WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – TRANSPORT
Giving new meaning to an essential service E & J SEPTICS IN MELBOURNE IS TAKING ON THE STATE’S “DIRTY WORK” AND PLAYING A PART IN HELPING TRACE COVID-19, WITH HELP FROM UD TRUCKS.
Ryan Sockett and the team at E & J Septics.
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astewater services have long been considered essential but never more so than during a global pandemic. While all waste streams have increased globally as COVID-19 forces countries into various forms of lockdown and restrictions, one is at the forefront of helping track the virus. Wastewater across Victoria continues to be tested at treatment plants and in the sewer network, helping to shape the government’s health advice and decisions. Fragments of COVID-19 can enter wastewater through toilet bowls, sinks and drains, giving authorities
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information about geographical areas of populations where the virus might be. Ryan Sockett, General Manager of E & J Septics, and his team are playing their part in helping to piece together COVID’s spread. With more than 40 years’ experience in waste management services and a fleet of 15 trucks, E & J Septics has a wide network of domestic and industry customers across Victoria. The team has been asked by City West Water to provide wastewater samples as part of the statewide testing blitz. “It’s the nature of our work,” Ryan says.
“With everyone washing their hands more, things are filling up and people are needing more septic services. “We pump everything out and take the waste with us.” Ryan says the construction industry being deemed an essential service and able to continue operating, albeit at a reduced capacity, has also kept his team occupied. They continue to empty and service portable toilets and septic holding tanks at work sites, pump pits for stormwater or sewage, and excess ground water. Waste collected is transported to treatment plants across the state where it goes through flow meters and pH
