ANALELE UNIVERSITII DIN ORADEA

FASCICULA CONSTRUCII I INSTALAII HIDROEDILITARE

VACUUM TECHNOLOGY DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTATION

IN SEWING SYSTEMS FOR DENSE POPULATED AREAS

CLDARE Ioan 1,
ABSTRACT
The vacuum sewing system collects transports and ejects waste water from small
flow units placed on small slope surfaces. In plane areas with high ground water, using
vacuum technology for wastewater transport is more advantageous than the classic
gravitational one both from technical and economical reasons. Also because classical
systems imply high depths for waste water collecting in densely populated area, the vacuum
technology is superior and recommended for residential neighborhoods constructed near
highly populated urban areas. The vacuum sewing system is modern, economic and
ecologic with good applicability in plane areas from our country.

Keywords: sewer, vacuum, draw

1. Advantages of the vacuum sewing systems compared to

the classic system
Using a vacuum sewing system instead of a classic one brings a series
of advantages:
-design flexibility;
-cutting the investment costs;
-cutting the operation costs.
From an ecological point of view, in the long run, a hermetic solution
is guarantied, the leakages are excluded. The construction cost is smaller
because of the smaller trench depth and the usage of smaller pipes. The path
of the pipe is elastic, and can be implemented using small potion of lawn,
eliminating the rebuild of roads[6].
Maintenance costs are low because high flow rates keep the system
free of any blockages or sedimentation, no leakage along the pipe and
imminent problem at the joints. The system does not permit illegal
connection of clients. The sewing water arrives faster at the cleaning station,
in a preoxidated state, and with the right density, increasing the cleaning
efficiency. The elastic pipe is much resistant to soil movement and meets
EU standards.
Below (fig1) are the four classical systems used to store (septic tank)
or to collect wastewater (by gravity, with pressure systems or with vacuum.

1
Sef lucr.Univ.ec.dr.ing , Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov, Facultatea de Construcii,
e-mail: ioan.caldare@unitbv.ro

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 SECTION: Architecture, Construction, Cadastral Survey, Sanitary Engineering And
Environmental Protection

Fig. 1 Different classical sewer systems comparison [2]

In the following we compare these four systems in term of construction,

dimensioning, network design, energy needs and maintenance.
Disadvantages:
-much complex collector vessel systems because of the variation of
flow computerized automation.
-pumping regulation is complicated because the pumping rate is
always random, optimization is complex.
-the backup system is very complex because of the large number of
pumps used[6].

2. Components
Depending on the positioning, the sewing water is collected from a
kilometric range around the central vacuuming station. The drain water is
collected using gravity from each building, in a collecting room outside the
building. When the water volume reaches a specific level, a pneumatic
controller is activated and a vacuum vane empties the water into the
collecting pipe. No electric current is needed because all operations are
pneumatic[5]. In certain situations, the vacuum sewer system can be
implemented without digging, placing the system above ground. The whole
sewing system is under negative pressure generated by a vacuum station.
The sewer lines are made of KPE sealed pipes. The vacuum valve units are
placed one in every collection chamber and open automatically. The normal
1 bar pressure from the chamber pushes the drain water into the KPE
collector pipe with high speed, which has a smaller pressure 0,3-0,5 bar (vid
0,5-0,7 bar). The valve in the collecting chamber draws 40 liters wastewater
in 3-5 seconds. And then, in another 3-5 seconds it draws aprox. 200-300 air
used to pull the tap ahead in the pipe. The pressure difference in the

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FASCICULA CONSTRUCII I INSTALAII HIDROEDILITARE

collecting chamber transports the air and liquid to the collection chambers
with 20 km/h speed[3]. The movement of the tap is similar to the
movement of a pneumatic pistol. The components are illustrated in figure 2:

Fig. 2 Components of the vacuum sewer system[1]

The vacuum sewer system consists of a vacuum station, valve

chamber package and vacuum pipeline[5]. The system name is usually
given by the producer of the vacuum valve. Fig.3

Fig. 3 Components of the vacuum sewer system[5]

The buildings from which the sewing water is collected are connected
to a collection chamber through small depth pipes with gravitational
functioning. Fig.4

Fig 4 Description of the system[2]

The design of the vacuum sewer system may be tree(fig.5) or

circular(fig6),[4].

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 SECTION: Architecture, Construction, Cadastral Survey, Sanitary Engineering And
Environmental Protection

Fig.5 Tree type vacuum sewing system[4]

Fig 6 Circular type vacuum sewing system[4]

1-house;2-administrative-building;3-farm;4-industrial-facility;
5-vacuum tank; 6-vacuum and evacuation pump station;
7-cleaning station 8-emisary; 9-conection chambers;

The main three components of the system are:

Collection chambers
The collection chambers (fig7) role is to collect the waste water from
buildings and to ensure the drainage into the pipe through the interface
valve (fig 8),[2].

