Graf waste water treatment plant, any thoughts?

[joe90]

I went for the vortex in the end, the pump and controller came in a box to be fixed to the lid but it was sooo noisy as the lid acted as a drum. I moved the box into a hole in the ground next to the tank with a stone drain down to the rumble drain so it would not get flooded out. It’s whisper quiet now and less obtrusive being below ground level.

[ProDave]

13 minutes ago, SuperJohnG said:

I'm just reigniting this thread again as I am at this stage nearly. 

 

I liked the look of the graf unit - but the separate pump units and controller perplexes me, surely it's more of a hassle having a pump and controller that's not part of the tank? I don't see the value here.

 

@ProDave How is the condor unit? seems to be a good price at £2k for  a pumped version, and the air and water pump seems to be inside the tank? is that right. You just install and then run power to it?  seems very similar to the Biopure unit but £1k cheaper. Biopure has the air pump directly inside tank lid. 

 

There is also the WPL diamond for a similar price too and same design as far as I can see.  

Very pleased with the conder. Easy to fit as it has 3 legs that it sits on while you pour the concrete.

 

The blower pump sits inside a box in the top of the unit (though I see no reason why you could not remote mount it)  and that box is only for the blower pump.  There is a separate cap you remove to give access for pumping out.  (I understand the Biopure requires you to lift out the blower pump box for pump out access)

 

This is the finished thing, this is all you see.  the big round lid gives access to the blower pump and the small round lid unscrews to give access for the pump out pipe.

 

[Gone West]

31 minutes ago, SuperJohnG said:

There is also the WPL diamond for a similar price too and same design as far as I can see.  

We have the WPL Diamond DMS2 which was installed in 2010 and hasn't been any bother. The original Secoh EL100 air pump packed up in August this year so had a good life and was replaced with the newer JDK100 which uses less electricity.

[joe90]

@ProDave I am jealous!, you have grass!!!!, I was supposed to seed ours today but un forecast rain has put paid to that. Tuesday is supposed to be dry followed by rain wed so fingers crossed.

[dpmiller]

I went with the Solido Smart and It's supremely quiet, a pumped option for it would've been a couple of hundred quid at the time if we'd needed it. Internal pump...

[SuperJohnG]

thanks all, very helpful. 

 

@ProDave how do you find the noise from the condor?. This is the one that seems to make the best sense for me, however I don't really like the big air vent on top, If I don't take it out with the ride on then sure as hell my son will when he starts learning to use the mower. The tank is going to have to sit close out my back door in the middle somewhere rather than hidden away in a corner. 

 

@PeterStarck thanks, the WPL seemed to make good sense too, only downside being that again it's a remote mount for the blower which I don't like.  But I like the top on it better as it's flush. 

[ProDave]

It can't be that close to your back door, building regs set a minimum distance to a building.

 

when first powered up part of the casing buzzed with the pump running.  I forget the details, but I had to add a few screws here and there to stop adjacent parts "buzzing" together, and I found a big bit of rigid foam to stand the pump on.  Now it's just the quiet purr of the pump.

 

The top of that vent regularly gets knocked off by the mower, it just pops back on.

[SuperJohnG]

5 minutes ago, ProDave said:

It can't be that close to your back door, building regs set a minimum distance to a building.

 

when first powered up part of the casing buzzed with the pump running.  I forget the details, but I had to add a few screws here and there to stop adjacent parts "buzzing" together, and I found a big bit of rigid foam to stand the pump on.  Now it's just the quiet purr of the pump.

 

The top of that vent regularly gets knocked off by the mower, it just pops back on.

thanks. It wont be that close, I have lots of space, but it'll sort of sit in the middle of a nice open area, rather than over at the side somewhere. 

[General-Lee]

@Barney12 still happy with your Graff? What’s maintenance like on it? 
 
I’m still going round in circles with plants! Bio pure then...Conder...Graff!?

 

At least got my bum in gear with the pipe work etc.

 

 

[DragsterDriver]

Having read this- I think the Graf sounds a better option than the biodisc  

[Highland build]

Hi,  I'm trying to decide between the Graf one to clean and a conder solido both of these have been suggested as my drainage report wants effluent quality of >5mg/l of ammonia and so these two meet that standard unlike alot of the other common ones. There also both one chamber apparently less chambers/filtering to go wrong. 

The conder solido is definitely my preference as it just needs an electirc cable back to the house but the dlivery charges to our area for is are really high which makes it £1000 more than the graf one2 clean. The thing that puts me off the graf is this separate aeriator? chamber that needs siting somewhere else to the tank and then it also needs electricity back to the house. My plant is at the back of the house and the sewage tmt plant is planned to be 5 m infront of the house. the conder is all in the tank at the tank site and can come with a 30m electirc cable which will/ could go around the back to the plant i think. Ahhh. Anyone any updates on how the Graf runs? or the conder solido? 

[dpmiller]

is this the upright Condor, or the Solido Smart? We've the latter and it's very good.

[ProDave]

3 hours ago, Highland build said:

The conder solido is definitely my preference as it just needs an electirc cable back to the house but the dlivery charges to our area for is are really high which makes it £1000 more than the graf one2 clean.

