbed has performed this badly, not after 13 years, which is the oldest system we have.

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Living Soak Away

YES Reedbeds have been experimenting this past year with the idea of discharging to living soak aways, where the discharge from the Reedbed is to land. This allows for percolation into the ground, through the ground to a nearby stream, and during warm days, evaporation of considerable amounts of water. 

This innovation has proven helpful for customers where discharge consents to freshwater ( streams and rivers ) is either too stringent, or not allowed at all.  

The magic comes from the Reedbeds. However, these living soak aways have been proven to be the key component to gain planning and Environment Agency approval. Of course they are also a nice garden feature. There is no additional charge for these living soakaways. If this is what is needed for you to solve your problems, then I am reluctant to charge.

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How to look after your New Reedbed System

·                   Keep them weeded. Remove any nettles, thistles, docks, chickweed, making sure you do not remove the Reed Plants themselves. This is what you would expect to do when adding plants to your garden.

·                   Water them in the first few weeks if they look dry

·                   Do not put sanitary items or condoms through these systems. They cause so many problems.

·                   It is important that the green top growth is allowed to grow fully, and it is not necessary to cut back the dead top growth in winter.

·                   Occasionally, gently fork over the top 3 inches of soil to maintain porosity, particularly after hard frosts or prolonged rain, in the first two years.

·                    Let us know straight away if you suspect any problems with flow. Flow should be a little and often, and not all at once.

Failure to follow these instructions is not the responsibility of Y.E.S. Ltd

*    Let us know straight away if you suspect any problems with flow, and we will solve the problems as soon as possible.

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What are YES Vertical Flow Reedbeds

The YES Reedbed Systems are vertical flow, aerobic, solid soil, modulated, systems. This allows them to be quite efficient on the area of land required to build them. However, a pre-treatment / settlement tank system is necessary to filter out the solids, before the effluent flows into the Reedbed System.  

YES Reedbeds use a sodium bentonite impermeable layer, which ensures what goes in at the top, comes out of the bottom, and does not soak away into the surrounding land. The sodium bentonite comes as a dust, which through hydrolysis, sticks to the moisture in the walls and floor of the beds. This dust then expands by 20 times, creating a wet paste or sludge, through which water does not pass.

The Yes Reedbeds are designed to be aerobic ( with air ). It is in anaerobic systems ( without air ) where smells build up. Yes-Reedbeds are designed to be full of air, which is the reason there is no smell in our systems. Indeed, we could stand in the middle of one of our Reedbeds, after it has been filtering sewage for many years, and there will be no smell, not even on hot days. You can imagine how close you need to be before you can smell a sewage works on any day of the week. 

Surface Water must be excluded from the flow into the Reedbeds. Fencing will be required on sites subject to animal grazing ( cows, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, rabbits etc ). This is not included in our contract, or price.

The YES Reedbeds will work well on installation ( 50% reduction ), and increase in effectiveness over the following three months ( 95% reduction ). They can be constructed at any time of the year, avoiding frosts and drought. What we propose for our constructed Reedbed is as follows :-

·     We will design & build the Reedbed Filtration System

·    We will make return visits for the first year, making sure it works ( end of months 1, 3, 6 and 12 )

·    Undertake Tests to ensure outflow meets with Environment Agency discharge consent criteria which is 20mg/L BOD + 20mg/L solids ( EC ruling )  YES Reedbeds work at ( both BOD and Suspended Solids )  8-10mg/L during the week, 10-12mg/L weekends and 14mg/L when the bikers come to party.

·    Ammonia levels should be reduced to 4 to 6mg/L within 3 months  

Payment is required on completion of the construction. This fee is for design & build, materials, JCB, installation, return visits and sample testing. Costs for extra construction work, over and above what is required for the building of the Reedbeds, are additional to the prices quoted.

With all the best will in the world, we are willing to help as much as we can. However, we can only be responsible for the building of the Reedbed systems. We cannot be held responsible for situations outside our control, or experience.

