Orenco in the News2011 Onsite Installer, October 2011: "Sand, Surf, and Septage"Onsite systems at 16 beaches on Santa Monica Bay, Calif., has exceeded their useful lives. Most were at risk of overflows and required pumping every two weeks, as sand blowing in through corroded cast-iron lids filled them three-quarters full. Monthly water samples taken by the Los Angeles County Department of Environmental Health confirmed intermittent high bacteria counts. Concern for the health of swimmers and surfers led the U.S. EPA to issue new total maximum daily loads for bacteria. The Los Angeles County capital fund enabled the Public Works Water Resources Division to replace the onsite systems with advanced treatment units. Because ammonia in effluent could affect marine life, the board issued additional waste discharge limits for nitrogen and bacteria. Public Works project manager Alex Villarama, P.E., selected AdvanTex AX-Max modules for their ability to meet stringent regulatory requirements ... The installations were the first of their kind in Southern California." Onsite Informer, Winter 2010-2011: "Managing and Troubleshooting Advanced Onsite Systems: Git 'er Done!""Regular and proactive servicing of onsite wastewater treatment systems optimizes the treatment process and reduces operation and maintenance costs. Service providers need to have a solid understanding of the system's configuration, components and component functions; treatment processes; performance expectations at each stage in the treatment process; routine maintenance procedures; performance indicators (including, but not limited to, effluent sampling); and troubleshooting strategies. In addition, maintenance of recirculating systems requires an understanding of the performance impacts of recirculation ratios, dosing, and mass balancing. And maintenance of nitrogen-reducing systems requires and understanding of the delicate relationships between alkalinity, ammonia, nitrate, BOD5, dissolved oxygen, pH, fats and oils, etc. Ultimately, in order to "git 'er done," service providers must become alert to in-field indicators (effects) and skilled in - and committed to - discovering their cause." 2010 Environmental Science & Engineering, Summer 2010: "Effluent Sewers Sustainably Accommodate Growing Communities""Many rural communities that use septic systems have outgrown that technology. Some are experiencing widespread failure of aging systems. Others are growing, but their soil conditions won't accommodate additional septic systems. Larger communities want to grow, but their existing sewer systems can't accommodate new connections. In all these cases, neither conventional septic systems, nor gravity sewer systems, are feasible ... Together, effluent sewers and media filter advanced treatment form a sustainable and robust system that uses minimal energy, safeguards groundwater and the environment, and imposes costs fairly on the users. Communities of all sizes can benefit from this technology." CE News, April 2010: "Septic System Savvy""Onsite wastewater treatment may initially evoke thoughts in the minds of many homeowners, regulators, and even civil engineers, of clogged septic tanks and malfunctioning drain fields. However, today’s advanced technologies — when properly applied, designed, installed, and maintained, like any engineered system — can be a better alternative to centralized wastewater collection networks and treatment plants, according to system designers, and they deserve consideration.... "Terry Bounds, P.E., owner and executive vice president, Orenco Systems, Inc., noted, 'The [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s] (EPA) 1997 Response to Congress on Use of Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems identified a number of benefits of onsite systems [that] continue to stimulate the market. Decentralized systems are capable of collecting and treating wastewater to levels that meet or exceed treatment levels from centralized systems, but at a fraction of the upfront costs, and with reduced power and operating and maintenance (O&M) costs.' Orenco’s patented packed bed filter uses textile media and biochemical processes for wastewater treatment." Onsite Installer, February 2010: "Triple Header""Homeowners in Roseburg, Ore., wanted to stop the smelly water from ponding in their back yard. Two contractors advised the couple to poke holes in the liner of their sand filter. Instead, they sought a third opinion.... "...Orenco Systems Inc. in Sutherlin, Ore., was looking for a site to demonstrate its AdvanTex AX20RT three-in-one treatment, recirculating, and dosing tank.... The unit’s design enabled them to keep the existing septic tank and drainfield, while its compact shape expedited installation and minimized disruption." 