Willowbrook Go Transit Yard Toronto Canada

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Flovac has just completed its first train extraction system in Canada at the Willowbrook Maintenance facilities for the Go Transit group in Toronto.

As trains come into the yard maintenance crews can hook up a vacuum hose via a fitting to the trains sewage holding tanks. The tank is evacuated via a push button control on the Flovac Valve. Sewage goes via a vacuum main back to a series of vacuum pumps and then discharged to the gravity network.

The whole system has monitoring so that operators can see exactly what is happening within the facility to control the amount of flow that is occurring at any one time.

The management team and operators at Willowbrook were particularly impressed with the speed of the evacuation of the trains as the process took a matter of seconds rather than the extensive delays that they have previously had.

This meant that money was saved in labour costs but more importantly in the amount of time that it took to get the trains back into service.

Flovac has now installed extraction systems for a number of  clients in particular for the Deutsche Bahn’s ICE network, including systems in Frankfurt, Cologne and Dusseldorf.

Projects have also been done for Irish Rail, SBB Swiss, RENFE Spain, OBB Austria and France SNCF.

The system can handle either single or multiple suction points even up to 60 extraction points.

Castelló Field Hospital Spain

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The Covid 19 pandemic has given the world many challenges, one of the main ones being how to provide care to those with the disease, when hospitals have been overwhelmed with cases.

Challenges Facing Sanitation

Many countries have established temporary hospitals, pictures of those in Central Park in New York were all over the news. A key issue when establishing temporary facilities of any kind is that of how to collect the wastewater safely and discharge it safely. Covid 19 has given sanitary workers and hospitals an enormous challenge of how to handle that risk when it has become known that the disease can be found in wastewater. See CDC advice

Flovac has been working with the Ministry of Health in Spain to develop a safe sewerage system. One that can handle any wastewater from temporary hospitals being set up to support hospital staff. Flovac has developed and supplied vacuum sewerage systems to three temporary hospitals. In Valencia, Castelló and Alicante in the south of Spain. The Minister of Health, Ana Barceló, is pushing the Ministry of Industry to roll out the facilities quickly as they see an increase in cases as they open the country up.

Deployable vacuum systems have been used for some time, by developers, the military and for special events such as the Olympics.You can read more about their applications here

Fast to Deploy

The main reason for their use is that they are easy to prebuild, test and deploy. The Ministry has found in

Spain  that all pipework can be laid flat on the ground or within small conduits to avoid being trip hazards. The single vacuum pump station which is the only place where power is required is small and can be placed out of the way. Small collection pits can handle the flows from the ablution blocks , wash down areas and showers.

The vacuum valve operates pneumatically once 20 liters (5 gallons) enters the sump. As vacuum pressure takes in wastewater and air no odours remain in the atmosphere. This also means that the virus cannot become airborne through the activation process.

Limit Risk of Contamination

As we have seen with Hospitals in Europe and in animal disease research centers, vacuum systems are used as there is no risk of cross contamination. If a pipe was to be broken, no contaminated wastewater would leak out and risk medical staff or members of the public. Read here about why vacuum sewers cannot leak.

Congratulations to the Flovac team in Spain for the speed and effort they have shown to help during this crisis.

If you would like more information about Flovac’s Temporary Hospital solution, please contact us at [email protected]

The Medical University in Bialystok Poland

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Flovac’s engineering group in Poland, working in conjunction with The Medical University in Bialystok have developed a unique solution that has broad applications for Hospitals around the world.

The problem that many hospitals face, particularly those focused on cancer wards is the radioactive wastewater that is held for long periods of time in storage tanks. The use of vacuum toilets in the cancer wards reduces the amount of water flushing to 1 litre per flush reducing the water usage and the space required for storage tanks.

Another main problem that the Flovac engineers resolved was in how to get the radioactive waste from the cancer treatment rooms to to storage tanks located in the basement. An initial gravity design by the hospital proved difficult as not only were the treatment rooms spread out throughout the hospital there was also no room to fit the gravity pipes due to congested corridors already taken up with other pipework and power cables.

