Sewage Treatment plant noisy

[DannyEvs]

Hi - we have just had a sewage treatment plant installed replacing an older one.  Little did I know that the air pump would be housed on the outside and it makes a low level humming noise that is going to be a problem for my partners sleep ?.  Its a PC4 Marsh Treatment Plant with a Secoh pump.  I asked the guys if the pump could be moved away and they said no, but having read other threads on this forum Im not so sure.  Can anyone confirm that I can move it - say about 10 metres away?  Will it be detrimental to the pump in the long run or anything else I need to be aware of?

[joe90]

I had exactly the same issue with a vortex, the pump housing was bolted to the top of the tank which acted like a drum, I moved it next to the unit and buried it into the ground (with drainage to stop it flooding and vent pipes to get air into the pump) .I cannot see why you cannot move it away but not qualified to work out the detrimental effect of distance on air pressure . Others have moved their pump and generally housed it in something with mass which absorbs sound.

[dpmiller]

Agree with @joe90 above, but am intrigued that this manufacturer offers a "silencer" to go between compressor and plant and wonder if the noise is something to do with the particular diffuser used in the brand.

 

Our Solido has the pump inside a sealed capsule under the chamber cover but even with the lid off there's no noise similar to their video...

[nod]

I ran ours into the garage about 15 mtrs away 

I was also surprised at how noisy the pump is If the garage wasn’t detached from the house it would be an issue 

Originally I was going to built a small 4x4 store next to the plant to house the pump box which would have reduced the noise 

When I installed ours I had no knowledge of treatment plants 

But it would be pretty obvious to the installer that the noise levels could be a problem 

[ProDave]

Several people have remote mounted their air pumps so I see no reason why you cannot with this one, even if the manufacturer says no.

[Ian]

The Secoh pump on our treatment plant is sited about 10M away in an above-ground enclosure with no issues. It's been running for over 3 years with no problems.

 

[Edit - just looked up the model of pump and it's a Secoh JDK-S-60] 

Edited June 5, 2020 by Ian

[Gone West]

Our air pump housing is about 2m away from the treatment plant and is semi buried in concrete. I stood the air pump on rubber blocks and you have to be closer than 2m to hear anything.

[DannyEvs]

Hi all thanks for your responses.  Sounds like plenty of options so I'll try to figure out the best

 

[Miek]

13 hours ago, joe90 said:

I had exactly the same issue with a vortex, the pump housing was bolted to the top of the tank which acted like a drum, I moved it next to the unit and buried it into the ground (with drainage to stop it flooding and vent pipes to get air into the pump) .I cannot see why you cannot move it away but not qualified to work out the detrimental effect of distance on air pressure . Others have moved their pump and generally housed it in something with mass which absorbs sound.

I don't suppose you have a pic you could post? I want do bury my vortex pump unit too so keen to others solutions before I freestyle it.

[joe90]

Hi @Miek here is a pic of mine, excuse the weeds, yet to do the landscaping. I dug a hole which is directly over the rumble drain and lowered the pump box onto and surrounded by 50mm drainage stone, any water that gets near it drains away through the rumble drain to a ditch. You can see two black 40mm pipes sticking up, these allow fresh air to keep the pump cool as it needs ventilation. Any questions please ask ?P.S. the existing air pipes were long enough to be re routed through new holes in the side of the tank.

Edited June 5, 2020 by joe90

[Roger440]

This seems to be a problem with all of them. Clearly the designers dont have one themselves. Mines a Vortex too. Whilst the actual plant might be quite good, precisely zero thought went into the compressor and housing.  It now resides in an enclosure in the wall. Its much better and probably wont bother most.

 

But eventually im going to move it into the summer house, which is about 10m away. The vortex sellers said i would need a bigger compressor to overcome the increased resistance created by the longer pipe, but aside from that no reason it wouldnt work.

 

The other problem was the sloshing of water noise. Ive created a sound proof hood over the entry point where most of this happens which is much better.

 

If id known all this before, i might have gone with another septic tank and a drainage field.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Roger440

[joe90]

5 minutes ago, Roger440 said:

The other problem was the sloshing of water noise

which is why my son calls it the “poo jacuzzi “ I have lined the lid of mine with acoustic foam now.

[Roger440]

Just now, joe90 said:

which is why my son calls it the “poo jacuzzi “ I have lined the lid of mine with acoustic foam now.

 

Me too. But really want to do the fixed half. But not really doable.

 

But it was the "hood" that made the big reduction in noise.

 

The spill pipe on the return will get modified eventually. Only reason its not done is its 55mm pipe. Ever tried buying 55mm waste pipe................?

 

Could be a really good product with a bit of thought and virtually zero extra cost.

[Gone West]

9 hours ago, Roger440 said:

The spill pipe on the return will get modified eventually. Only reason its not done is its 55mm pipe. Ever tried buying 55mm waste pipe................?

Yeah, that's tricky.

2" domestic push fit waste pipe is 54mm.

2" domestic solvent weld waste pipe is 56mm.

[DannyEvs]

Whilst I like the idea of sinking the pump Peter, I think its likely that I'll move the pump further to make sure.  Having had a quick google, I'm not clear what sort of tubing I should order for the pump, and also connections etc - could someone advise please - will Screwfix have anything or do I need a more specialist supplier?