YES Reedbeds comply with, and exceed current accepted minimum design specifications for reed beds treating settled domestic waste water, as outlined in the GBG42 Part 2 ( Good Building Guide ), copyright BRE 2000 printed by DETR

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So Why Modulated and not One Single Bed System ?

Water passes through a vertical flow on a slight inclined angle, and while the inflow is spread across the surface it will taper off towards the middle, towards the end of the bed. So by building two or more consecutive beds you can interrupt the angles and tapers, and be certain of the greatest area being involved in the bacterial breakdown of the pollutants.

Also if you have one single system, and something goes wrong in the middle, you have to closed down the whole system and try to solve the problem. 

With a modulated system should something go wrong, it is likely to happen in one bed only, allowing the remainder of the system to continue operating as normal, while the problem is fixed.

And in addition, where the Reedbeds are treating highly concentrated effluents, there is a possibility they will need replacing at some point in the future. Having modulated systems means that you can measure when the top beds need replacing. You can the replace the top beds only, one at a time, when funds allow you to. The bottom beds should never need replacing, so long as the top beds are renewed when necessary.

So Modular Reedbed Systems are by far the best for operation, maintenance and future replacement ( where this is necessary )

This year, two previous customers have come to us to ask for more Reedbeds. In both cases there has been a doubling of their businesses Our plans are to add further modules to double the current sizes, and we can do this at the prices originally charged. Both systems are approximately 6 and 7 years old.

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Check List of questions to decide if YES Reedbeds are suitable for your situation

Q1    How many people is it for ? ( maximum number ), or what is the daily volume ?

           Sizes are based on 1m² per person per day, or 100 litres per m² per day ( minimum size = 4m² )

A 6 person household would require 6m² Reedbed. A Reedbed for a visitor Centre needs to be sized for the maximum number of people. Should the maximum number of people be 15, then you need a 15m² Reedbed.

Q2     Is there a slope ?     YES            NO

          Vertical flow systems need a slope, into which they will fit nicely. Where there is not a slope, then the liquids will have to be pumped from the septic tank. Pumps can cost no more than £150, ( usually £60 ) and need only to operate at approximately 1 minute per hour, every hour, or for a minimum float level. Flow rates need to be a small amount, and often.

Q3     Where will it discharge         To Land?       or       To Water Course?

           Discharging to a water course is subject to a discharge consent from The Environment Agency. Soaking away to land requires land suitable to do so. A percolation test is simple, but very informative. Discharge to land needs to be more than 10m from a water course, and many ditches are deemed water courses. It is important to get it right. 

Soaking away to land relies on the percolation of the outflow from the Reedbeds, through the soils. A percolation test would help ( we can do this, or we can let you know how to do it, its really easy ). We can also construct a living soak away. This living soakaway needs to have the same surface area as the Reedbeds. It will be an area of only soil depth, covered with gravels, and planted up with iris, reeds and willow. These plants will actively transpire the liquids, reducing the volume flowing through the soils.

Q4     Do The Environment Agency and The Planning Department need to know of the proposed developments

          Yes they both need to be advised of your plans, as you are the land owner / occupier. It is important to make them feel they are taking part in the development. So invite their thoughts for how to do things, this will be better than antagonizing them !!! You still need their approval to go ahead with your plans.

Q5     What if these above authorities suggest Reedbeds don't work and they would prefer you to use an alternative package treatment plant.

YES Reedbeds comply with, and exceed current accepted minimum design specifications for reed beds treating settled domestic waste water, as outlined in the GBG42 Part 2 ( Good Building Guide ), copyright BRE 2000 printed by DETR

Ask to see one of these treatment plants working to their specifications, and to show you their test results. They would need to have some data for them to make their preferences, and for them not to accept Reedbeds. Of course their data may come from Reedbeds other than vertical flow Reedbeds. I have yet to see any system working as good, litre to litre, metre to metre, as YES Reedbeds. If I knew of a better system I would be building them.

Indeed this year YES Reedbeds have replaced three package treatment systems, which were all required by the authorities, and all of which have failed. One treatment plant discharged ammonia at 80mg/L. Raw cattle slurry has ammonia levels of 100mg/Litre, so this disc system was clearly not working at all. The system was anaerobic (without oxygen), and ammonia does not break down in anaerobic conditions. 

