STEEL TANK
The drawing to the left shows a residential (3-4 bedroom) AdvanTex Treatment System using a steel tank. This is not your grandpa’s steel septic tank. It is fabricated from thicker steel and painted inside and out with a 100% solids coating, much like that of an underground fuel storage tank. This provides a lifetime tank worthy of having a fiberglass filter pod placed above it to minimize the footprint of the system in the yard. Here’s how it works:
The system begins treatment in a conventional manner. Sewage from the house enters the first compartment of the septic tank. The effluent in the second compartment is pumped up and into the AdvanTex Filter and is evenly distributed across a manifold at the top of the filter where it showers downward. The hanging textile media then filters the effluent and it drains through to the bottom of the box. This liquid is now called filtrate.
The filtrate then returns to the second compartment of the tank to blend with unfiltered effluent, and the cycle repeats. When the liquid level in the tank reaches a certain level, meaning the effluent has been through the filter several times, a floating ball diverter valve will stop the flow of any further filtrate from reentering the tank. The diverted filtrate will be directed towards the drainfield, or trench.
FIBERGLASS FULLY ASSEMBLED PACKAGE
While it works just like the Steel Tank configuration described above, this residential (3-4 bedroom) AdvanTex Treatment System utilizes an Orenco Systems fiberglass tank. The system is pre-assembled at the Anchorage Tank shop for delivery to the jobsite. Installers like the fully assembled package (FAP) for its plug ‘n play qualities. One restriction to consider, however, is the invert of the tank inlet pipe cannot be any deeper than 48”.
MINI-MAX ABOVEGROUND UNIT
Sometimes you just cannot bury a septic system so Orenco Systems developed the AX-Max line of AdvanTex Treatment Systems. Most AX-Max units are used in commercial applications however the Mini-Max is sized for 3-4 bedroom homes. Rather than a separate tank and filter pod, the AX-Max units are all-in-one insulated structural fiberglass boxes – basically a 7’ cube. If extra treatment is required, the unit may be extended in seven-foot increments. The AX-Max units are manufactured by Orenco Systems in Oregon and shipped to Alaska as a plug n’ play solution for aboveground or partially buried systems.
DISCHARGE OPTIONS:
Even though AdvanTex Treatment Systems work wonders in making wastewater magically delicious, they don’t make the water disappear. It has to be properly disposed of. The most common method is the use of a drainfield where the treated wastewater either gravity flows or is pump pressurized and reintroduced into the soils. There is also an option for UV disinfection which could allow for marine or surface discharge depending on the permit secured by the design engineer from the local regulator.