Sewage treatment plant - air blower electricity costs

[SteamyTea]

4 hours ago, saveasteading said:

excluding detail

We always put the nerdy, wimps head down the lavatory at school.

Is it ginger hair that causes the problem.

[Yardmaster]

sorry for bringing this subject up again

 

 

 i have a condor treatment tank with a pump in a green box thats on 24/7  costing around 300 a year on electricty

 

 

i do get the tank de sludged every year

 

 

what would happen if i switched it off completely?

 

 

[Redoctober]

Hi @Yardmaster  

 

Perhaps some more detail would help -

Firstly what type of Condor unit do you have?

Is the pump "built in" so to speak or can it be replaced without interefering with the treatment plant itself? 

What type of pump is it?

 

As for desludging, that can depend on many factors - How many occupants / manufacturers guidance etc.

 

Switching the pump off is not to be recommended for any great lenght of time, I would suggest. It is there for a reason.

 

We have a Bio pure treatment plant which is similar to a condor one, in as much as it runs on a pump - The manufacturers suggest that our tank can go for 3 - 5 years without it being emptied. We have also "operated" our unit without the pump for up to a week, due to a power cut without any dire consequences. 

[Tom]

51 minutes ago, Yardmaster said:

sorry for bringing this subject up again

 

 

 i have a condor treatment tank with a pump in a green box thats on 24/7  costing around 300 a year on electricty

 

 

i do get the tank de sludged every year

 

 

what would happen if i switched it off completely?

 

 

 

If you mean Conder, then that's the one we have. The pump is there to keep aerobic bacteria alive, digesting all the cr@p, switch it off and the digestion starts to be anaerobic which isn't what you want. Tends to get a bit smelly after a week or two.

[Yardmaster]

3 minutes ago, Tom said:

 

If you mean Conder, then that's the one we have. The pump is there to keep aerobic bacteria alive, digesting all the cr@p, switch it off and the digestion starts to be anaerobic which isn't what you want. Tends to get a bit smelly after a week or two.

 

 

 

so is smell the only downside?  as i have already said its pumped out every year.

[Alan Ambrose]

Sounds a bit high - that's an average of about 130W on 24/7 i.e. a couple of old 60W lightbulbs. You can probably get away with an average of 10 mins every hour (total guess). See what duty cycle it's on and check with the manufacturer's instructions?

[Redoctober]

3 minutes ago, Yardmaster said:

so is smell the only downside?  as i have already said its pumped out every year.

 

Blimey, are you suggesting that you are willing to put up with the smell to save on the energy costs? 

 

The reason we don't have ours emptied every year is because of the work done by the pump. How much does it cost you to empty annually?  A bit of research may reveal that you don't need it emptied every year.

Perhaps you could look at getting a more effeicent pump!

 

If you are seeking some sort of validation of your proposal, then I'm not sure you are going to get it from here. 

[Tom]

54 minutes ago, Yardmaster said:

 

 

 

so is smell the only downside?  as i have already said its pumped out every year.

 

The smell means the digestion in the unit is not working as it should, so the effluent coming out of it will no longer be treated properly. 

We've had our Conder in for 4 years so far and have yet to have it pumped out. I keep the pump running 24/7. I regularly drink the effluent to check and all good 👍

[SteamyTea]

4 minutes ago, Tom said:

I regularly drink the effluent to check and all good

 

 

[Russell griffiths]

Fark me. 
the human race baffles me more every day. 

[saveasteading]

I have installed 3 Marsh units with air bubbles , like  a fish tank. No feedback at all so sounds ok.

 

I have elsewhere a 3 compartment installation with no mechanics at all. It smells a little on occasions. I have had it 20 years and have never had it cleaned....because why?

 

And right here I have a 1920's brick chamber with no mechanics and no baffles: just a manhole with pipes positioned to allow floating and separation. There is no smell off it, but the liquor coming out of it to a soakaway is rather grey and unpleasant.... but not brown.  I had it cleaned after 15 years of our use and who knows how long before.  There was 100mm of brown crust floating (no smell) and 200mm of grey slurry at the bottom. Ive had another 10 years use since then and no smells occur.

 

I'm saying: don't panic, it is going to do 90% of the work over 3 the chambers, and the stirring or bubbles will do the rest. Most are overspecified anyway (ie on house maximum population).  So I'd suggest a timer that runs it for an hour a day.

 

But I'm guessing.  The most important thing is not to put bleach etc down it (or minimise toilet cleaner blue stuff).

And the other most important thing is where it goes next? Into a rural soakaway and it will be ok. In a small garden perhaps not. Into a stream, definitely not: keep the power on.

 

If it is a recent installation you should have a testing chamber. So you could try 'before and after' tests and report back.

[Yardmaster]

thanks for replys guys

 

 

mayb i should rephrase the question,    if i didnt use the aerator pump on my Condor tank which is rated for 6 people, however only 3 in my home ,and get it pumped every year, other than smell would it do any harm, would it block any outlet pipes to soakaway?

 

 

 the charles Austin pump  et100  i have stopped working, so i replaced the diaphrams using the kit , the air flow is very weak now .  anyone know what the issue is?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JohnMo]

6 minutes ago, Yardmaster said:

other than smell would it do any harm, would it block any outlet pipes to soakaway?

Your treatment unit would become a storage tank. The system uses aerobic digestion, switch off the air it would go anaerobic. So you have turned your unit into a sh@te storage tank, not a treatment plant. Would likely get carry over, of untreated sewage to soak away.

[JohnMo]

On 28/11/2021 at 10:23, David Essex said:

costing approx. ~£200 per year

Get some solar PV, they will supply the energy for free during most days

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, JohnMo said:

switch off the air it would go anaerobic. 

There were 3 chamber systems before air or a wheel was added. They work, but not so well.

What comes out with the liquid, if not completely clean, is a grey silt. It will then coat the surfaces in the soakaway and eventually just about disappear.

 

As I said earlier, it will take a few years until it needs emptying. I think few people  do it annually.