ronaldgibbons Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 Hi there, has anyone installed an EcoFlo septic system. I'm going through the planning process just now and they want some information on the system. Is it generally something they approve of? The company I've spoken to about installing it claim it's going to take over from traditional soakaways and planning officers are in favour of it. Having said this the company have delayed handing over their design for the planning application for over a month. I'm starting to think they know the Planning dept will have issues with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 What is the life expectancy of the Ecoflo septic system? 15 years The Ecoflo compact biofilter's all-natural filtering medium is guaranteed for 10 years and its lifespan can extend well beyond 15 years. this does not seem very long? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 Can you post a link? Google just comes up with portable solar panels for me. I tried getting a Puraflow filtration system as a solution for our plot but building control rejected it. We ended up with a perfectly normal air blower type treatment plant discharging to the burn. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbeard Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 Is this it? https://www.ukseptictanks.co.uk/ecoflo-nonelectric-sewage-treatment-6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 29 minutes ago, Redbeard said: Is this it? https://www.ukseptictanks.co.uk/ecoflo-nonelectric-sewage-treatment-6 That is an awful lot of money to avoid running a low power air blower pump. The "no percolation area" claim is probably misleading. That is why we tried for the Puraflow system and exactly the reason building control rejected it, insufficient percolation area. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunc Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 1 hour ago, Redbeard said: Is this it? https://www.ukseptictanks.co.uk/ecoflo-nonelectric-sewage-treatment-6 I believe that is a non-aerated primary tank (i.e. just a settlement/septic tank) connected to a secondary treatment system based on filtration through fibrous media (peat/coconut husk) to bring it up to EN12566-3 (i.e. the same as a stand alone Sewage Treatment Plant). The secondary system is available stand alone: https://www.premiertechaqua.com/en-gb/wastewater-treatment/ecoflo I looked into it when we found we couldn't construct a suitable percolation area for a stand alone STP, but was told that it would still require a drainage field, as @ProDave found. I never found anyone who would clarify whether the purpose of the drainage field after an EN12556-3 compliant system is to provide further cleaning of the output, or whether it is solely to distribute "clean" outflow under ground thereby preventing creating a stream or puddle on the surface. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 I've been reading the building regs again. The Scottish regs still require a huge and unnecessary percolation area ( but the inspector didn't). The English regs appear to have dropped this requirement. BTW, a treatment tank will mostly work well with the power off. Can't prove it, but it will, unless used to the maximum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronaldgibbons Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 I've found Premier Tech, the company mentioned by Dunc in his post above to be a very good source of information about the system. I was sent a load of technical info including the brochure I've attached.Ecoflo-GuidePro-Brochure_UK_EN_20210617-LR.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronaldgibbons Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 More info......Certification-ECOFLO-Part-3 (1).pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronaldgibbons Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 And one more.....OM0004 Ecoflo Operating, Maintenance & Installation Guide Rev 6.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 5 hours ago, Dunc said: I never found anyone who would clarify whether the purpose of the drainage field after an EN12556-3 compliant system is to provide further cleaning of the output, or whether it is solely to distribute "clean" outflow under ground thereby preventing creating a stream or puddle on the surface. I believe it is just to distribute the liquid. Our problem was lack of area for an infiltration field, and high water table. The high water table could be dealt with by a raised filter mound or something like the Puraflo system above ground, but whatever you did we still needed that area of ground. Our resolution was SEPA agreed to discharge into the burn, something they don't do automatically but seem to need convincing there is no alternative. The silly part about that was we could have had enough land for an infiltration field except for the fact that can;t be closer than 10 metres into the burn. So instead of having an infiltration field that went very close to the burn, not allowed, it all goes directly into the burn. I never could understand that logic. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronaldgibbons Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 Stop the bus!!!! For anyone who's still interested. After becoming frustrated with an ongoing issue between our drainage contractor and our surveyor that was delaying our planning application I spoke with another drainage contractor who has installed septic systems in our area recently. I know they all have their favourite methods and they look down on others but his immediate response when I told him we were using the EcoFlo system was "no." 😆 He says that he recently had to replace the filter medium on one that had only been in use for 7 months as the septic tank flooded and overflowed into the EcoFlo. This completely puts it out of action and all the filter medium has to be replaced at great expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 On 09/01/2024 at 20:21, ProDave said: believe it is just to distribute the liquid Absolutely this. They used to say you could drink what came out. That was wrong but it was getting close and isn't going to create a filthy mess. I've looked at what comes out. The sampling chamber makes that easy. It just seems like slightly tainted water and doesn't smell. But it could go wrong temporarily if the input changes. Wee, poo, water in different concentrations causes a hiccup. Somebody putting bleach down the drain can slow the process. So don't drink it, but a soakaway is OK if it is a modern treatment tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 On 09/01/2024 at 20:21, ProDave said: nto the burn. I never could understand that logic It's not logical. The Scottish rules are far too conservative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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