By July 2008, all small (<50 population plants) should conform to the standards minimum requirements and also be performance tested. Plant which meets the requirements may be CE marked. The standard applies across Europe.

This standard was published January 2006 and is now in its transitional period. This period allows manufacturers to have sufficient time in which to carry out the performance and other specified tests, enabling them to ensure that their products comply with the standard's requirements. Most standards only have a 12-month transition period but in this case the transitional period has been extended to allow for the lengthy performance test and expires in July 2008.

Small wastewater treatment systems achieve their results in different ways and use a wide variety of biological processes. At the moment, the absence of any clear performance guidelines for these products has made it difficult for customers and specifiers to compare their performance and assure themselves that the effluent will meet any regulatory effluent requirements.

The standard will bring much-needed conformity to the industry by defining minimum requirements for these products. It requires rigorous performance tests, which are conducted over a 38-week period by independent test houses.

The minimum requirements include the fact that the products must be structurally durable, watertight and corrosion resistant. They should also be fitted with an alarm to indicate an operational problem, such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic failure.

Plants may be constructed from concrete, steel, PVC-U, Polythene (PE), Polypropylene (PP) and Glass Reinforced Polyester (GRP), and the standard lays down the individual requirements for each type of material.

The standard also states that the hydraulic design of the plant, internal pipework and connections must ensure no back-flows, blockage or surcharging occur during normal operation.

During the performance test, each plants is assessed against the following core parameters - total chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids (SS), power consumption, daily hydraulic flow and temperature.

Declaration of the BOD and SS Treatment efficiency ratios identified during the performance test for BOD and SS are mandatory. Manufacturers can declare other tested treatment efficiencies such as levels of ammonia, phosphate, sludge production, etc.

Performance tests are mostly conducted under "normal" (i.e. nominal flow) usage conditions, which include defined intermittent flows during a 24-hour period. The performance of the product in the event of a problem, such as power failure, underloading, or overloading, is also assessed.

Following the successful completion of the tests, the product's key statistics, including its daily hydraulic load, treatment efficiency and electrical consumption, will be clearly recorded in documentation and allows the manufacturer to label the product's test status.

The standard was been prepared by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 165 "Wastewater Engineering" under a mandate provided by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, and supports key EU directives.

All Deta companies will provide equipment that meets the standards requirements.
It is understood that the Irish environmental regulators will recommend the installation of CE marked products.