Aquatron terraced apart from the building

When the National centre for Alternative Technology underwent its 'Gearchange' they wanted new toilet facilities for the site. Elemental Solutions were given the chance to develop a best practice system with low flush WCs and in situ composting of the solids. The chamber for the solids is shown in the picture opposite - the people are standing on it. In a more standard situation the separator would be covered and protected.

The manholes covers on the right of the picture allow access for adding soak, raking and removal of the solids when they have been processed by the worms. The water which emerges from the separator is processed through about 100 ft of slate waste which is one of the most thorough biological filters we can imagine.

 

This is the same chamber in construction using recycled plastic planks to re-enforce the cement free lid that was installed before.

Another chamber of similar dimensions was created for a centre for adventures in the outdoors for Gloucester County Council. OK, this has a better in situ biological filter - the Forest incline so we expect the water to emerge after a thousand years on the other side of the Forest of Dean after a serious geological cleansing process.

Here's a smaller chamber for a small house where the septic tank wagon could not get access - hence the Aquatron. Here the separator drops the waste into a single heap but the access is from two sides - see the two holes in the wall in the photo. The first will be used for a year and then the other so the material can mature before being extracted from one of the sides.

This is the same chamber with a cast lid now set and the separator in place. Later this separator was boxed in and the chamber landscaped so the whole fits into the beautiful garden.

This one shows concrete rings being used for the composting chambers. The separator, like for the CAT system at the top, moves from chamber to chamber to ensure that extracted material is not contaminated by fresh material,

Aquatron in basement of house

New owners of a house in Gloucestershire wanted to improve their inherited sewage system - a pipe to the River Wye. The basement and gardens flood on high tides. The main drain is not accessible.

An Aquatron was installed which was anchored to the floor to avoid floatation, with an outlet protected by a non-return valve. This means that solids are retained and composted. The liquid will, in phase two of the work, be filtered. It is envisaged that the best way will be a sand filter under the decking outside.

This figure shows the Aquatron sitting upon a watertight GRP chamber - the owners wanted a tank they could dismantle and take with them should they ever move house. The access to the tank is via the circular black manways on the top of the tank and this meant the outlet from the separator needed to be at the rakish angle.

 

This shows the same installation from the other side of the chamber. The orange box is a one way valve so that water cannot come back into the chamber when the tide rises.

 

Careful inspection shows the base is bolted to the floor to counteract the upthrust should the basement flood.

Another system in a basement in Gloucestershire. This shows the pipe work well with the 110 mm inlet pipe at high left and the Din50 pipe leaving at the center taking the separated liquid away. The white pipe entering the boss takes the other water from the house - something that is not necessary - directly to the disposal system without going through the separator.

 

Aquatron in lean-to along side the building

This is another domestic system. The Chamber is built at ground level attached to the building and is covered over so it becomes its own lean-to. As with all the systems shown here the stink pipe for the WCs doubles up as the stink pipe for the composting chamber.