 

[Gone West]

1 hour ago, DannyEvs said:

could someone advise please

You want medium or heavy duty, depending on how well protected it will be, reinforced PVC hose. Whatever internal diameter your current hose is, something like this :

https://www.acecompressors.com/product/heavy-duty-pvc-hose-20mm-3-4-id-26mm-od/

I would shop around, Screwfix unlikely.

[SteamyTea]

On 05/06/2020 at 07:28, joe90 said:

but not qualified to work out the detrimental effect of distance on air pressure .

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/pressure-drop-compressed-air-pipes-d_852.html

 

 

[DannyEvs]

43 minutes ago, PeterStarck said:

You want medium or heavy duty, depending on how well protected it will be, reinforced PVC hose. Whatever internal diameter your current hose is, something like this :

https://www.acecompressors.com/product/heavy-duty-pvc-hose-20mm-3-4-id-26mm-od/

I would shop around, Screwfix unlikely.

Thanks Peter really useful- and cheaper than what I found?.  I guess I am going to bury it under the lawn when I reroute it so I’ll probably go heavy duty just in case

[jamieled]

I've read this thread with interest and am dealing with a related problem so I thought I'd keep it in the same place. I wonder if anyone else can advise from experience.

 

I'm commissioning a vortex treatment plant, with the air blower housing external to the tank. The manufacturers (WTE) require you to take a backpressure reading in the airline to validate the air pump warranty. In my case the pressure reading should be no more than 200mbar, which is the stated operating pressure of the pump. No matter what I do, I cannot get an air pressure reading close to this (best I can get is about 280mbar). WTE tell you to move the blower housing closer to the tank if the pressure reading is high, but as it stands I can't move it any closer! I've also been adjusting the air movement within the tank but that doesn't seem to get me close either.

 

Has anyone else had trouble getting a reasonable pressure reading, were there any tricks to lowering the backpressure? Or am I over-worrying about this?

cheers in advance.

[Ian]

On 10/06/2020 at 06:53, DannyEvs said:

I'm not clear what sort of tubing I should order for the pump, and also connections etc - could someone advise please - will Screwfix have anything or do I need a more specialist supplier?

 

Most of the sewage treatment plants with air blowers use pumps that are also stocked by garden centre or online aquatic stores (the pumps are used for aerating garden ponds) That's where I bought the hose for ours and they sell it by the meter length.

[jamieled]

On 03/07/2020 at 08:22, jamieled said:

I've read this thread with interest and am dealing with a related problem so I thought I'd keep it in the same place. I wonder if anyone else can advise from experience.

 

I'm commissioning a vortex treatment plant, with the air blower housing external to the tank. The manufacturers (WTE) require you to take a backpressure reading in the airline to validate the air pump warranty. In my case the pressure reading should be no more than 200mbar, which is the stated operating pressure of the pump. No matter what I do, I cannot get an air pressure reading close to this (best I can get is about 280mbar). WTE tell you to move the blower housing closer to the tank if the pressure reading is high, but as it stands I can't move it any closer! I've also been adjusting the air movement within the tank but that doesn't seem to get me close either.

 

Has anyone else had trouble getting a reasonable pressure reading, were there any tricks to lowering the backpressure? Or am I over-worrying about this?

cheers in advance.

Just a quick follow up in case anyone else has the same problem. I originally bought a pressure gauge off WTE (the vortex supplier) which turned out to be duff! The backpressure is fine when read with a working gauge.

[Euca12]

On 05/06/2020 at 22:35, Roger440 said:

 

 

But it was the "hood" that made the big reduction in noise.

 

I realise this is now years later but Roger440, if you are still around,  is there any way you can describe how you made the "hood" and maybe post a photo?  We just had a treatment plant installed, live very rural and are very disappointed with the noise.  The more we dampen the pump noise the louder the sloshing seems to be!!

[joe90]

To reduce noise  in my vortex I glued acoustic foam to the underside of the lid and on the inside of the pump housing which reduced the noise a lot.

[Roger440]

On 23/04/2024 at 19:48, Euca12 said:

I realise this is now years later but Roger440, if you are still around,  is there any way you can describe how you made the "hood" and maybe post a photo?  We just had a treatment plant installed, live very rural and are very disappointed with the noise.  The more we dampen the pump noise the louder the sloshing seems to be!!

 

I made it out of bits of XPS insulation board, glued and screwed together so it was a snug fit over the entry point and the 2 return pipes.

 

What i never did do was sort out the open pipe from on the settled sludge return. I was going to put a pipe on this so instead of it just splashing about, it would run downhill into the water and hence be quiet.. The downside of that, is that you then cant really see if you have that set at the right rate, so it would need to be easily removable.

 

Like Joe90, i fitted some foam to the inside too. 

 

Addtionally i had decking over the top. 

 

Still wasnt happy with it. Ive moved since, but there is no way id locate a plant anywhere near the house again. Fortunately im on a septic tank now.

 

The vortex might be good in some respects, but it has some obvious flaws, one of which is noise, the other is the tendancy for the settled sludge return to get blocked. The noise issue would be easy for them to solve. I wouldnt buy another.