Some answers to questions about us and our solution
- What is Clearford’s specific role in delivering integrated water management solutions? How can I work with Clearford?
- What if I have already selected a specific treatment technology?
- How do we know if our community/region would be suitable for implementation of the SBS™ system?
- How does the SBS™ system effectively eliminate solids handling as a function of sanitary sewers?
- What options exist for the installation of the SBS™ system?
- Why is the SBS&t system particularly well suited for water-scarce regions?
- How does the SBS™ system function in areas with high water tables?
- Where there is bedrock or adverse construction conditions, are there any advantages to using the SBS™ system compared to historic gravity systems?
- Does your system limit wastewater treatment options?
- Our community is currently serviced with on-site septic system and holding tanks. Can the SBS™ be installed in an established community like ours?
- How do you size such small sanitary collection mains?
- What does Clearford require from the community in order to provide preliminary conceptual pricing and then to actually design a system?
- What is the approval process for the SBS™ system?
- I am interested in visiting a site where your SBS™ system is installed. Can you arrange for a tour?
What is Clearford’s specific role in delivering integrated water management solutions? How can I work with Clearford?
Clearford’s preferred option is to provide a turn-key solution for collection and treatment of wastewater, acting as the systems integrator, partnering with leading edge water treatment providers and working with local constructors and suppliers in each country/area to deliver integrated water management solutions.
What if I have already selected a specific treatment technology?
The SBS™ is compatible with all wastewater treatment technologies. The effect of using the Clearford SBS™ system is less cost for treatment facilities, and if you already have selected a specific treatment plant or technology, we can work with you to apply our SBS™ collection methodology to meet your complete sanitary servicing needs.
How do we know if our community/region would be suitable for implementation of the SBS™ system?
The modular nature of the Clearford SBS™ creates a flexible solution for both small and large scale projects.
With the SBS™ as the enabling technology, Clearford can deliver fixed-price wastewater collection, treatment and energy generation solutions on a global basis that are ideally suited for water scarce areas, those with unreliable water distribution networks, existing communities that require servicing whether they have on-site sanitary disposal systems or not, and new developments seeking a greener approach to water and wastewater management.
In new developments, the sewer mains and trunks of the SBS™ system can be installed with appropriate tee connections situated for future installation of laterals and tanks for servicing of each lot; however, the system’s vessel tanks, drainage pipes and laterals need only be installed once the lot’s building is ready for occupancy thereby delaying the initial capital expenditures for an area that is considered as serviced. Similarly, only the necessary SBS™ main and trunk infrastructure need be inserted before complete build out of all phases of a project. This allows for a Mezzanine structure of costs throughout multiple phases of development.
How does the SBS™ system effectively eliminate solids handling as a function of sanitary sewers?
Natural sludge degradation is a function of time, temperature and environment. The SBS™ has a distributed design that has been optimized for the time, temperature and environment that enables maximum sludge digestion. By comparison, conventional gravity sewers collect sludge at a centralized treatment plant. The centralized approach to solids handling limits the use of time for digestion as storage of the solids in a centralized facility would require a large footprint to house the cumulative sludge volume for years required to achieve total organics digestion. The SBS™ approach has the effect of digesting all organic materials at the point of production and what remains is an immaterial amount of grit and other inorganic matter. Thus the tanks can effectively eliminate solids handling as a function of sanitary sewers. The minimum window prior to solids handling has been designed into the SBS™ to be greater than 30 years, dependant on the number of users and connections.
What options exist for the installation of the SBS™ system?
HDPE piping allows two simple installation options – open cut (digging small, shallow trenches) or trenchless technology (TT) using horizontal directional drilling (HDD).
Both installation options cost significantly less than traditional sewers, can be installed in a fraction of the time using local labour, and have a minimal impact on the environment.
Why is the SBS™ system particularly well suited for water-scarce regions?
The historic gravity sewer requires significant volumes of water, usually over 150L/capita/day, as it must convey solids a great distance; the Clearford SBS™ system need only convey a liquid effluent, and therefore requires no minimum per capita water use.
The SBS™ system employs a distributed anaerobic digestion architecture that enables active digestion of all organic matter at or near source. A distributed vessel separates solids from liquids, and contains and conveys a predominantly solids-free liquid effluent by gravity through small diameter pipes to the treatment plant. Since the effluent stream contains no solids that can become lodged in the pipe, the system has the advantage of not requiring high volumes of water to flush out obstructions that occur in conventional whole sewage systems.
