Cultec Chambers Provide Increased Storage to Outdated Septic Structure
BROOKFIELD, CT/ June 11, 2014 — Sandy Beach, a community beach at Lake Morris in Bantam, Conn., was undergoing a major renovation that would include new bathrooms, a bath station and a snack bar with a grease trap. Since the previous septic system was originally installed in the 1950s, it required an upgrade to provide enough storage to accommodate the new features.
Engineers determined that a new wastewater management system would need a 1,500-gallon stormwater tank, 2,000-gallon septic tank and 2,000-gallon pump chamber with two pumps to meet the requirements of the renovated beach complex. Contractors from Green Construction Management, LLC faced a number of challenges during the installation of the new system, starting with preparing the location for excavation. A number of trees were cut down and cleared in order to insert the leaching galleys that would distribute the effluent. The galleys are set on the far side of the beach in a wooded area.
Determining the location for the chambers was another issue the team faced. Wetlands sit directly behind the beach and meet the water. In addition, the site has a high water table, making the installation of the three tanks particularly difficult.
Because of the weight of the new septic tanks, trucks were unable to drive across Sandy Beach to transport them without the risk of sinking. Contractors chose to hold off on transporting the materials across the beach and up a steep hill on the far side until the winter time when the sand was frozen. Once the ground was hard enough for travel, contractors completed one large excavation for the tanks — rather than multiple smaller ones — because once the hole was dug, the banks kept sliding in. Pumps were in place to dewater the pit 24-hours-a-day.
Sewage water flows from the tanks through a two-inch pipe located approximately 400 feet across the beach front up the hill where it meets a twin row of CULTEC’s Recharger® 150XLHD chambers. Two Recharger 150XLHD units are placed side by side in a six foot wide trench surrounded in stone to get 9.5 SF/ft approval rating. The water enters the CULTEC chambers from quarter-inch holes on the top of the chambers spaced every three feet. Inside the chambers, the water is held while it percolates and evaporates.
“The site itself presented a lot of challenges but once it was safe to navigate, the installation of the tanks and the CULTEC chambers went very smoothly,” said Mark Green, Owner of Green Construction Management. “We always look forward to working with CULTEC. Everyone from their team is very helpful and responsive.”
A total of 54 chambers were installed in a six-foot-wide trench in between the wetlands and the water directly on the beach under a pedestrian sidewalk. Per State of Connecticut regulations, each foot of the 254-linear-foot trench gets 9.5 square feet of leaching allowance, for a total of 2,413 square feet of leaching.
The Recharger® 150XLHD is a heavy-duty, high-capacity chamber used for septic leachfields. It measures 11 feet long, 33 inches wide and 18.5 inches high.
For more information about CULTEC’s septic and stormwater chambers, please call (203) 775-4416 or visit www.cultec.com.
About CULTEC
In 1986, CULTEC introduced its Contactor® and Recharger® HDPE septic chambers and helped begin a revolution toward the use of plastic construction products. Since then, several product developments and strategic alliances have made CULTEC a cutting-edge R&D-based manufacturer. CULTEC chambers can be used as replacements for concrete structures or pipe and stone installations.
CULTEC manufactures several chamber sizes ranging from 8.5″ — 48″ to accommodate almost any site parameter. The chambers’ perforated sidewalls and fully open bottoms promote maximum infiltration capability and allow for the transfer of high volumes of water at a low velocity.
CULTEC’s technical staff offers free design assistance including preliminary calculations and job-specific CAD details. In addition, CULTEC products can contribute to the U.S. Green Building Council’s credits, under the LEED rating system, when the project is designed per LEED requirements.