The essence of wastewater treatment

Monchique. Just think of all the things we have adopted from the Romans throughout history: for example, the theoretical framework of our modern jurisprudence, as taught in university law faculties, but also the way we relieve ourselves and discharge and hide our wastewater far away. It would be much better for nature and fertilisation if we dug a hole, squatted over it to relieve ourselves and then covered the hole up again. But back then – 2,000 years ago – no one could have imagined that the population would grow to such an extent that we – humanity as a whole – would number ten billion bipeds living in cities and high-rise buildings, far away from nature. And what do these bipeds do with their sewage?

The Romans wanted to be comfortable. They invented the domestic toilet and the pipe that not only transported water into the house, but also sewage (what a lovely word!) away from it. Yet where does our sewage go today and what is done with it? How is it cleaned?

We therefore have the Romans to thank for the fact that we can sit down to do our morning necessities and no longer have to squat over a hole in order to shit. What an invention! Every modern house has a bathroom, and in it there is a shower and a toilet. What a lovely topic we are covering today, aren’t we? There is, of course, a deeper reason for our discussion of this subject: it has to do with the law and the sewage of our municipalities, but specifically Monchique. Brussels has taken Portugal to the European Court of Justice for the deficiencies that exist in its sewage treatment. The topic is, therefore, a hot one, if only because Portugal finds itself in a delicate situation: it is in danger of losing all the subsidies that have been coming to us from Brussels for a long time now. An end to the funding currently being provided to thousands of projects because eleven municipalities in Portugal are violating EU law.

I have often imagined what a headache I would have as mayor of a municipality like Monchique in trying to find a fair and just solution to the problem of so-called wastewater. I say this because there are municipalities that can quite easily be connected to a sewer network – but there are also many isolated houses in the mountains that were built far away from the district’s municipal sewage discharge system and have their own three-part septic tanks that cannot be connected to it. Anyone who knows a little about septic tanks knows that you cannot discharge into them everything that modern advertising promises us. Beginning with washing powder and ending with bleach.

The septic tank into which sewage is discharged is a highly sensitive structure. It should contain bacterial cultures, a different kind of pet, which the homeowner sets in motion when the septic tank is put into operation. These bacteria are important. They eat and transform smelly sewage, giving it an initial rough cleansing. From the first chamber, the sewage then flows into a second chamber, already somewhat cleaner, and, by the time it reaches the third chamber, it is almost completely purified.

If you plant reeds or bamboo at the end of the tank, the plants will clean the remaining grey water, and nothing will remain of what you put down the toilet. But be careful! For goodness sake, do not pour chlorine (bleach) or other anionic surfactants into your small sewage treatment plant, the so-called septic tank. This will kill the bacteria, which in turn purify your sewage.

So, use gentle and biodegradable washing-up liquid in the kitchen; the same thing applies to washing powder for the washing machine and floor cleaner, and also to any medicines you may need to take. Bacteria, for example, do not like antibiotics or cortisone. Caution is the mother of wisdom!

I have managed to maintain a bacterial culture (my pets) in my small sewage treatment plant for almost 25 years, and, if possible, I want to keep it that way in the future. Then I will never have to have the septic tank pumped out or cleaned – the wastewater will clean itself. That’s what my bacteria are for. I thought that organising a seminar on wastewater treatment in Monchique would also be of interest to the city administration. Far from it, however.

When a municipal water pipe was laid in the street to Esgravatadouro near Caldas de Monchique a few years ago, my neighbours and I were connected to the water network. However, the wastewater problem was still left to each individual to deal with. That’s why I took a closer look at how my small private sewage treatment plant could work…

I maintain that you can tell how intellectually developed a person is by how they deal with their sewage and faeces. Right or wrong? I then made a closer study of the bills that the local council sends me every month and discovered that they are charging me for a service that they do not provide. I have never experienced anything like this before. Imagine you go into a shop to buy something to eat. They don’t have what you want to buy, but it’s still listed on the bill. Do you see where I’m going with this?

The town of Monchique sells me water. I treat the wastewater myself, but every month the local authority charges me for the water they have supplied and, among other things, lists an amount of up to 25 euros for wastewater treatment under ‘Saneamento de águas residuais’. At first, I thought I needed new glasses. But then I realised that the council was charging me for a service it doesn’t provide – and can’t provide at all, because it hasn’t installed any sewage pipes connected to our property. Fraud? Is the Camara Municipal de Monchique defrauding its citizens with their sewage bills? Until just now, I couldn’t imagine that at all. That is why it is so important to take a closer look at the achievements of the Romans: the administration of justice and sewage treatment, for example. Next week, you can find out more about this topic here…