Installation
All the answers to your questions about sanitation and phyto-purification.
How deep is a Sanitation Garden?
The reed filter is filled with 60cm of aggregates. The drop (height between the bottom of the inlet pipe and the aggregates) is at least 20cm. The aquatic plant filter is filled with 40cm of aggregates. The drop is 10cm.
Do trees need to be cut?
It may be necessary to cut trees that could interfere with the passage of pipes or the installation of the system. There are no trees within a perimeter of at least 3 metres around the Sanitation Garden.
Where do the materials come from?
The parts kit is shipped from the Aquatiris logistics platform located at the headquarters in Bréal-sous-Montfort (35). The rotationally moulded plastic parts (lifting stations, boxes, distributors and inspection holes) are manufactured in Dol-de-Bretagne (35), less than 100 kilometres from the logistics platform. The aggregates are supplied from a local quarry as close to your home as possible.
Can I install it myself by self-installation?
The self-installation of an Aquatiris Sanitation Garden is subject to conditions. Monitoring by an Aquatiris professional is mandatory (at least three visits), as is purchasing the parts making up the system from Aquatiris. The savings are mainly made on the cost of labour.
Who installs the sanitation?
Each Aquatiris expert accompanies you locally from study to installation and can call on their local network of installers or proceed with the installation themself.
It is also possible for you to install your own sanitation with self-installation. In this case, we will provide you with all the documentation and accompany you with site visits.
How much space does an Aquatiris Sanitation Garden take up?
The Aquatiris Sanitation Garden only requires 10m² per filter (approximately 25m² in total).
The discharge area will be sized according to the capacity of the soil to infiltrate water.
I have clay soil. Is that a problem?
No, the planted filters are made without using the existing soil,
so it doesn’t matter whether the soil is clay, silty or sandy.
If the soil does not allow the treated wastewater to infiltrate, it will be evacuated by another means, such as discharge into a ditch, waterway or the rainwater network.
Do I need sloping ground for it to work?
The Sanitation Gardens adapt to all terrains.
When it comes to slopes, it is preferable to have a drop of more than one metre.
If this is not the case, we equip our installation with a lifting pump.
Should I do a soil study before installing a sanitation system?
Installing an individual sanitation system requires a soil study. This study will be carried out by your local Aquatiris expert or a general design office.
The soil study for the sanitation has several elements:
- Soil study (geology of the soil below, soil texture, soil depth, presence of rock, constant or occasional water saturation, permeability test, etc.).
- Study of the environment (ditches, watercourses, water catchments, flood-prone areas, sensitive areas, etc.) and other possible constraints (access to the plot, inconvenient underground structures or networks, etc.)
- Definition, sizing and installation of the Sanitation Garden
- Definition, sizing and installation (if applicable) of the means of drainage of the treated wastewater
- Sanitation project plans
Can I install a phyto-purification system if I keep my septic tank?
There are indeed planted channels that keep a tank for pretreatment. Aquatiris no longer wishes to use these installations for several reasons.
First of all, the performance and durability of such an installation are significantly lower than when the effluents are pretreated directly in the planted filters. In fact, wastewater remains in a confined anaerobic space (without oxygen), which makes it septic and difficult to treat.
In addition, this does not eliminate the major drawback of traditional solutions: the tank! And, yes, that is what is responsible for the secondary sludge that must be treated at a wastewater treatment plant. Did you know that a wastewater treatment plant cannot accommodate more than two emptying trucks per day? Beyond that, the plant is suffocated and heavy electricity-consuming steps (intensive aeration) must be taken to restart it. Tank sludge, called “emptying matter” in sanitation vocabulary, is a big problem for communities. Specific plants will emerge to treat it, perhaps near you… Ideas are being sought regarding phyto-purification: plants are being called upon once more, essentially with very short rotation coppice (VSRC) willows.