Muraste Estonia

The Village of Muraste has replaced the aging septic tanks in the old part of the village which were causing environmental damage. Muraste is located 30 minutes drive north east of the capital of Estonia, Tallinn. Changing to a modern secure vacuum system will also improve the health of those in the town.

OÜ Flovac Nordic is based in the capital Tallinn and the Managing Director Georg Sarap has successfully installed a number of Flovac systems throughout Estonia.  (Read about one of the first vacuum systems in Estonia here) The success of these has  ensured that the townspeople, as well as the Harju County officials, were comfortable with the low costs of maintenance at the other towns.

All of the Flovac projects in Estonia use monitoring systems to allow for easy alerts as to any potential problems within the system. (see photo below)

The new sewerage system connects 316 houses to 79 Flovac PE Collection pits which were pre-tested before going to site.  One vacuum pump station easily services the whole village and is the only place where power is required.

A vacuum system was chosen in this area due to the difficult ground conditions. The local area is known for its limestone cliffs and limestone under the surface and has a very high water table being right on the coast. Muraste is often covered in snow and Flovac systems have proven themselves reliable in frozen conditions. You can read about Flovac’s abilities in the cold here.

It is the installation costs which make vacuum systems a much cheaper option in towns like this where ground conditions are very difficult.  Vacuum pipework is only laid between one and two metres of depth (photo below) As it is  shallow then all infrastructure can be installed much quicker than a gravity system and as a result will have much less impact on residents.

One unique aspect of this system is that the vacuum pump station includes the countries first vacuum toilet. It showcases how vacuum suction works and has a clear pipe running from the toilet back to the collection tank in the station. Vacuum toilets are often used as water saving devices. I am not sure how many people will actually want to use the toilet with the clear pipe, but its great for demonstration purposes.

Touch Screen monitoring system. (photo by Tiit Veermäe)

Vacuum Toilet with clear pipe to show (too much information) (photo by Tiit Veermäe)

Vacuum Pump Station (photo by Tiit Veermäe)

Vacuum Collection Pit Installation

 

Vacuum Main Installation