Archive for year: 2023

A high percentage of vacuum sewer installations around the world are in towns or communities that are mandated to convert from a septic tank system (or cesspool) to a conventional sewer system. Environmental factors are the main reason, as septic tanks, fine for small remote locations, are not acceptable once the town grows and the space required for a drainage field no longer exists. Many vacuum systems are also installed in areas where gravity sewers have failed or combined sewer systems are being phased out.

The choice for most communities converting from septic tanks or cesspools is either a vacuum sewer, a grinder pump pressure sewer,  a gravity sewer or a combination of all three. The geopgrahic area, water table, environmental considerations or  power supply will usually dictate what system is installed. Grinder pumps are more able to handle large changes in elevation or very low density rural areas but become a much more expensive option when looking at clusters of more than 50-100 houses, or where power supply is unstable.

Vacuum sewer systems are nearly always found in flat areas where there is a high water table or very difficult ground conditions. The main reasons why vacuum sewer systems are increasingly the number one choice is Capital Cost, Impact on Residents, Energy Costs and Power Stability, Environmental and the Reduction of Infiltration into the system.Protection of a Polish region’s water source

Low Cost Solution

Vacuum sewers are lower cost than other other options  for both capital costs and operational costs. Shallow trenching, fast installation, and broad coverage (up to 3,000 houses to a single pump station) reduce upfront costs while low energy costs and full system monitoring reduce operational costs.

Low Impact on Residents

During power outages and major storms the only place where power is required is at the Vacuum Pump Station, it is not required elsewhere within the network. No collection pits require electricity. Residents have no loss of service. Residents also have no valves or pumps on their property and operations staff will not need to enter their property.

Construction time is short and residents will still be able to enter their homes and local businesses during that period.

Reduction of Infiltration

Flows from either storm water or ground water (I&I) cannot get into a vacuum sewer system without detection. All vacuum mains remain pressure tight and monitoring can detect when homeowners have broken laterals or direct excess flows into the system. Manholes are not used so it is a no-leak system. This reduces the load on the treatment plant especially during storm events. Read about flood affected projects here

If you would like to find out how much it would cost to install a vacuum sewer system in your town contact your local Flovac office or email us to get a free budget concept and budget. The more information that you can give us, the more detailed the response. We will need the following information.

• Project Location
• Drawings including catchment area.
• Number of current houses, future houses, any commercial or industrial users to include.
• Location of discharge point or treatment plant
• Flow rates to be used. Average flow per person, peak flow
• Any other informationthat you think would be useful

We work with local engineering firms and can provide training and support.

Contact Us here and we will direct your enquiry to the Flovac Engineering Group who will contact you for project details.

Sydney Superyacht Marina Sewage Pump Out System Upgrade

This standout marina was first built in the late nineties to accommodate visitors to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Since that time, not only have the yachts gotten bigger but the requirements of many of the yacht owners have reached the point where a number of upgrades to facilities are required. Clemens Overdijk, the Marina Manager since 2016 has been very interested in ensuring that their customers get the best experience possible.

One aspect that is very important to many yacht owners is the ability to quickly and cleanly discharge any wastewater from their vessels. No one wants leaks or the risk of overflows, or odours and importantly no one wants to spend hours tied up discharging wastewater. Or even worse needing to go to a different marina to discharge. There are many smaller marinas now unable to handle the size of the tanks, or the depth of the yachts, causing them to go elsewhere, at quite a cost. An important bonus for the yacht owners is that each berth offers a direct connection to the vacuum system.

Clemens looked at a variety of solutions from around the world and found that Flovac, a local company, was doing large scale marina sewage systems at a number of large marinas around the world and catering to the largest of yachts. These included projects in Barcelona, Spain, Italy and Greece, home of the superyachts.

Remote Activation of Pumps

One aspect of the work that Flovac had been doing around the world  was in the technology space. Flovac has pioneered the use of IOT (Internet of Things) technologies to enable remote troubleshooting of the system as well as remote operation of the system. Many existing pump out systems require the yacht manager to locate the pump station, turn it on manually (if it is working), go back to their yacht to start the operation which may take many hours to complete. If someone else is using it, or if there is a problem, it may well affect the ability of the yacht to get back into action in a timely manner. Flovac has developed an app for the phone, which the yacht owner can log into from the comfort of his or her yacht. At a glance they can see if the facility is available. Couple the yacht to the access port, push start on the phone and discharge the wastewater.

