OPINION: ‘How do festivals manage their liquid waste?’

Festival season is drawing to a close, but there are some big events still left on the calendar. If you have ever been to an event like Glastonbury, the Isle of Wight Festival or Wireless, you will understand the sheer scale of a festival and the volume of people who attend. Glastonbury typically draws 200,000 people. The Isle of Wight Festival is smaller at an average of 50,000 – 70,000 people each year, but given that this accounts for between one-third and one-half of the island’s usual population, it represents a significant challenge.

Naturally, the infrastructure that accommodates all of these people is usually on full display during the event. Still, you might wonder what happens afterwards, or left marvelling at the scale of the clean-up that follows. Most of these events rely on volunteers to collect and deal with solid waste – everything from discarded food packaging and drinks containers to abandoned tents and novelty items – but a different approach is needed when it comes to liquid waste.

There are several wastewater streams that can be generated during music, arts and culture festivals, including sewage and wastewater from toilets, greywater from showers or food preparation areas, and others. Based on the size of these events, enormous amounts of waste are generated, and liquid waste in particular is subject to strict controls and regulations, especially if it is considered hazardous waste.

Mismanagement of wastewater also comes with a risk of environmental contamination and, for festival organisers, this presents the risk of legal penalties. Most festivals require environmental permits from the Environment Agency and local authorities, which may require them to prove that their wastewater management plans meet stringent standards. As such, there can be various severe consequences if they fail to comply with the law and with any specific regulations required by their permits.

The most effective way for festivals to manage their liquid waste is to work with a licensed waste management company. These professionals typically work behind the scenes, so you may not see them when you attend a festival, but they provide a range of services from delivering and installing storage tanks and filtration systems to supplying and maintaining portable toilets.

Greywater should be collected separately from blackwater (sewage), as it can be treated using filtration systems and then reused for non-potable purposes. This water must meet strict standards before it can be released back into the environment, but one of the key responsibilities of a wastewater management provider is to monitor water quality and meet these standards.

Larger festivals may install temporary on-site wastewater treatment plants with the help of wastewater service providers. These plants can treat blackwater and greywater to meet the standards required for safe discharge or reuse. The treatment processes often include sedimentation, biological treatment, and disinfection. Even in these cases, there is typically more water than can be processed during an event. Most wastewater is therefore collected and taken to specialist treatment centres to be cleaned before it can be reused or released into the environment. Organisers need to work with licensed companies to carry out wastewater disposal, as this must be done according to strict environmental standards and regulations.

Combining these approaches – on-site storage, regular collections and disposal, treatment plants and septic tanks – is the key to addressing the sheer volume of wastewater generated at large festivals. This helps to overcome a logistical challenge that could otherwise not only pose a risk to the environment but could be hazardous to attendees’ health. Festivals that happen in the same place each year may invest in permanent or semi-permanent wastewater treatment infrastructure that can be used year after year to reduce the environmental footprint of waste disposal.

Treatment often involves natural processes, such as the use of bacteria to break down solid waste or particular substances, and several stages of filtration, to make sure the water meets the expected standards of quality. Finally, once it is safe, all of the wastewater generated at festivals ends up back in the environment.