YES Reedbeds are aerobic ( full of oxygen, in the soil air spaces throughout the beds ) and levels of ammonia, nitrates and phosphates are normally reduced by 98%.

***   Reed plants grow in springtime, usually during May. Of course this does depend on the weather and climate, which changes year to year. The main growth is during June and July. 

So when you look at your Reedbed in March and there seems to be a lack of plant growth, don't panic, I haven't sold you dead grass and mud. The outflow should still be exactly as expected, and totally unaffected by top growth of the plants. YES Reedbeds work well all year round.

WARNING: A number of Package Treatment Companies are offering their own design of Reedbeds in a tray. We believe this to be an inferior design.

We believe Yes-Reedbeds remain the best Reedbed Filtration Systems, with the best after sales service, for the best possible prices. Don't be fooled by inferior systems.

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Reedbed Results

We undertake many tests, leading to more results than can fit onto this web site. However, The Environment Agency took samples of our site in The Isle of Wigh, in 2000. Their results were as follows:-

BOD                        8mg/L

Suspended Solids    8mg/L

Ammonia                4mg/L

Phosphates            not recorded

The Initial tests results for the caravan site near Morpeth in 2000, were as follows :-

BOD                        10mg/L

Suspended Solids    10mg/L

Ammonia                6mg/L

Tests of a Caravan site near Alnwick were as follows:-

Duck Pond Caravan Site Reedbed Results

BOD ( Biological Oxygen Demand )                                6mg/L

Suspended Solids                                                              5mg/L

Total Dissolved Solids                                                       0.31mg/L

Conductivity                                                                        0.62mV

pH                                                                                         7.0pH

Ammonia                                                                              1mg/L

Nitrates                                                                              25mg/L

Phosphates                                                       less than 10mg/L

The lowest Phosphate value was 10mg/L. Sample was much lower than that figure.

These figures, taken on a Saturday, which is the busy time of the week, are a pleasure to record. They dispel all concerns of the effectiveness of the reedbeds as wastewater treatment. It would be hard to imagine any other system producing better results.  

Domestic Reedbed Results

These are some of the Reedbed results we have. The list is more extensive, but I suspect you get an idea what to expect from your YES Reedbed.

Click to goto Mobile Reedbed Results

You can expect the BOD and Suspended Solids to be 8mg/L mid week when people are out at work, 12mg/L at the weekend, and 14mg/L when you have a party. 

We recently called to the Environment Agency and were told discharge consent to water is 20mg/L BOD, 30mg/L Suspended Solids, and 10mg/L ammonia. This was for quantities less than 5 cubic metres ( 5 tons ) per day.

Click to goto Mobile Reedbed Results

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Czech Republic Trial Reedbed

We built a trial Reedbed near to Roznov, in the Czech Republic. The site is in the eastern mountain region, where winter means very low temperatures, and deep snow.

So here we are at -12 degrees centigrade, with 2 metres of snow, and the reduction is still 75%. 

The point of the trial was to see how well the Reedbeds cope with winter weather. Clearly, lower temperatures mean reduced bacterial activity, which applies to all biological systems. The outflow remains clean and clear. I don't work well at -12 degrees, and as you can see from Elizabeth's photo, it really is cold.

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Reedbeds use the Same Technology as Standard Sewage Works Systems

1)    2)   3) 

1)   Waste Water enters the Sewage Works where flow is divided so the velocity decreases, and the grits drop out of suspension.     2)   The sludges are removed and      3) are sent to landfill

4)      5)  

4)   Fine filters extract any remaining sludge and 5)  the effluent passes through the clinker beds where bacterial activity break down the passing nutrients

In Yes Reedbeds the Septic tank reduces the flow. The emptying of the septic tank is as photo 3. 

The soils act as a fine filter where biological breakdown occurs in the aerobic conditions. Half the mass of a handful of soil is made up of bacteria. So in a 100m² Reedbed System there will be amazing amounts of bacteria, ready to breakdown the passing nutrients in the effluent.