I don't know that version but I have the Conder ASP6.  When I was looking for prices i found buying it from Travis Perkins worked out the cheapest as it was free delivery and offloaded by the hiab on their own delivery wagon.

[Russell griffiths]

Are you sure about the 5m thing. 
I was told 7m from the house. 
I have the Graf unit, it only requires power, but you do have the box that has the air blower in it, mine is in a shed, which could be your problem if it’s in the front garden. 

[ProDave]

22 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

Are you sure about the 5m thing. 
I was told 7m from the house. 
I have the Graf unit, it only requires power, but you do have the box that has the air blower in it, mine is in a shed, which could be your problem if it’s in the front garden. 

I think it's 7M in England and Wales, and 5M in Scotland.  Mine is only 5M from the house and BC had no issues.

[Highland build]

Its the conder solido 8PE I'm looking at, it's currently on offer until the end jan (so thats buy it on Monday or go with the Graf one2 clean), apparently prices are due to rise, tanks for everything, i think hold their stock in county durham and will deliver to most areas of Scotland free except Highland where we are! So its whether to get it delivered to a friend relative in a free postcode and then wrestle it onto a flat bed trailer and bring it up its 150kg a low dig profile one so apparently will go on a flat bed but ideally you would have a frontloader to offload which is no problem at this end but possibly not at the free delivery address on a residential street in Edinburgh ha ha.

thanks @dpmiller thats good to know.  Thanks @Barney12 those pics of the graf are really helpful, its where to put the separately housed aerator with the graf its a very open plot so difficult to disguise this/ house it. Yea its 5 m in Scoltand its infront and to the side of the house. I hadn't actually thought about the pipe stuck up out the ground with the conder that @SuperJohnG was worried about taking out with the ride on mower but I guess this pipe won't be as obvious ast the cabinet or a shed or hut for the graf aerator. Hmmm decisions decisions I could bite the bullet and pay delivery on the Conder.

[Highland build]

tried travis perkins they don't stock the conder anymore boo!

[jamieled]

Jdp in Inverness can get hold of graf plants at reasonable prices.

[saveasteading]

On 28/01/2022 at 22:07, ProDave said:

I think it's 7M in England and Wales, and 5M in Scotland

I can't see any reason for a treatment tank to be so far away (soakaway, yes as it could undermine the foundations), so would be worth negotiating if it was too tight.

[Highland build]

So I went for the Graf one2clean as it worked out a thousand pounds less and will be delivered to site. no faffing round with collection at a different address on a flat bed. My spreadsheet of costs will thank me for it. Just going to have to try and disguise the green plastic box housing the aerator and control panel! Thanks @jamieled jd pipes best price.

[joe90]

41 minutes ago, Highland build said:

Just going to have to try and disguise the green plastic box housing the aerator and control panel!

I have a Vortex with a similar box and buried it next to the plant mainly to make it quiet.(picture above ).

Edited February 2, 2022 by joe90

[Highland build]

27 minutes ago, joe90 said:

I have a Vortex with a similar box and buried it next to the plant mainly to make it quiet.(picture above ).

this Graf seems to have the control panel i the box too so I think that 2/3 of the plastic box sticks up out of the ground and the aerator bit is under the ground with the pipe to blow the air into the tank. Possibly you might be able to bury the aerator bit and have the control panel in the plant I'll look into this @Barney12 Do you think having control panel remote from aerator would work? If not I'll accept the box sitting out next to the tank!

[Highland build]

On 28/09/2020 at 16:09, joe90 said:

I went for the vortex in the end, the pump and controller came in a box to be fixed to the lid but it was sooo noisy as the lid acted as a drum. I moved the box into a hole in the ground next to the tank with a stone drain down to the rumble drain so it would not get flooded out. It’s whisper quiet now and less obtrusive being below ground level.

this is very neat I's be happy with this!

[SuperJohnG]

On 28/01/2022 at 16:40, dpmiller said:

is this the upright Condor, or the Solido Smart? We've the latter and it's very good.

 @dpmiller on the solido smart...where did you site the vent bit?  I have to put my treatment plant in the middle of the garden (albeit - 2 acre garden) but didn't really want that sticking up in middle of garden. 

 

Also - does the control panel go in the house?

 

I want a TP with the blower in the unit and the  Conder ASP and Conder Solido both have that and good reviews.

 

Quote this morning direct from Premier tech water :

 

£2081 - for the ASP

£3061 - for the Solido

 

Difference being the ASP is 80w permeant and the Solido being 58w - but intermittent (albeit haven't managed to get what the timings are). 

 

so @ 27p/kWh - £190 a year for the ASP, £140 for the solido if it was permenant running. I don't see the advantage here really?? 20 years to make it work. what other advantages does the solido provide? 

 

 

 

[dpmiller]

@SuperJohnG  I extended the air inlet hose about 6m with some buried 25mm conduit to place the snorkel in the hedgeline out of the way. Has no effect on the running of the unit, the volume of air required is quite low.

 

With Smart C there is no separate control box, there's an LCD built into the top cover flap of the pump.

 

Lift manhole, unscrew lid of "equipment capsule" to access.

 

Funnily enough I lifted the lid on ours yesterday for the first time in a year or so. Couldn't hear the pump at all until I lifted the manhole cover,  no odour whatsoever, and a seething mass below.