The Flovac system that was installed used small diameter PVC pipe with glued joints. The small slope that was required made it easy to avoid obstacles and helped get around difficult area’s. Small grey water collection sumps and vacuum toilets ensured that no digging through floors needed to be done. The vacuum pump station which generates the vacuum energy throughout the pipe network was housed in the basement right next to the storage tanks. This meant that no valuable space was taken up with sewage infrastructure. The Chancellor of the University was particularly happy with the speed of construction and the limited impact the installation had on the working of the hospital.

One of the most important elements that the Flovac system delivered was the security in knowing that no radioactive materials could leak out of the pipework anywhere else within the hospital. As the vacuum pipework is always under negative pressure if a break in the pipe occured air would be sucked into the pipe and no wastewater could exit. As more vacuum would be required at this point the operator would be immediately notified and repairs made.

A number of hospitals in Poland, working in conjunction with the University are planning to utilise this technology.

If you would like more information on this please contact [email protected]

Marina Barcelona 92 Spain

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Flovac was in charge of the design and installation of a Flovac vacuum sewerage system at the MB92 Port of Barcelona expansion project to collect wastewater and ensure that no environmental damage could occur in the area.

MB92 expands its installations at Barcelona’s port

Marina Barcelona 92 (MB92), a company dedicated to the maintenance and repair of superyachts, was in charge of carrying out the ambitious project to expand the port coastline of Barcelona, in the Port Vell area. The project, started in 2015 and completed in 2019, consisted of the construction of a large surface area in which a new boat lifting system (known as shiplift) would be located, with the aim of grounding yachts of up to 4,000 tons for repair and maintenance. Currently, it is the largest shiplift in the world dedicated exclusively to yachts.

The Project

The project, which involved a total investment of 50 million euros, was completed in August 2019 after 4 years of work. Thanks to the shiplift, customers have more ability than ever to work out of the water, which offers more flexibility, capacity and opportunities when it comes to maintaining and repairing yachts. Since its launch, the shiplift has already carried 22 superyachts with an average of over 75m LOA. It is a feat of world-class civil engineering in the heart of the port of Barcelona.

Raising Capacity

  • Capacity to lift vessels up to 115m LOA.
  • 30,000m2 hard standing area to host up to 9 vessels of up to 115m LOA on dry land
  • Hard standing area includes integrated keel pit with dimensions of 8m depth, 5m width and 14.5m length.
  • Bidirectional rail system to facilitate flexible and more efficient maneuverability of vessels once hauled out.
  • Supply of all essential services such as fresh water and shore power connections.

Flovac Looking after the Environment

Flovac was commissioned to install a vacuum sewerage system in this project in order to collect the wastewater generated by MB92’s activity. The goal of Flovac and the products it offers is to reduce the human footprint. Therefore, one of the main priorities was to guarantee the environmental protection of the area. The installation is made up of 2 independent vacuum networks; one for the wastewater from buildings and yachts, and the other one for industrial wastewater produced from yacht repair. The industrial wastewater is transported to a new treatment plant, at MB92’s own facilities. The facility has 4 tanks with 2 vacuum valves each. Flovac has finished the commissioning this July.

To find out more about Flovac’s port and marina projects you can click here

Centre for Animal Research Norway

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NORWAY WELCOMES FLOVAC VACUUM SEWERAGE SYSTEMS

The Innovation team from Flovac’s German Unit under the management of Antje Adler has been appointed by Norway’s leading engineering design firm STATSBYGG to supply a Flovac vacuum sewerage system for inclusion in the new Center for Animal Research at Campus Ås. Based outside of Oslo, Campus Ås will become Norway’s largest interdisciplinary academic Center for the environmental and life sciences and for landscape architecture.

The Center is affiliated with the Norwegian Environment and Biological Sciences University, NMBU and will be the national plant for research and education in livestock production in Norway. Ås gård has become an environmentally friendly facility with a great focus on animal welfare.

There are space for 1200 animals on Ås farm, which consists of five buildings totaling 16,400 square meters . Small sheep (sheep and goats) have been accommodated in an airy barn of 1630 sqm, while the pigs have got their own 1740 sqm building with warmth in the floor. The entire livestock unit of 7140 sqm is equipped with two fully automatic milking robots, an advanced robot that can supply feed to the cows throughout the day.