System Success

The very first yacht that tried out the new system was a new 65m superyacht, one of the larger yachts at the marina. They had experienced a lot of difficulty with the old system, often having to go to a different marina altogether as the system could not handle receiving pumped flows. With the new system, the 6,000 litre discharge took less than an hour and a “smooth operation”for all involved. Telling our operator and other boat owners that this was the best system that they had come across in Australia.

The “significant investment” that required securing the best system has now become part of the key features of the marina that gives captains the confidence that SSM can meet their requirements.

If you would like more information about the work Flovac has done at Marinas and Ports please Read Here

For an overview of the Sydney Superyacht Marina you can view that here

Contact here for a concept design or budget for your Marina

Over the last five years building work has continued at Reef Island in Bahrain and this year Flovac has added its proprietary wireless monitoring system to assist the operations group with troubleshooting the system.

Concept Design for Reef Island Bahrain. Shows 55 story building, 32, 16 and 8 story apartments.

When design work commenced on the Reef Island project in 2008 many engineers suggested that vacuum systems could not be designed to handle flows coming from high rise buildings such as those being planned at Reef Island.

The developer at Reef island was planning a number of high rise apartment blocks which included 8, 16 and 32 story blocks. There was also a plan for a 55 story building on the reclaimed land site.

As Flovac had previously done a number of high flow projects including the world’s first in Bangkok, Thailand; ( See Thailand Project details)  there had also been a number of other high flow projects including oil refineries, industrial area’s , schools, hotels, shopping centres and hospitals.

Ensuring that the flows do not steal vacuum from other lots upstream and sticking to a limited flow per valve has ensured that the Reef Island project has run smoothly and handled the flows easily.

For more details on Reef Island

The Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources in the Sultanate of Oman has again awarded the job of design and installation of a vacuum system for one of Sultantes most historic towns. This newest project at the small town of Bilad Seet about 175 km north of Muscat.

In 2001 the Ministry also awarded a project at Khasab in the northern part of Oman. A reference from the Director of Waste Water department Eng. Waleed Bin Omar Al-Kathiri saying that he was happy with the vacuum system installed and that they had no problems either during construction or during the maintenance of the system.

PE Pit for Installation

The town of Bilad Seet is set high in the Jabal Shams ranges. This is an unusual setting for a vacuum system which are usually found in coastal areas with a high water table. Access to the town is via a dry creek bed on 4 wheel drives and only accessible when its dry.

The Flovac system was chosen because of the difficulty in installing a gravity sewer system with such hard rock and narrow laneways. The small diameter pipes and pre setup PE pits incorporating the Flovac vacuum valves were easy to install compared to a conventional gravity system. This system has the latest Flovac Monitoring System to ensure easy location of the vacuum pits in the event of any failure. The vacuum pump station was pre-tested at our central factory prior to being sent to site.

EES, a division of Muna Noor’s General Manager Mr Arjun Raha has had many years of experience with vacuum systems and was involved in the maintenance of the original Khasab project.

Laying Vacuum Mains in Khasab, Oman

Flovac was commissioned last year to install a new vacuum sewage system at Alcudiamar Marina in Mallorca. This marina is the first one in the Balearic Islands to have this kind of technology. The installation works are almost completed, and the system is expected to start up before the end of the year.

According to Balearic Port Authority in its port innovation platform, the Flovac vacuum sewerage system is ideal for use in marinas and ports. There are currently three more marinas in Mallorca waiting to install the Flovac technology in their next renovation works.

Flovac System for Marinas and Port Facilities

The Flovac system can capture sewage and bilge water from both boats and port facilities, such as restaurants, hotels and commercial buildings around the marina complex.

This technology allows the boats to be serviced at their mooring, an essential factor for the optimal functioning of the marinas. The pedestals distributed along the marina are connected to the vessels with a hose, and thanks to the force of the vacuum, the waste and bilge water are sucked directly into the vacuum network. For larger vessels, there are pedestals with collection sumps. When the water reaches the optimum level in the sump, the vacuum valve opens and the wastewater goes to the vacuum station.

Small Carbon Footprint

Flovac offers an efficient and eco-friendly sewerage because it provides service to the boats in their own berths. Not only does it facilitate the treatment of waste and black water but it also avoids making boats having to move to the collection point, thus reducing pollution. Furthermore, there is no chance of sewage spills as all pipework operates under a negative pressure. As no wastewater can leak out of the vacuum pipework, there is no risk of water pollution, which is important especially in tourist areas.