Environmental Alternatives

SPEC Industries, Inc. can provide you with a completely designed, engineered and stamped Water Recovery Facility (process and structural drawings) to meet the requirements for your projects.

• Simple
• Energy efficient
• Low maintenance
• Low power consumption
• Adjustability to peak loading or idling
• Low construction cost for both new and repair systems
• Can be expanded and added onto to meet new volume requirements
• Can replace or upgrade old or failed systems that do not meet current discharge standards

     Here it is!  At last there is a gray water treatment system that works for both single family residences as well as for entire communities. The AIRR (Alternating Intermittent Recirculating Reactor) system is a breakthrough in blackwater systems, and is an innovative alternative for the conventional drainfield. Because it is actually designed to treat blackwater (toilet water), it most definitely will handle greywater, particularly when combined with low-flush composting toilets.
    Approved by the state of Washington as a standard reciruclating sand filter, it solves some perk problems by turning sewer effluent into reusable water biologically and with no offensive odor.  The treated water is many times clearer than EPA swimming standards.  This clear sparkling water is suitable for futher processing and for recycling and re-use in non-potable applications.  The AIRR clear water can be discharged underground into drainfields, or into salt water, streams and rivers, or can be used to irrigate golf courses, parks, ski resorts, forests or farm land.
    The system consists of a septic/dosing tank, a biological reactor containing both secondary and tertiary sections, a simple cover structure, a recirculating tank and a discharge tank or pipe; circuit board control is an option.  The size of the reactor depends on the amount of gallons that need to be processed per day.  The reactor's size is based on five gallons per square foot per day.  An AIRR system can be designed for a single residence or an entire community. The AIRR system has many features.  One is low maintenance.  Regular septic tank pumping, periodic visual inspection of the sprinkler heads and pumps, and normal routine maintenance of the cover structure is all that is needed.  Other features include low construction cost for both new and repair systems, energy efficient low power consumption, adjustability to peak loading or idling, it can replace or upgrade old or failed systems that do not meet current discharge standards, and the system can be expanded and added onto to meet new volume requirements.
    So why doesn't everyone with problem soils use an AIRR system?  It's like a miniature sewage treatment plant with tertiary treatment!  Because most counties still insist on subsurface disposal of all water, whether gray or black.  This means that most counties still insist that a drainfield, mound system, sand filter, or leach field be installed, regardless of the water's cleanliness, for single-family residences.  If the system is used by a community and a maintenance person supervises its operation, then the state will permit discharge into existing waterways in most areas.  Having been producing excellent results since 1977, the AIRR manufacturers claim that drainfields could be reduced by 90% down to only 10% of the normal requirements. Unfortunately, some counties do not trust the individual homeowner to maintain such a system properly, so it is important to check with your local county authorities.  The AIRR system is made in Henderson, near Las Vegas, NV.

This proprietary product is listed in the department's List of Approved Systems and Products (http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/ts/WW/approved-list-oct-2004.pdf). It is classified as a Packed Bed Filtration / Attached Growth Process (P. 18). It is also listed as meeting the BOD and TSS parameters for Treatment Standards 1 and 2, but must use disinfection to meet the 3rd parameter of these treatment standards, Fecal Coliform. This information is on pp. 34-38 of the above-cited List of Approved Systems and Products.

• Go to HOME page
• Additional AIRR information
• Read about WATER filtration
• Read more about GRAYWATER
• Read about alternatives to traditional TOILETS
• Talk to a live person: Dean Petrich (877) 713-7858