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Rehabilitating Old 2-inch Vacuum Systems

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Those engineers thinking that vacuum sewer technology is new, may be surprised to learn that there are still a number of operating systems installed in the late 1960’s and 1970’s.

These early systems were installed using 2-inch vacuum valves rather than the 3-inch (80mm) vacuum valves commonly used today. The modern inventor of vacuum systems Joel Liljendahl wanted to separate grey (shower/laundry) water and black(toilet) water using vacuum. A 2-inch valve was sufficient for this use and Electrolux who bought the patent started using the 2-inch valve in a number of projects through The Netherlands, Germany, the Caribbean, Australia and the USA.

As a testament to the technology, many of these original projects are still operating, though not as well as modern systems. The same would be said for any technology (cars, computers, televisions).

Sylvania Waters Australia

In 1968 one of the worlds largest 2-inch vacuum systems was installed at Sylvania Waters, 12 km south of Sydney Australia. The vacuum valves in fibreglass pits collected wastewater from 2 houses sending it to the vacuum pump station. The early system used a ball float controller, similar to what was used in old toilet cisterns. As this was not a separated grey/black water system, a 2-inch valve was clearly going to be a choke point with a 3-inch toilet drain pipe. In 1994 we were hired by Sydney Water to fix up the system, replace the valves and float controllers. Sadly because of the collection pit size and the vacuum main size it was not possible to increase the valves to 3 inch, but the system was improved.

Now, with it being over 50 years old, some really positive changes can be made, specifically with the help of monitoring systems.

Even though most vacuum regulations call for a minimum sized valve of 3-inches there have still been some 2-inch and 2 1/2-inch valve systems installed. You have all met that client who wants to save $100 on a valve but doesn’t care that the utility will have to spend a fortune on maintenance trying to clear blockages. This has not helped the reputation of vacuum systems and we often hear of problem systems and high maintenance costs. Quite often it is due to small or bad quality valves or old fashioned ball controllers still being used.

Reusel, The Netherlands

One recent system replacement we made was in the village of Reusel in The Netherlands. The system was not that old, but the 2-inch valves had a lot of blockages, ball float controllers were used and there was no integrated monitoring system. Our team in the Netherlands has managed to upgrade the system and reduce operational costs considerably.

If you have an old 2-inch system. Contact us at [email protected] and we can give you more details about what can be done to help.

Pump Station Information captured for the operators and managers

Sydney Superyacht Marina gets a Flovac Makeover

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Clemens Overdijk – Marina Manager at the Sydney Superyacht Marina

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

New Pump Station Upgrade and touch screen application

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.

Sydney Superyacht Marina

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

Upgrading your Vacuum Pump Station

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The Vacuum Sewerage Industry is now 50 years old and for a variety of reasons some of the systems infrastructure will need to be replaced or upgraded. It could well be a move away from old liquid ring pumps. It could be that some of the equipment has just come to the end of its expected life. You may have inherited assets that were never looked after as per the suppliers manuals.

Hopefully you have a station that was designed with the future change out of equipment in mind. Large doors and a cranes to get pumps out of the building. A roof that can be dismantled without too much problem to get the tank out and replaced. Fortunately the building was designed so that upgrades or refurbishment could occur. A new stainless steel tank was installed. An upgrade can give the utility a chance to look carefully at the catchment area with fresh eyes. Have the daily household flow rates gone down, have you installed new monitoring systems that have sorted out any infiltration.

Are there more houses or another developer that you could now accept into your catchment if the pumps were slightly larger? The Flovac Engineering Group is often asked for advise on the upgrading of a vacuum pump station and as the group has designed more than 300 stations and probably designed the one you are now upgrading, they would be the best people to speak to.

The Flovac Operations Group is the next point of call. What changes have there been to suppliers equipment, what lessons have been learned from hundreds of systems around the world. Are there changes to health and safety regulations. What impact will there be on power use, ventilation and odor. The most important aspect is what is your plan to upgrade a system that is now live without major problems.

The operations group have been involved with the installation of more than 300 vacuum stations and the upgrade of more than 50 stations. Flovac can supply containerized vacuum stations to support the upgrade.

For a more in-depth look at what is required when a vacuum pump station is upgraded there are more details here or call our engineering or operations groups.

Growing Pains or Growing Old Pains – What best describes your old gravity sewer?

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What happens when your sewerage network gets too old? Your old clay pipes have cracked or are filled with roots, every time it rains it seems like its a direct line from the clouds to the Treatment Plant. People in the community start asking why you are spending a load of money on treating rainwater instead of just sewerage.

If you are part of a coastal community it could be worse, your old broken  pipes could be letting seawater into the system every time there is a high tide or major storm. Salt water can cause major problems at the Treatment Plant. For communities like Miami Beach who get storm surges flooding their sewers and closing their beach on an increasingly regular basis it can cause major economic and health risks. Santa Pola in the Alicante area of Spain found that the impact of global warming and rising sea levels caused a complete failure of their old sewer system.

The town of Santa Pola with over 10,000 homes replaced their whole gravity sewer system with a Flovac vacuum sewerage system. As vacuum mains are laid in shallow trenches it was possible to skirt around, above and below exiting infrastructure and eventually replace the network. You can read more about that project here.

It could be that the old gravity sewer system with large heavy pipes just wasn’t suited to the ground conditions that are often found near the coast or in swampy area’s and that over time they no longer have the correct grade to remove the sewage or have pipes that continually break allowing ground water into the system as well as blockages. This occurred at Hope Island on Queensland’s famous Gold Coast.  Gold Coast Council have developed a Master Plan and slowly replaced a number of area’s with vacuum sewers. When the original gravity sewer was laid, there was no choice, developers were racing to put up houses and council at that stage had no experience with vacuum sewers and so deep gravity mains were installed. Almost immediately problems were noticed as the ground subsided in different area’s. Sewage backed up in pipes and was unable to flow as the grades first allowed for in the networks were no longer the same.

When looking at upgrading a gravity sewer, pipe relining can be an option, but in many cases this becomes an ongoing expensive option and be too difficult in a large network. Some utilities just look to replace the old pipework, but in most communities this is just not practical. This could mean uprooted gardens, roads out of use for a number of months, noise, dust and a huge cost.

For many communities it is the size of the town that has changed dramatically over the years. In most cases this has meant an increase in the population as people move from the city to the coast. Developers move into the fringes of the town. Planning regulations change allowing for sub dividing of the old large land blocks or height and density changes. This puts pressure on existing sewers that are already not coping due to age and lack of maintenance. This has happened, not only in small coastal towns but in larger developed cities like Abu Dhabi and New Delhi. Vacuum sewers can be used to supplement the towns aging sewer system, loads can be taken off the main system by a series of collection pits and shallow pipework.

Flovac vacuum sewers have shown time and again, their versatility. This means either their ability to handle density changes or climate changes. It might even mean changes in ground conditions as happened in Christchurch New Zealand when they suffered from a terrible earthquake. The old gravity sewers in the city and surrounding suburbs broke and left residents with no service for months. Vacuum sewers have now replaced a large portion of the gravity sewers in Christchurch and although difficult has proved to be a better long term  solution for the residents and operators. Christchurch systems

Vacuum sewers should not be looked at as the only solution in many of these towns. In some cases a combination of grinder pumps, gravity and vacuum is going to be the better result for the community. Whether the problem is growing pains, or growing old pains a vacuum solution might offer the versatility that you need.