County specialist explains aerobic treatment units, disinfection, life cycle and maintenance

At a Valley community presentation, Zachary Burf, an environmental quality specialist for Coconino County, described the function, operation and maintenance needs of alternate on-site wastewater technologies commonly used where native soil is shallow. He said aerobic treatment units (ATUs) use oxygen injection to create an aerobic environment inside a treatment chamber; that pre-treatment allows the required vertical separation from a limiting layer to be reduced in some designs. "Instead of a common septic tank where you're going to have two chambers, this one's going to have three chambers," Burf said, describing a trash/settling chamber, an aeration chamber with a blower or agitator, and a treatment/chlorination or UV chamber. He said the aeration…