2009 Onsite Installer, August 2009: "In Time for the Bell""Plumbing a new subdivision, four restaurants and several businesses into the Breitling Elementary School Waste Water Treatment Plant in Grand Bay, Ala., threatened to overwhelm its 30,000-gpd onsite system, sized to handle the school and a truck stop." The solution included nine of Orenco's AX100 modules and a ProSTEP effluent pumping system. Water Environment and Technology Magazine, March 2009: "Small, Green, and Useful"This article, written by the EPA's Robert Freeman and Joyce Hudson, profiles Effluent Sewer (STEP) systems that are overseen by South Alabama Utilities and Mobile Area Water and Sewer System, which use Orenco Effluent Sewers and AdvanTex Treatment Systems. "These STEP systems in the Mobile area represent a significant performance improvement over traditional septic tank and drain field developments of the past, and have provided savings of 25% to 50% over centralized collection and treatment." Water Environment and Technology Magazine, March 2009: "O&M Considerations for STEP Systems"This
article by Mike Saunders, a National Accounts Leader for Orenco, explains how prospective system managers can realistically budget O&M costs for their systems. Although it's a good idea to talk to managers of other systems, be wary of using their costs to estimate yours, because your O&M practices may be different from theirs. The Oregon Professional Engineer, Spring 2009: "Featured Project: Steamboat, Oregon"Replacing an infiltration-prone collection and treatment system with an Orenco Effluent Sewer and AdvanTex Treatment System saved the U.S. Forest Service and the Oregon Department of Transportation more than $20,000 in annual operating costs. "Because of the system’s outstanding effluent quality (monthly BOD5 and TSS tests have averaged 1.9 mg/L and 1.5 mg/L respectively), the DEQ approved a semiannual, instead of a monthly, testing procedure. As a result, annual operating costs have dropped to $1,455. The capital costs will be paid for in five years. Marketwire, February 26, 2009: "Jensen Precast Septic Tanks Make Mobile Home Park Clean and Safe""Jensen Precast septic tanks solved a serious wastewater problem at The Pine Grove Mobile Home Park in Paradise, California." The solution involved new tanks and four of Orenco's AdvanTex AX100 treatment pods. WaterWorld, February 2009: "Effluent Sewer Technology Saves Excavation Cost on Sewer Rehab Project""Effluent sewers use small-diameter pipe that can be “sleeved through” larger, failing gravity pipes using trenchless technology. For a Rhode Island developer, this particular benefit eliminated an unpredictable excavation cost and made a 2008 sewer rehab feasible.... "Use of Orenco’s STEP system technology afforded the owner cost savings for this project, by avoiding excessive excavation, limiting cutting and patching of streets and sidewalks, and minimizing disruption for residents of the neighborhood..." Onsite Installer, January 2009: "Many of a Kind""...They faced high groundwater, power consumption and environmental issues, small lots, the need to reuse as many functioning drainfields as possible, and a city that didn’t want responsibility of monitoring 150 individual systems. The solution was a pre-plumbed, pre-wired, fully assembled treatment package for each lot, with textile media filter and ultraviolet disinfection.... "System components, shipped nested together, arrived in Anchorage on a
barge. Orenco representatives instructed Tom Varney, AdvanTex
coordinator at Anchorage Tank, and his employees how to assemble the
parts. A special saddle enabled them to glue the 7.5- by 3- by 2.5-foot
filter pod to the top of the recirculating tank, then glue the pump
basin next to the tank. Risers were glued, too. Once plumbed and wired,
the unit was ready to drop in a hole and plug in." COWA News, Winter 2009: "IWS Helps Keep Critical Regional Hospital Online""[Feather River Hospital] now has one of the largest Orenco AdvanTex Treatment Systems in California. Work was completed by [Integrated Water Services, Inc.] while the hospital was in full operation." COWA News, Winter 2009: "The Pine Grove Mobile Home Park"Average daily flows were reduced from 25,000 gpd to 10,400 gpd just by fixing leaky fixtures in this 78-space California mobile home park. Once that was done, watertight concrete tanks, four of Orenco's AX100 treatment pods, and a pressurized dispersal system were installed with no disruption of service to residents. COWA News, Winter 2009: "MH Park on Russian River Replaces Failing Onsite Wastewater System"Installing an AdvanTex Treatment System allowed a drip irrigation system to be installed over a failing drainfield.2008 Water Street Journal (Iowa Rural Water Association), Fall 2008: "Choosing Your Community Wastewater System: A Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Can Prevent Financial Woes""While design and construction are typically the same for [grinder and effluent sewer] systems, R&R and O&M costs differ significantly — and the life-cycle costs for effluent sewers are typically lower. To avoid financial problems in the future, decision-makers must evaluate these differences during the selection process and plan for them in the management and rate-setting process." |
Awards and Recognition2011
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