What are Shallow Buried Trenches?
A shallow buried trench is an alternative to a conventional leaching bed. It consists of a pressure distribution system which delivers doses of effluent to a leaching bed which consists of 25 mm PVC laterals laid inside a plastic chamber. The laterals are perforated at regular intervals on the top of the pipe. When the dosing pump is activated, wastewater is forced along the entire length of the lateral and prayed upwards where it hits the chamber and trickles down into the soil. By sizing the pump correctly, the entire footprint of the system is dosed at the same time, ensuring much more efficient distribution and use of the soil absorption system. Shallow buried trenches may only be used when the wastewater has been treated to tertiary standards. The footprint of a shallow buried trench system is much smaller than a conventional system, because the soil is not relied upon to complete very much treatment. In addition, shallow buried trenches may be installed in native soils with a T-t
