Picking a treatment plant for my new build

[joe90]

Well guys there have been a few threads on this subject and I have read them all and gained a lot of knowledge. It's my turn to pick a treatment plant and I think I have settled on the Vortex eco. http://www.wte-ltd.co.uk/vortex_sewage_treatment_plant.html. It appears to tick all my boxes and I particularly like the two sizes of air bubbles they develop ( or am I being baffled by science ?). It's also adjustable to make sure it's not under used, a feature I have not seen elsewhere. On one site that sells it it even says it can discharge to a dry ditch and this is supported by the environment agency, this is an issue for me as my site is very wet, I don't like drainage fields and my ditch can dry out in a hot summer. 

 

I would  appreciatte anyone's comments.

[Crofter]

I also looked at the Vortex although it transpired that in Scotland discharge to a dry ditch is basically not allowed by SEPA, no matter what the manufacturer says.

So in the end I went another route. What I do remember is that all the manufacturers tended to claim that their products were the absolute best and you would be mad to consider anybody else's. So definitely worth looking widely to compare. At the end of the day the only thing that really matters is the three magic numbers (BOD, SS, NH3), as that's the only way you can really compare. And of course some tests are done at mean and others at 95%, just to confuse matters further.

 

I gave up and went with the same system my neighbour had installed a couple of years ago

[ProDave]

When I was looking, the Vortex, Conder and Biopure were the three that stood way above the others in terms of effluent quality, all having very similar numbers. So you are definitely on the right lines.

 

Before making a final decision, check the figures for the Graff units. These seem to be becoming increasingly popular so I would look to see how they compare. 

[joe90]

Thanks, will have a look.

[SteamyTea]

Not going to look at the details, just ask a question (I have mains drainage that overflows onto a beach when it rains, makes a change from seeing dog turds).

 

How well/easy is it to anchor to the ground?

In other words, what is to stop if floating away if the ground floods?

[Gone West]

25 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

How well/easy is it to anchor to the ground?

In other words, what is to stop if floating away if the ground floods?

 

Our neighbours had one installed by "professionals" and it popped out of the ground overnight. It was one that had to be concreted in and they didn't put enough concrete in the hole or fill the tank with water. Mine is anchored by four horizontal angle irons in the soil.

[ProDave]

They all have some form or anchor kit available.  I chose the Conder as I though (for DIY install at least) it had the easiest anchoring system, a ring built into the bottom of the unit, and you fill the bottom of the hole with concrete to encompass that ring.

[joe90]

28 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

Not going to look at the details, just ask a question (I have mains drainage that overflows onto a beach when it rains, makes a change from seeing dog turds).

 

How well/easy is it to anchor to the ground?

In other words, what is to stop if floating away if the ground floods?

They have a protocol for concreting it into saturated ground ( like you know we have)?

[SteamyTea]

As long as it works, the rain and flooding in Cornwall is better than other places

[Gone West]

2 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

As long as it works, the rain and flooding in Cornwall is better than other places

I'm waiting for the drought to end. We've had less than 50mm in the last three months.

[joe90]

Yes the Graf unit looks good as well, long guarantee on tank and pump.

 

i am off to my site tomorrow for a couple of weeks and have no broadband down there so I am not ignoring comments but will get to the pub ( with broadband) when I can ?.

[Roger440]

I think i too have settled on the Vortex, primarily as, its a shared system between 2 four bedroom houses, both with only 2 people living in them, and next door are barely ever there anyway. So the adjustability is, i believe, important.

 

However, getting it installed is a different problem entirely. None of their authorised installers want to do it. Too far apparantly. Except im in north bucks, hardly an isolated fringe of the country!

 

Yet anther job i cant get anyone to do

 

 

[ProDave]

Ever thought of buying your own digger?

[Roger440]

12 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Ever thought of buying your own digger?

Funny you should say that.

 

Had that conversation over the last couple of weeks. Zero knowledge and no means of moving it are the current barriers. And the wife. But the financial logic is hard to escape. Hired one this weekend for another job. Will be £200.00 all in.

[PeterW]

Dead easy to learn to drive them - even @recoveringacademic has his own ....!

[ToughButterCup]

This might interest you @Roger440

[Gone West]

This table might be useful.

 

Sewage Treatment Plant Selection - Which Sewage Plant is the BEST?

Comparision of EN12566-3 Test Results

Below is a comparison list of Performance Results during the EN12566-3 Test -  taken from the EN12566-3 PIA Test Centre website.

The figures are the average of the 38 weeks testing - the lower the figures, the better the result. It is probably better to avoid plants which have figures in red that are at, or close to, the limits, as they must have exceeded the limits on some test occasions and you are not allowed to exceed the limits at all.