As disease control and prevention is of utmost importance, the Flovac system was chosen to ensure that any waste from the animals is collected in a safe way. A Flovac pump station which generates the vacuum pressure in the wastewater collection network is situated remotely from the animals with flexible pipe installed underneath the livestock units. All waste is collected via floor drains throughout the facility. Flovac valves are housed in the floor drains and operate pneumatically with no need for an electrical connection. This reduces the carbon footprint of the facility. To ensure as little disruption as possible for the livestock all valves are remotely monitored and crucial data can be collected by the management team.

The STATSBYGG design group chose to work with Flovac after a close study of the Veterinary University of Hanover’s epidemic disease prevention unit’s use of the Flovac vacuum sewerage system installed in 2015. They cited the speed of installation, flexibility and that there had been virtually no operational issues and no contamination occurrences as the reason for choosing Flovac.

Information about the Hanover project can be read here.

A number of tests on the vacuum system were done, including a leakage test to show that if the vacuum mains were broken in anyway there would still be no blockage. A video of that test is available here if you would like to watch it. Flovac Leakage Test

If you have a specific wastewater problem that needs some out-of-the-box thinking, then please contact us and we can see if there is some way in which a Flovac vacuum sewerage system might be the best solution for you.

Zakościele Poland

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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.

Flovacs Jacek Adamczyk and Łukasz Szczyglewski taking the new operators through the training course

Fort Lauderdale Marina Florida

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Marina vacuum collection system upgrade.

Kawakawa Bay New Zealand

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wastewater system at Kawakawa Bay, Auckland, New Zealand has been awarded an Environmental and Sustainability Award at the Arthur Mead Awards Function. Flovac’s system was awarded one of three prizes, which was presented by IPENZ, Auckland Branch.

The awards are named after Auckland City Waterworks Engineer, Arthur Mead, who performed the initial survey and created the designs for Upper Nihotupu and Hia Dams. They are awarded every year to projects that use sustainable features, deal with waste management, avoid negative environmental effects and promote community involvement.

 

As well as fulfilling the requirements of the rewards, Watercare’s project highlighted the close relationship the company maintained with residents and community groups throughout Auckland. Raveen Jaduram, acting chief executive of Watercare, said that one of the company’s main objectives was to improve wastewater treatment services in order to continue to better Auckland’s estuaries, harbours and waterways.

The celebrated project was designed by engineering consultancy Harrison Grierson with Flovac Systems and constructed by Fulton Hogan. Watercare took over the operation of the Kawakawa Bay system after it had been in operation for a year. Following the implementation of the system, ageing septic tanks in the area could be removed, helping to reduce pollution to local streams and groundwater. The pollution caused by the septic tanks resulted in the Bay being unsafe for swimming in 2002. The safe-for-swimming status was restored at the end of 2012.

The wastewater project makes use of a Flovac vacuum collection system, which is a first for New Zealand. This allowed for the fast construction of shallow pipelines, reducing the impact on residents in the area.

Vacuum collection systems allow wastewater from each individual property to drain into a pit before going through a vacuum pipe network. This is controlled through the use of a pneumatically controlled vacuum interface valve in the pit. Once the wastewater is in the network, it moves to the vacuum pump station through by differential pressure created by opening and closing valves throughout the network. The wastewater is then moved from a collection tank at the pump station to a treatment plant.

– See more at: http://www.envirotech-online.com/news/water-wastewater/9/breaking_news/auckland_wastewater_system_wins_award/31129/#sthash.eTXiUt4g.dpuf
Kawakawa Bay NZ Case Study

Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Residences Canouan

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Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Residences

Sandy Lane Yacht Club is the luxury marina that has made Canouan the yachting hub of the Grenadines. This large complex, which occupies the southern reaches of the Caribbean island of Canouan, has a total of 120 berths for yachts – 24 of which are for superyachts up to 100 meters in length -, a commercial area, hotels and a residential area. of luxury villas.

Sandy Lane Superyacht Marina and Residences

Flovac  in charge of the design and installation of a vacuum sewer system and treatment plant that would serve the entire complex. As the resort is in a remote location where getting local materials easily, everything was pre-built in 2 x 40′ containers. These were pre-tested and placed onto a remote area of the complex and supplied with a generator to ensure no down time from any power outages.

