Gratulacje Flovac Polska for a new Septic Tank Replacement Scheme

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Flovac Polska, the largest designer and supplier of vacuum sewerage systems in Poland has just completed providing a vacuum sewer system for the small rural town of Zakościele. The community is a ribbon development along the Pilica River.

The small town with about 150 houses is located approximately 60 km south east of  Łódź. Some of the houses are located alongside the river and above the road sloping down towards the river. Between the river and the main road, where most of the houses are located, flooding has become a regular occurrence. It has become a health issue with septic tanks overflowing when the flooding occurs.

At first a tender came out for  a gravity system with a number of pump stations located along the rivers edge. When our colleagues from Flovac Polska contacted the town and contractor (designer) about the benefits of a vacuum system in this location, they were very unsure as they had never heard of vacuum system.

After a whole of life costing analysis and discussions with the contractor about the capital costs it was clearly shown that the vacuum system would be a much cheaper option. More importantly a Flovac system was seen as a much better system to install in an area where flooding was a problem.

Read here about how the Flovac Valve can operate under water

Another major benefit of the system is that it is fully monitored, so all of the collection pits and pump station sends data to the central control system and the operators.

This includes a high level alarm and an alarm that warns of any possible infiltration occurring. All of the monitoring equipment is rated at IP68 so that it can operate under water.

This is shown here on a video taken of one of the Flovac valves operating under water with the MZA monitoring device attached. SEE HERE

Poland has become one of largest countries in the world using vacuum sewerage systems and Flovac Polska has designed and installed more than 60 systems, nearly all of which have been septic tank replacement schemes funded by the European Union.

Can the Flovac Valve and Controller work under water

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Vacuum sewerage systems are often installed in areas which are prone to flooding and rising water tables. A question we are often asked is

“Can the Flovac Valve and Controller stilloperate when they are under water”

The simple answer is yes!

The writers of the British and European Standard for Vacuum Sewerage Systems EN16932-3:2018  and the stricter Australian Standard for Vacuum Valves AS 4310 required that a number of independent tests be undertaken. The Blockage test (seen here) and the Submergence test were two of the most important.

The reason is that “A submergence test is conducted to confirm that the valve can be installed in flood-prone areas”  In Annexure A.3 in the European Standard and Appendix F in the Australian standard it outlines what is required for the testing.

The USA does not have any standards for vacuum sewer systems so utilities should rely on other International standards.

The stricter Australian standard requires that the valve, controller and all fittings shall be capable of continuous operation without failure when immersed to a depth of 1,500 mm (5 feet) above the top of the valve body in water and/or floodwaters, which may contain large quantities of sediments. The European standard only requires that the valve is covered by 300 mm of water.

Flovac had independent auditors Dekra carry out all of the testing requirements covered in both standards. Dekra are one of the largest and most respected testing and certification organisations in the world, operating in 50 countries and with 45,000 employees.

The DEKRA Test procedure and P for Pass

Whenever our operations group has found a failure of a Flovac valve or controller at a project site which has been subject to flooding, in all cases it has been due to incorrect installation. Either due to hose clamps not installed or o-rings left off. In areas which are badly affected by flooding we will often install the controller in a dedicated pedestal next to the collection pit. This is not to protect the controller, which can still operate when submerged, but to allow the operator to fire the vacuum valve which might be covered by floodwater.

This video shows a Flovac valve with monitoring operating under water.

For those operators with a Flovac Monitoring System the valve can be fired remotely either via your phone or other IOT device.

If your project is subject to flooding there are a number of other protective measures which can be taken (read this article for more information)