Make of Plant	Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) Mg/L	Suspended Solids {SS) Mg/L	Ammoniacal Nitrogen (NH4 - N) Mg/L
Environment Agency Maximum Limits	20	30	20
Klargester Biodisc	20	23	5
Klargester Envirosafe	12	21	3.4
Klargester Bio-Ficient	20	27	0.4
WPL Diamond	10	21	7.3
Balmoral Hydroclear	11	19	4.5
Tricel	11	16	8
Graf Klaro E	12	20	12
Condor ASP	8	12	7.7
Falcon	11	16	5.9
Vortex	7.3	15.2	0.4
FilterPod Non-Electric	10	12	11
Premier Tech Aqua Ltd. Epurfix Non-Electric	11	14	20
Clearfox Non-Electric	9	29	12

[Stones]

Interesting that what appear to be the most heavily promoted / biggest name in the industry - Klargester - have the poorest results for BOD and SS.  It's something I picked up on when making my choice as Klargester was the easiest unit to get hold of in my location (supplied by all the BMs).  My decision to go with the Biopure was in part because of its performance but also because they were willing to deliver to my location (others simply refused or would only deliver to a mainland port).

[Simplysimon]

@roger440

On 28/04/2017 at 20:32, Roger440 said:

 its a shared system between 2 four bedroom houses, 

1

i had thought of doing this, however, if you have no control as to whether the other house uses bleach/anti bac fluids, the treatment plant ends up stuffed so going with one plant one house

[ProDave]

The Conder, Vortex and Graff that get a lot of mention on here are all showing respectable results in that table, I wonder why the Biopure is not listed there?

 

I would avoid most of the Klargester type of products personally as I don't like the idea of having to repair a treatment plant with moving mechanical parts.

[Barney12]

We have a Klargester treatment plant at the barn conversion (shared by 5 properties). Never, ever again. Its been the bain of our lives. Its been in 15 years now and we've already had 3 pumps. After sales service and the supposed 'GOLD' service plan (for which we pay dearly for) are appalling. I would hazard a guess that the BM's work on huge margins and impress stock which is why they are so readily available. 

[PeterW]

We run an 18,000 litre Klargester on a commercial site and paid for "Gold" service ... turns out we should never have been sold it so when it went wrong on a Thursday evening, they decided to not honour the 4 hour response terms and effectively cancel the contract overnight ..! Took a week to get a new motor..  

 

Happily took £900 a year for 3 years though ..! Now looked after by a local company who are superb. 

[Stones]

5 hours ago, ProDave said:

The Conder, Vortex and Graff that get a lot of mention on here are all showing respectable results in that table, I wonder why the Biopure is not listed there?

 

I would avoid most of the Klargester type of products personally as I don't like the idea of having to repair a treatment plant with moving mechanical parts.

 

Their test certificate is dated 2010, and the list of certified treatment plants is a lot lot longer than the list above.

 

http://www.britishwater.co.uk/Accreditation-Certification/certified-equipments.aspx

 

I'm guessing that the list above relates to units tested over a certain period of time.  Sadly, the list doesn't give the actual performance data.

 

When we discussed this on the old forum, member JIH posted this in respect of the Biopure:

 

Have managed to get figures from Biopure for their treatment plant: BOD 10 mg/l; SS 19 mg/l; NH3 10 mg/l 

 

which seem broadly in line with the test figures for the WPL Diamond, which visually at least is probably the closest match.

 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

59 minutes ago, PeterW said:

We run an 18,000 litre Klargester on a commercial site and paid for "Gold" service ... turns out we should never have been sold it so when it went wrong on a Thursday evening, they decided to not honour the 4 hour response terms and effectively cancel the contract overnight ..! Took a week to get a new motor..  

 

Happily took £900 a year for 3 years though ..! Now looked after by a local company who are superb. 

 

I took one look at the cutaway sample Biodisc at the Swindon self build centre and was just completely horrified that any half-way competent engineer could design such a thing.  The whole concept of having the motor, drive belt, bearings etc, INSIDE the effluent chamber seemed so inherently daft that I could only imagine that the designer never thought for one moment about the consequences of such a design for maintenance and longevity.

[PeterW]

2 hours ago, JSHarris said:

 

I took one look at the cutaway sample Biodisc at the Swindon self build centre and was just completely horrified that any half-way competent engineer could design such a thing.  The whole concept of having the motor, drive belt, bearings etc, INSIDE the effluent chamber seemed so inherently daft that I could only imagine that the designer never thought for one moment about the consequences of such a design for maintenance and longevity.

 

First unit we had they hadn't drilled out the motor connection box and there was no hole in the tank for the wiring to exit ! Sparky did it but he said it wasn't a job he would like if it wasn't full of clean water...

 

Every 6 months the chain drives have to have a new grease-o-matic cartridge fitted - not a job I would be signing up for ! We were sold the "benefits" by a water and sewage consultant - never again !