TRANSPORT

Tank Placement

Case study 9 - Sub Division

Location - Mile High Adventure Resort, Near Logan Lake, BC

Type of Installation - 30 wooden cabins to be developed under a strata plan in three phases. Each cabin to have its own 600 gallon septic tank, connected to an advanced water treatment system supplied by Go Green, effluent going to a dispersal field

Design Criteria - The cabins were expected to have an average water consumption of 165 imperial gallons per day for a 1 bedroom unit up to 250 gallons for a two bedroom unit with a loft. The potable water for the adjacent comes from wells, so there were concerns about contamination of the aquifer.

Permits - Preliminary approval of the proposed system was granted by the Kamloops authority. After the disclosure statement was published, it was necessary to hold several public hearings to assure the neighbors there was no risk to their water supply.

Solution - The communal water treatment system supplied was three 2000 gallon tanks with a 1500 gallon clarifier tanks, sufficient to handle all 30 homes. Dual piping from the system lead to two adjacent dispersal fields with discharge to each along 5-100 foot long zones separated by 50 feet. This provides for a measure of protection should one field fail, the other could handle the discharge while repairs were being made. An operations manual was supplied by Go Green for each cabin explaining the owners responsibilities for good water management practices as well as the schedule for monitoring the system. Three monitoring wells were dug to test any possible contamination of the aquifer near the dispersal field. A maintenance schedule was set up to provide for yearly sampling of wells and checking of the septic tanks.

Performance - The system has been sampled twice yearly since installation in 2002. All the cabins are now occupied. There have been some fluctuations in the test results as new homes were added to the system, increasing the loading rate. This is typical of the startup phase of any water treatment system, which requires the bacteria time to grow and flourish. The system is now stable and the most recent test results show TSS and BOD5 levels below the detectable limits of 4 and 6mg/l. respectively. No contamination has been found in adjacent wells.

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