Problem with a Biocycle brand AWT (help Elkangorito!)

[zippidydodah]

Hi all,

I've got a Biocycle brand AWTS. The system has worked fine for the last few years and has only required the replacement of two air blowers and one sump pump in this time. A contractor (as stipulated by our Council) "services" the unit every 3 months. This involves popping the lid and replenishing the chlorine tablets...

At the time of the last air pump failure it took me almost a week to source a replacement unit. When I got the system going again I wasn't greeted with the same bubbling and sloshing noises that the system usually makes. The discharged water is foul smelling now and I'm thinking that there is a problem with the oxygenation bit of the system.

I had a look at the system today and observed air bubbling up in the outer chamber after the anaerobic one. One ball valve controlling the air was turned off completely and the other was just cracked slightly. I turned each of these on in turn and was greeted with the familiar slooshing sound but the bubbling stopped from the aforementioned tank.

My questions are:
1. What do these valves do?
2. How do you set these valves?
3. Could something be blocked with growth because of my delay in getting the air going again?
4. Am I barking up the right tree in explaining the foul smelling water being dischared (it smells like traditional septic clear water).

Any and all comments welcome.

Cheers, Andrew

[elkangorito]

Hi all,

I've got a Biocycle brand AWTS. The system has worked fine for the last few years and has only required the replacement of two air blowers and one sump pump in this time. A contractor (as stipulated by our Council) "services" the unit every 3 months. This involves popping the lid and replenishing the chlorine tablets...

At the time of the last air pump failure it took me almost a week to source a replacement unit. When I got the system going again I wasn't greeted with the same bubbling and sloshing noises that the system usually makes. The discharged water is foul smelling now and I'm thinking that there is a problem with the oxygenation bit of the system.

I had a look at the system today and observed air bubbling up in the outer chamber after the anaerobic one. One ball valve controlling the air was turned off completely and the other was just cracked slightly. I turned each of these on in turn and was greeted with the familiar slooshing sound but the bubbling stopped from the aforementioned tank.

My questions are:
1. What do these valves do?
2. How do you set these valves?
3. Could something be blocked with growth because of my delay in getting the air going again?
4. Am I barking up the right tree in explaining the foul smelling water being dischared (it smells like traditional septic clear water).

Any and all comments welcome.

Cheers, Andrew

Hi Andrew.
Your aerobic chamber should be the only one to be supplied with air. I have never heard of chlorine tablets being added to the system as this kills "friendly" bacteria. Generally, the anaerobic chamber must form a scum & sediment in order to function properly. It may be opportune to temporarily aerate the anaerobic chamber, simply to stir up any sediment.
You mention chlorine tablets. To where are these tablets applied? If chlorine tablets are to be applied, this should occur at the final output chamber, as this therefore will not effect any other part of the treatment system. Essentially, the system relies upon an effluent feedback effect. Does your local council require these chlorine tablets to be added? I suggest you find out.

Also, you may like to purchase a "standby" blower for when your old one dies. Generally, the blowers die because of the moving stator (contradictory in terms but it is a metal block that vibrates between 2 wound coils). This metal block must ride between some guides. It is these guides that wear out, thereby causing the metal block to come into contact (& stop vibrating) with the coils. I do believe that you can buy the kits to repair these blowers (as I've done in the past) but don't ask or tell your biocycle guys. Do a Google search for your model blower & start from there. You'll find that this problem is only a phone call away if you're handy with some tools.

Hope this helps.

[woodbe]

In our unit, (not a biocycle, but probably quite similar) the chlorine tablets are in a final treatment chamber that is supposed to kill off any nasties before the slops get emptied on the garden.

Do you have a diagram of your unit? It should be pretty obvious which chamber should have the bubbles, and as suggested, definitely not the anaerobic (septic) compartment.

For what it's worth, you can improve the units performance and odours by not allowing strong disinfectants into the drains. We have also gone to some trouble to reduce phosphates, nitrates and sodium in our laundry (you wouldn't believe how much salt is in laundry powder). I've even found a phosphate free dishwasher powder. Lastly, there is an enzyme mentioned in another wastewater treatment plant thread that is supposed to improve matters in the smell department, but I haven't tried it yet.

woodbe.

[zippidydodah]

Thanks for the replies.

Great info about the air pumps. I've picked up a couple of second hand Yasunaga models in working order and have been consuming them until they fail. I've sourced the Sydney importer for spares and will rebuild them in due course. In the mean time the latest pump is an ebay special from China. It's noisier than the Japanese pumps but was cheaper than the rebuilt kit for the Yasunaga!

The chlorine tablets are being placed in the correct location. There is a vertical PVC tube into which a stack of tablets is placed. This tube is in the top of large pipe with the flow from the clarification chamber to the final tank that has the sump pump.

The crust on top of the anaerobic chamber isn't as healthy as it has been in the past so maybe we've damaged the microbe activity with over zealous use of cleaning products. We've now changed our ways so I'll add some of that Actizyme stuff and see what happens.

However I'm still after some info about the two ball valves in the air flow circuit. I would like to know how the air circuit works and the procedure in setting these valves. I suspect that the air is not only used for the aerobic chamber but to run some sort or venturi system for the clarification chamber for sludge return.

Cheers, Andrew

[elkangorito]

Thanks for the replies.
However I'm still after some info about the two ball valves in the air flow circuit. I would like to know how the air circuit works and the procedure in setting these valves. I suspect that the air is not only used for the aerobic chamber but to run some sort or venturi system for the clarification chamber for sludge return.

Cheers, Andrew

Sorry Andrew, I can't help you with this info.

[zippidydodah]

Hi,

I've been able to extract the answer to my question regarding setting the air flow in my AWTS.

I rang the supplier (Biocycle have risen from the ashes as they had previously gone bust and are now owned by another mob) and apparently when the units are serviced every three months the ball valves are turned on full for the duration of the visit. I this half hour or so the venturis are running at full capacity and return any sludge in the clarification chamber to the aerobic chamber.

When leaving site these ball valves are closed and one just cracked open to allow a small flow of air to one venturi.

Anyway I thought this might be handy info to anyone with the same need or just being curious!

Cheers, Andrew