Designing wastewater systems for campgrounds and RV parks is challenging. After all, what kind of a system can offer the process stability to treat the high-strength wastewater that surges through the system during good weather and slows to a trickle during bad weather? Orenco’s packed-bed filter treatment systems have been successfully handling campground flows for decades at more than 250 seasonal facilities around the world: campgrounds and RV parks, but also visitors’ centers and freeway rest stops.
Campgrounds and RV parks experience dramatic fluctuations in wastewater flow. They also tend to generate higher-strength waste than other facilities, because when people camp out, they do a lot less washing but just as much flushing.
That’s just what happened at the Oak Bottom Marina Campground just west of Redding, California. The campground attracts thousands of people each summer, with holiday weekends being the busiest. But its wastewater system was struggling to keep up, and its aeration batch reactor required daily manual testing and adjustment. The decision was made to upgrade to a low-maintenance system that had a smaller footprint: an Orenco AdvanTex treatment system.
The new system uses an older, existing lift station to pump wastewater to a 20,000-gallon primary treatment tank. Then, the waste flows by gravity to a pair of 6,500-gallon equalization tanks and then to a timed-dose lift station where a predetermined and adjustable amount of wastewater is pumped into an AX-Max unit for secondary treatment. Effluent is then pumped through a chemical feed system for pathogen removal and finally to a 1 million-gallon storage tank that holds the treated effluent for dispersal during the summer months.
In addition, by their very nature, campsites are often located in remote areas, where operators are not always readily available.
For instance, at Camp Fircom, located on British Columbia’s Gambier Island, got its start in the 1920s, with campers arriving by rowboat and sleeping under tents in open fields. The camp grew slowly, eventually adding a dining hall and various smaller structures. By 2005, major renovations were called for, including a new wastewater system.
Because the camp needed to generate its own electricity, energy efficiency was paramount. The designer chose to install three AdvanTex AX100s to accommodate average daily flows of up to 9,700 gpd. The low maintenance requirements and low power consumption of the AX100s made them a particularly good fit.
Orenco’s AdvanTex Treatment Systems employ a multi-pass, packed bed filter technology that is ideal for handling highly variable flows and is also inherently more stable than suspended growth, activated sludge systems. A more stable process means greater reliability, lower operation and maintenance requirements, and greater confidence in meeting the permit limits for these beautiful places.
For more information about Orenco Systems, visit Orenco.com or call 800-348-9843.
