Biopure Sewage Treatment Plant Installation

[Stones]

A (hopefully) useful learning point for those installing Biopure Sewage Treatment Plants

 

We had a huge amount of rain fall yesterday afternoon, so much so that our deep flow gutters were at times unable to cope with the amount of water running off the roof.  In the main, our drainage strategy coped very well, with all visible surface water being drained away within 10 minutes of the rain finishing.  Given the volume of water that fell, I'm happy enough with this result.

 

One issue that we did have was that surface water ran down a banking behind our treatment plant, and pooled on top of its lid.  Up until now, any rainfall has simply run off the lid to the land surrounding, however yesterday, the flow / volume was too much, which resulted in the small air vent on top being submerged.  Our air pump is located within an insert below the main lid, directly beneath the air vent.  The insert filled with water, submerged the pump and tripped the electricity supply.

 

There was no further damage caused to the treatment plant  (i.e. being overwhelmed with surface water) as the pump housing insert was watertight.  Taking advantage of a 10 minute break in the weather, I swapped out the pump with a spare and got the system back up and running without incident.  

On a positive note the IP68 rotary switch which connects the mains supply to the pump was bone dry when I opened it.  The submerged pump has been stripped down and is currently drying out.

 

The advice therefore is to ensure that the lid of the Treatment Plant remains proud of the surrounding ground, rather than level with or partly proud (as was the case for me), and ensure any surface water / heavy rain has somewhere to run off.  If the worst happens, having a spare pump (as proved in this case) is certainly a worthwhile investment.

 

Having identified this issue the hard way, I now have a small amount of diversion drainage work to undertake.  

 

 

[dpmiller]

can you extend the air inlet to some kind of upstand? The Solido I'm looking at come with just such a thing.

[ProDave]

I am 99% sure my Conder has a small drain hole in the bottom of the pump chamber, so if rainwater did get in, it would drain down into the main tank.

[Stones]

5 hours ago, dpmiller said:

can you extend the air inlet to some kind of upstand? The Solido I'm looking at come with just such a thing.

 

Probably, although I think a small adjustment to surrounding ground levels would he a better longer term fix. The air inlet in the lid has a raised lip, covered by a rain cap, so will only let in water if submerged.

 

5 hours ago, ProDave said:

I am 99% sure my Conder has a small drain hole in the bottom of the pump chamber, so if rainwater did get in, it would drain down into the main tank.

 

I may well drill a couple of drainage holes to allow this, although in doing so, have to weigh the risk of surface water overwhelming or limiting the capacity the foul system in the event such rainfall was repeated and my groundwork changes failed.