Lightweight Materials Speed Up Installation Times

EZflow drainfield media dominates the installer landscape in west-central Wisconsin
Lightweight Materials Speed Up Installation Times
Dan Wieczorkowski, an installer with Halverson Plumbing, maneuvers EZflow drainage systems in a drainage trench as part of a septic tank installation.

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Halverson Plumbing and other onsite system installers around Black River Falls in west-central Wisconsin rely almost exclusively on EZflow by Infiltrator Water Technologies for drainfield media.

“It’s because of the ease of installation,” says Randy Dolesy, owner of Halverson Plumbing. “We have a 24-foot lighter-duty flat trailer. We can haul a whole drainfield on that trailer right behind our 16-foot cube van without being overweight. Our crew members can pick it up, carry it to where it needs to be and put it in. Systems that used to take us two full days when we worked with crushed rock now take less than a day.”

EZflow is designed as an environmentally friendly replacement to traditional stone-and-pipe drainfields. It uses an engineered geosynthetic aggregate made from expanded polystyrene surrounding perforated pipe and held in place by high-strength netting. It is available in 5- and 10-foot lengths and in diameters from 7 to 14 inches.

The material is free of the fines that typically accompany stone, and its light weight reduces soil compaction and embedment. The bundles can be installed without heavy machinery. Modular construction enables installers to match trench dimensions for most system shapes and sizes. It allows contouring along sloped sites and around trees and landscapes. The polystyrene media is manufactured from recycled materials.

“We buy EZflow by the semi-load,” says Halverson. “The semi is usually sitting here at 8 o’clock in the morning waiting for us to unload it. It’s easy to handle. In half an hour we have the whole truckload stacked up and ready to go wherever it needs to be.” 

Read more about Halverson Plumbing in the August issue of Onsite Installer. 



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