The project, which lasted for two years, ended with a 2 km long sewage network, a vacuum station for the entire system and a reclaimed water treatment plant. All of this to supply both the marina and the complex’s buildings.

Containerized vacuum pump station and containerized treatment plant.

Management and supervisory software

Flovac’s monitoring system is intelligent software – designed and developed by Flovac – for managing and monitoring vacuum sewer systems. The main function is to monitor the systems and identify any failure, infiltration, or malfunction in the sewer network.

With Flovacs wireless technology it is possible to supervise an installation from the same vacuum station, from its own control center at its headquarters, on any PDA device or even from a web server anywhere on the planet. The control can be easily adapted to SCADA’s, both new and existing.

Flovac can monitor the following aspects:

  • The vacuum station. Among all the possible signals, the most important ones such as stop / start and safety sensors of the electrical-mechanical equipment, levels and process alarms, signals of the control devices and access control (security) stand out.
  • The vacuum network. From a simple warning of the status of the division valves to controlling their operation on a PDA, as well as knowing the vacuum level at any point in the network with or without electrical connection.
  • The vacuum valves. Knowing the status of each valve in the system, high level alarms, detection of outages and real-time alerts.

Flovac will integrate the monitoring to the BMS (Building Management System), the building management system that Sandy Lane Yacht Club has installed in its complex. This integration will allow the supervision and control of the status of all the buildings and facilities of the marina

Thanks to the Flovac software, it will be possible to obtain real-time knowledge of the state of the network, which will reduce the response time to possible incidents. Although there is backup equipment in case of emergency, the interaction of the operator with the system increases the reliability of the vacuum sewer system.

This type of monitoring has recently been installed at the Superyacht Marina in Sydney Harbour as well as at the Superyacht Marina at Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

Flovac is a leading supplier of vacuum sewerage systems to large scale marinas around the world. To find out more about our marina work and projects please Click here

If you would like more information please contact your closest Flovac office

Flovac is a proud member of the Marina Industries Association

Byron Bay Australia

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What happens when six months of rain hits your town in one weekend.

The second weekend of December this year  saw nearly 500mm (20 inches) of rain hit the coastal town and tourist favorite Byron Bay in Northern NSW, Australia.

Over the last year, Byron Bay Shire Council has rolled out Flovac’s new innovative wireless monitoring system. It alerts operators at council of any failures in the system and can even alert operators ahead of time in some cases.

Vacuum sewer systems are usually installed in coastal areas with a high water table. They are highly regarded for not letting in any stormwater or groundwater. Unfortunately this doesn’t always stop infiltration occurring on the customers property.

Byron Bay Shire Council were one of the early adopters of vacuum sewer technology due to its green credentials of low energy and no overflows. But in recent years rising water tables and stronger storms had left the system vulnerable to infiltration, often taking the system down for days at a time.

Major improvements in wireless technology has allowed Flovac and Byron Shire Council to roll out a solution which has paid off in a very short amount of time. This weekend’s major rainfall and flash flooding could have caused significant problems for the town.

The graph shows vacuum pressures within the collection network. You can see that when the heavy rains started on the 12th, vacuum pressures within the network collapsed to nearly zero in certain areas. This could of caused outages for residents but the problem was identified on this system and resolved quickly. As the rains continued another even bigger problem occurred late on the Sunday night. As you can see, this also was very quickly resolved and vacuum pressure returned to normal.

The operator was able to pinpoint the individual collection pit that was being inundated with water. The typical number of activation’s for this valve is 60 per day. When the rain started the operator was alerted, via text that there was an unusual amount of activity. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, this valve had activated more than 2,000 times indicating high levels of storm water infiltration. The operations team went directly to the address listed on the system and found a clean out cap on the homeowners property was broken allowing stormwater to enter the system. This was quickly fixed and the problem resolved.

The operator could then see that all vacuum valves in the system were operating normally and were showing green tags. If there were a problem the tag would turn red and a text would be sent directly to the operator.

Full financial payback within a very short amount of time, allowing operators to focus on other important problems within their city.