Cistern Cleaning

Cisterns should be cleaned yearly. During your cistern cleaning our technicians will do the following:

  1. Completely drain your cistern of all water
  2. Enter your cistern in accordance with all confined space entry safety protocol, and will proceed to scrub the interior of your cistern using a special solution and scrub brush
  3. Thoroughly rinse and empty your cistern of all substances. Your cistern will now be ready to fill with water and normal use may be resumed

 

Cistern cleaning can be incredibly dangerous, even resulting in death. It is essential that cleaning only be completed by trained professionals with appropriate safety training.

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Conventional Septic Systems

Wastewater from the house is collected in an underground septic tank.  Effluent is pumped through a line buried below the frost line.  Many local regulations and guidelines must be followed, to ensure that the pump out location is far enough from property borders and buildings.  Lot size, location and environmental impact are factors that have to be address before a system like this can be installed.  Some available options to discharge effluent are as follows:

Mound System: When site restrictions exist such as slow soil permeability, shallow soil cover or property setbacks a mound system can be installed.  A mound is a drainfield that is built above the natural soil surface. The mound is composed of a sand fill that has a gravel-filled bed and a network of small diameter pipes known as the distribution system. From the pump chamber, effluent is pumped through the pipes in controlled, low pressure doses so that uniform distribution is achieved throughout the bed. Treatment occurs as the effluent moves through the sand and returns to the natural soil.

Drainfield:  A drainfield is a network of perforated pipes (or “laterals”) laid in gravel-filled trenches or beds.  Effluent trickles out of the pipes, through the gravel layer, and into the soil where further treatment occurs. The soil filters the wastewater as it passes (or “percolates) through the pore spaces and the soil microbes treat it before it eventually enters the groundwater. These processes work best where the soil is somewhat dry, permeable, and contains plenty of oxygen for several feet below the drainfield.

Open Discharge: When local building codes allow for a pump out system effluent can be simply discharged onto the ground.  Lot size and setbacks from property lines and buildings have to be maintained for this type of a system to be used.

Advantex Treatment Systems

Orenco’s AdvanTex® Treatment Systems are an ideal solution for environmentally sustainable treatment of residential wastewater flows.   To date, Silvester Enterprises has installed over 400 of these systems in Alberta.

There is a standard AdvanTex Treatment System model for every site condition, design flow, and regulatory requirement.

AdvanTex Treatment Systems are particularly well suited for:

  •  small sites
  •  failing systems
  •  poor soils
  •  nitrogen reduction
  •  environmentally sensitive sites
  •  stringent treatment standards
  •  pretreatment of moderately high-strength waste

How it Works

In the patented* AdvanTex Treatment System, household sewage flows into the processing tank, where it separates into scum, sludge, and liquid effluent. Filtered effluent is dosed to the AdvanTex filter pod, where it trickles through sheets of a synthetic textile. There, naturally occurring microorganisms remove impurities from the effluent. After recirculating between the tank and the AdvanTex filter, the effluent is discharged to the soil via irrigation or a drainfield. The system’s pump runs only a few minutes an hour, using just a few cents worth of electricity a day. Because solids decompose in the tank, the tank requires pumping only every 8–12 years, under normal use. Using little energy, generating a minimum of sludge, and purifying wastewater for beneficial reuse, AdvanTex Systems are one of the most environmentally sustainable technologies for home wastewater treatment.

AdvanTex turns household wastewater into clear, odorless effluent you can reuse for subsurface irrigation or disperse to a drainfield. 

For more information visit the Orenco® Advantex website

At-Grade Discharge:  An  At-Grade consists of distributional lateral pipes above virgin ground surface. The pressurized pipe is leveled and supported with pipe stands.  The pressurized lateral is then covered with a 24″ shield.  The entire assembly is then covered with wood chip cover or leaf mold or peat moss. The width will vary between 3 and 6 feet depending on slope and terrain variables.

At-Grade: An at-grade is an above ground discharge for treated effluent. This is the final process in disposal and the end results of the system installation.