The gravels act exactly the same as the clinker beds, with bacteria continuing to break down the nutrients in the thin capillary action film around each 20ml stone. Imagine the massive surface area of a handful of small stones.

One difference between Yes Reedbeds and a normal Sewage Works is that you can stand in a Yes Reedbed and there will be no smell. While you can be quite some distance from a sewage works and still be aware of the smell.

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How to do Percolation Tests as written by The Environment Agency

Yes it really is this simple. Just follow sections a. to d. and make the calculations as shown from e. to g.

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The Advantages of Reedbeds, together with the arguments for and against Reedbeds are listed  

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In the Beginning

I began looking into Reedbed Filtration when two people in the same week asked me if I knew anything about them. From that point in 1995 to 1996 I went round the UK looking at existing Reedbed Systems. I was able to see for myself what others had been doing. My knowledge of how soils work led me to pursue vertical flow Reedbed systems,  because I could not understand why horizontal systems worked. 

At that point one of the options was to have two parallel systems, where one system worked while the other rested, and the two systems were alternated in this way. Of course it required a person to alternate the systems by hand. This I thought was relying too much on humans. So I planned my vertical flow systems to be 1.5 times required size so that they were always working at less than capacity. However the two system idea led to my development of parallel modulated systems, designed for future expansion of a business's needs for waste water treatment.

It was at this time I came across sodium bentonite for the liners. I used it for my first Reedbed system. As soon as the bentonite was laid the water flowed on top of the powdered layer. I was most impressed.

The first trials were with cattle slurry. I thought that if Reedbeds were to be tested then I would have to use something that was readily available, and cattle slurry seemed to be the ideal substance. The results were a 99% reduction according to MAFF test results, even though MAFF and ADAS had told me Reedbeds would not work on farm slurries. It was quite interesting when much later one MAFF site invited me to visit them, as they wanted a Reedbed on their site.

These results came about at the time that my first customers were looking for a solution to their failing septic tank problems. They are Doctors and knew very well the real risks of having untreated sewage flowing on their land and into the passing river. The Reedbed was built as a 3m2 system. I would now build it as 4m2. However, the results of tests were as follows :-

The system was constructed in October and by January in the high Yorkshire Pennines in the snow the Reedbeds showed a major reduction in ammonia, phosphates and nitrates. The trial of Wool Scouring was to be the first of three trials on this type of effluent. It was also my first involvement with Steve Blackburn. It was at this time the concept of mobile demonstration Reedbeds was devised in discussion, and The Green Business Network found funding to build two mobile systems.

I did begin to think that it was going to be a matter of fact that these vertical flow systems were going to be accepted everywhere. Little did I know that many years of banging the drum for Reedbeds would have to take place before they would come to prominence. Rather than officials having an open mind and a willingness to consider Reedbeds as a possible solution, they have been quite negative in their opinions. 

It took 9 years before the first farm Reedbed system would be built. But it has been built and is working as expected all those years ago, and at a time when European legislation is sending farmers and land owners scurrying to find sensibly priced treatment systems. Alternative systems are alarmingly expensive and offer little real hope of finding a solution to the problems of surface water run off from farms.

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Reedbeds can save your marriage, its true            and more funny stories

One of our customers had the nice job of emptying the septic tank. She had invited us to her home to see how a Reedbed could get her out of this horrible task. Her husband took a little time to make up his mind, until his wife said if he didn't get her a Reedbed, she would leave him. A Reedbed was duly bought and built, and the marriage was saved.

So who needs agony aunts and psychologists, all we need are YES Reedbeds ( sounds like a song ).

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( click here for list of results ) :-

We have come across a number of engineering systems which have cost people many tens of thousands of pounds, and yet fail to work within the discharge consent limits listed above. In many of these cases the installation of a YES Reedbed has solved all the major problems of smell, and quality, at a fraction of the price.

In Alnwick the very large "light bulb shaped" or "onion Shaped" septic tank was the preferred. After working for 2 years you could smell the tank many metres away. Meanwhile you can stand inside the Reedbeds and not smell anything at all. And the outflow is certainly excellent. See the pictures at the top of the page.

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