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Fig.7 Collection chamber principle of operation[2]

Fig.8 Collection chamber parts[2]

The ventilation of the collector chamber is achieved through a

resistant cap so there is no need for tubes. In all cases the vacuum valve unit
is separated from the collection chamber so that it remains clean, dry and
accessible[1].

Vacuum sewer lines

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 SECTION: Architecture, Construction, Cadastral Survey, Sanitary Engineering And
Environmental Protection

Vacuum sewer lines are pipes made of high density Polyethylene

(HDPE) joints are electrically welded. The air allowed through the vacuum
valve is driving the sewage water through the pipes. Initially the wastewater
is moved with almost 6m/s as a mix of water and liquid[3]. The speed
decreases until the air has exceeded the water toward the vacuum unit, here
the pipe acts like classic gravitation sewage and the waste water flows and
stops at the lower end of the pipe called inverse lifting step. When the
interface valve opens again, the air permitted into the sewer pipe lifts the
stationary water from this lower part toward the vacuum station.Usually the
distance permitted is 2-4 km even 5km,[5]. A vacuum sewer line contains
two lines in a saw tooth profile the down slope (0,1% to 0,2%) and the up
slope or elevator(fig 9).

Fig.9 Vacuum Sewer and Gravity Sewer layout comparison [2]

Figure 10 represents the elevator configuration with the flow direction

of sewage water along the vacuum sewer pipe[6].

Fig 10 Vacuum Sewage pipe elevator [6]

Elevator systems can be: closed(fig11) if vd/cos or opened (fig

12) if vd/cos . and cannot be higher than 3 meters.

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\
Fig 11 Closed elevator [4]

Fig 12 Opened elevator[4

The shape of the collector provides the flow of used water /air mixture
with speeds up to 3-5m/s (the slope of pipe is not as important as in the
classical system).
The vacuum station (fig. 13) holds the steel tank for waste water, the
vacuum pumps, the exhaust pumps and the automatic command and control
systems. The pumped waste water arrives into a vacuum corrosive free steel
tank. The vacuum pump will be connected to the upper part of the tank and
it will be activated by a pressure sensor when the vacuum level
decreases[5].
The flow pump for the waste water is connected to the lower part of
the tank, its role being to evacuate waste water into the cleaning station. The
pump is activated by level sensors. This is the most important part of the
system and it is the place where negative pressure is generated for the whole
waste water system, enabling the collection and transport of waste water. All
waste water vacuum pipes are connected to the collection chamber, installed
in the central station where the vacuum pumps create the needed negative
pressure (~ 0, 6 bar),[6]. The collection chamber may be located in the
interior or buried outside the station. The waste water gets to the cleaning
station or into an existing collection pipe by means of the evacuation pumps.
A PLC controls the vacuum and flow pumps[2]. A compact vacuum
station can be purchased for small flow waste water systems in order to be
used in villages, individual buildings or industrial units.

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 SECTION: Architecture, Construction, Cadastral Survey, Sanitary Engineering And
Environmental Protection

Fig13 Vacuum station [5]

CONCLUSIONS

The hydraulic know how of the system is designed by the valve

producers, as a result of the continuous development, the experience
accumulated in maintaining the existing systems allows the construction of
large area sewing networks with large number of users.
The technical, economical and juridical experience confirms that it is
very important and advantageous to meet the European regulations EN1091
from December 1996.
The vacuum sewing system is therefore a modern, economic and
ecological technology, which can be perfectly implemented in Romania.
There are three types of sewing systems: gravitational, vacuum and
pressure activated. The vacuum sewing system requires daring and
exigency.

BIBLIOGRAFIE

1. G. Fabry, Al. Peter Pneumatictransport of wastw water vacuum

sewerage system . History, operation principles, main parts, technical and
economical advantages;
2. ROEVAC Vacuum Sewer Systems. Sisteme de canalizare cu
depresiune;
3. Ion MirelSisteme vacumate pentru canalizarea apelor uzate din
centrele populate situate in zonele de sesBuletinul r. 2-3/2009 , aprilie-
septembrie;
4. Mirel I. Utilizarea sistemelor vacuumate de canalizare pentru
colectarea si evacuarea apelor uxate menajere provenite de pe vatra

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 ANALELE UNIVERSITII DIN ORADEA
FASCICULA CONSTRUCII I INSTALAII HIDROEDILITARE

colectivitatilor rurale,Asociatia Romana a Apei,Forumul Apei 2010,14-16

iunie,Bucuresti;
5. Iseki Vacuum Systems Limited (2004) An introduction to Iseki
RediVac Vacuum Technology;
6. Halla N.,Brenner C. and Andreas K, (1998), 3D urban GIS from
laser altimeter and 2D map data.