Full Service Engineering in Big Sky, Montana

JP Auclair, Street Skiing in Trail BC, the movie “All I Can.”

By:  Philip Kedrowski, PE, LEED-AP

Redleaf Consulting, PLLC

Engineering Design Services and Certified Quanics Dealer

Finley Point on Flathead Lake is one of the most beautiful and prestigious places to build a home in Montana.  Located in Lake County just outside Polson on the Flathead Indian reservation, Finley Point is not only a beautiful place to build a home, it is also home to a very sensitive eco-system.  Because of this, the Lake County Health Department, is continually searching for better technologies to treat and disperse wastewater.

Donald Saisbury, R.S. recently issued a permit for a the installation of a Quanics¹ Aerocell Advanced Treatment System (ATS) and Drip Irrigation dispersal system for the five (5) bedroom Busha Family residence located on Finley Point.  Quanics Aerocell ATS’s are designated as Level II wastewater treatment systems  by the Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality (MTDEQ).  In addition to the MTDEQ Level II designation, the Quanics Aerocell systems are NSF/ANSI² certified.  The NSF Wastewater Technology Test Center is currently the only third party wastewater treatment test center in the United States.  During NSF/ANSI certification testing, the Quanics Aerocell delivered extremely low results for three critical effluent treatment measurements; Biochemical Oxygen Demand (CBOD₅), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), and Total Nitrogen (TN), Table 1.

Table 1: Effluent test results under NSF/ANSI certification.

Since Quanics Aerocell systems treat CBOD₅ and TSS to these extremely low levels it is possible to disperse this effluent through a pressurized drip irrigation system.  Although drip irrigation dispersion is relatively new in Montana applications, it is very commonly used throughout the United States with Quanics advanced treatment systems.  In fact, the largest fixed film media wastewater treatment system in the country is a Quanics Aerocell ATS with Drip Irrigation.³

Mr. Saisbury, registered sanitarian for Lake County Health Dept., stated that the Level II treatment with drip irrigation is a good solution for Finley Point and other sensitive eco systems.  The Busha treatment system consists of a 1,500g septic tank, a 1,000g treatment dose tank, a 500g drip irrigation dose tank, and a Quanics ATS-8 (8 ft long module).  The system is sized to treat wastewater from a five (5) bedroom 400 gpd residential structure and it is designed to continue treatment of the wastewater even during periods of low use.  This is accomplished by implementing an 20/80/100% recirculation device.  Under normal conditions, this device will return 80% of the effluent to the head works of the treatment train for the optimal 5:1 treatment dose ratio.  However, when no new effluent enters the system, the device will return 100% of the effluent to the head works of the treatment train.  This maintains the microbial populations within the media that perform the treatment and enables uninterrupted treatment of the wastewater during periods of low use.  Using this technology makes Quanics treatment systems a great option for resort and vacation properties.

The system was installed by licensed site installer David Graham and the general contractor for the project is Traditional Homes, Inc.  An engineer from Redleaf Consulting, PLLC⁴ was on site to oversee the installation.  Redleaf Consulting is an engineering design company and the Certified Dealer for Quanics inMontana,Idaho, andWyoming.  Hans Lund, the owner of Traditional Homes, Inc. reported that the project installation went smoothly and that he was happy to see the Engineer and Dealer on site to answer questions.

Included in the sale of every Quanics treatment system is a 2yr Operations & Maintenance Service Contract.  The authorized service provider for the Flathead region is Roy Robinson, owner of Advanced Septic Design and Maintenance, LLC (ASDM, LLC). Roy commented that he likes the clean looking and straight forward Quanics control panels.

The initial system startup will be scheduled following the completion of the structure.  Philip Kedrowski, PE of Redleaf Consulting, PLLC plans to be on site to facilitate the start up.  If you would like more information regarding the Quanics Advanced Treatment Systems please don’t hesitate to contact Philip @ 406.995.2996.

If you would like to attend a FREE webinar titled “Effective Wastewater Treatment Using the Decentralized Approach,” please register at the following link:

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/519843862

The first session of a four part series starts on Wednesday, February 15, 2012.

References

1.         www.quanics.net

2.         www.nsf.org

3.          “Water and Wastes Digest,” May Issue, 2010

4.         www.redleaf-consulting.com