How does the SBS™ system function in areas with high water tables?
The pipe network used for the SBS™ system is HDPE piping (Hyperlink to HDPE Page), which guarantees no groundwater inflow or rainwater infiltration.
The network is also installed at a slope of 0.15% versus the historic system which is installed at a 2% slope. This means for a length of 1km, the pipe has a drop in depth of 1.5m versus a drop in depth of 20m for the historic system. When installing in areas with high water tables, for the historic system there would be significant de-watering during construction, longer installation times, and more frequent pump stations, to reduce the depth of the pipes; whereas for the SBS™ all of these negatives can be avoided.
The weight of the SBS™ vessel is such that the tanks will not be affected by a high water table. Ballast can be provided to secure the tanks in extreme situations, but that has not been a common occurrence/practice with projects completed to date. Inlet and outlet connections will be tested to ensure water-tightness.
Where there is bedrock or adverse construction conditions, are there any advantages to using the SBS™ system compared to historic gravity systems?
The Clearford SBS™ system is generally advantageous in all adverse conditions (high groundwater table, problem soils, rock, confined access, etc.), due to the fact that with solids removed at source which means the SBS™ requires less slope. The network is also installed at a slope of 0.15% versus the historic system which is installed at a 2% slope. This means for a length of 1km, the pipe has a drop in depth of 1.5m versus a drop in depth of 20m for the historic system. Less slope results in installation at a lower depth, this equates to substantially less excavation and blasting.
During field installation, SBS™ sewers have the added flexibility of horizontal (and occasionally vertical) deflection to sweep around field obstructions, if warranted.
Does your system limit wastewater treatment options?
With the SBS™ system, there are no limitations to wastewater end-treatment options. In fact, design of the wastewater treatment facility would benefit from the reduced requirements for primary treatment and further efficiencies achieved in the treatment process through the reduction in hydraulic and biological loading rates resulting from the SBS™ collection system.
Our community is currently serviced with on-site septic system and holding tanks. Can the SBS™ be installed in an established community like ours?
The Clearford SBS™ system is ideally suited for re-servicing communities on septic tanks, cesspits and latrines in virtually all geographical locations. The SBS™ system has the flexibility of being able to be installed in road, in the boulevard or through rear-yard applications – either by open trench or horizontal directional drilling (HDD). These options can be selected to minimize the impact of the installation on the individual property owner and the community. The Clearford SBS™ servicing option utilizes the existing building drain (to septic) and connects it to a new vessel and the small bore sewer system, eliminating the need for expensive building re-plumbing. In most communities of this type, the Clearford SBS™ solution is the most cost effective option.
How do you size such small sanitary collection mains?
Flows are buffered by each individual vessel tank with the patented attenuation device (hyperlink to attenuation device), providing a levelled rate of outflow. The minimum recommended diameter of the SBS™ piping system is 75 mm or approximately 3 inches. The Manning Formula is used to determine the size of the effluent receiving system and is sensitive to design flows and pipe gradients. As with historic systems, the pipe sizing increases incrementally with increased design flows. Depending upon the size and land development pattern, the main pipe sizing will vary from a minimum of 75 mm to a much larger diameter for many thousands of total downstream connections. In addition, the sewer is completely sealed and does not permit infiltration or other inflows to enter the system.
What does Clearford require from the community in order to provide preliminary conceptual pricing and then to actually design a system?
Clearford can provide conceptual pricing with a basic scaled topographical plan and site survey (hyperlink to PDF of the design inputs) from which we can produce a preliminary layout and quantity take-offs. A basic understanding of site conditions including sub-surface soils is also required. If applicable, the proposed location of the treatment facility or disposal location is also required.
In order to provide a detailed system design, Clearford requires detailed base plans showing all buildings to be connected, existing services, roads, plan and profile drawings, and available sub-surface technical information.
What is the approval process for the SBS™ system?
Virtually all authorities world-wide regulate the treatment of wastewater and the level of contaminants in the discharge. These same authorities have clauses that accommodate variations on wastewater collection. With over 20 years of regulatory review, including the US EPA (hyperlink to USEPA review) and the World Bank (hyperlink to world bank review) the Clearford SBS™ system fits all regional or country criteria encountered to date.
I am interested in visiting a site where your SBS™ system is installed. Can you arrange for a tour?
Feel free to contact us and we will be happy to discuss and determine the most suitable reference site for you to visit that would best reflect your anticipated servicing needs.
