Archify Live: Discover a New Way of Plumbing by Saniflo

Archify Live is our new web series that responds to an increasing demand for virtual learning and networking. This session was held on the 14th of October 2021 and was presented by Saniflo. Below is a transcription of the presentation.

Presenter: 

Well good afternoon and welcome to Archify Live with Saniflo. My name is Noelle and I am the design professional specialist at Archify. Along with your registration and attendance today you will be receiving a $10 Uber Eats voucher as well as a complimentary Archify profile. Before we start, if you have any questions at all throughout the whole webinar, chuck them into the chat box. And we'll address them all at the end. So without any further ado, I'd like to welcome Graham from Saniflo, and he'll be doing the webinar today. Take it away.

Graham:

Lifting stations are either larger gray or black and gray wastewater pumps. They're able to pump higher, further and also handle higher wastewater temperatures. The unit on the left is the Sanicom 1, and that is a dedicated gray water lifting station. A key feature of this unit is been able to handle 90 degree temperatures, making it ideal for commercial kitchens as well as medical and laboratory applications since the unit is also capable of discharging contaminants and diluted chemical water. The Sanicubic 1 in the center is ideal for small dwellings, cabins and granny flat type setups as the unit is capable of accepting wastewater from bathroom, kitchen and laundry fixtures, making it an all in one pump solution. The Sanicubic 2VX on the right is a powerful lifting station that has vortex bladeless pumping technology and is able to operate without blockages due to a 55 millimeter free passage. The unit is also ideal for uncontrolled areas of gymnasiums, public restrooms, and even night clubs where one cannot control what has been flushed down the toilet. Graham: Thank you Noel. I'm going to talk about Saniflo’s alternative and cost effective plumbing solutions. So I thought I would begin with a brief introduction about Saniflo.

Saniflo is part of the SFA group, which is a French owned company. The SFA group has the distinction of having invented the small-bore macerator in France back in 1958. All our products are still manufactured in France, and then shipped around the world. Our factory France has very high manufacturing and assembly standards that need to be made prior to any product leaving the factory. Our products are also Watermark certified and as a result carry the Watermark brand and certification numbers. The Watermark certification process is carried out in Australia to give consumers the confidence that plumbing products are fit for purpose and that they deliver on product claims. 

Now conventional plumbing can involve a lot of work, it can be time consuming and, as a result, could cost a lot of money. 

There's three major constraints to conventional plumbing, the first being barriers to access. So conventional plumbing pipe work is often hidden in cavities behind walls and under floors. So in order to access these parts, you would need to remove all linings and/or break concrete floors, tile floors or timber flooring. There's also disruption and inconvenience, especially in high rise buildings where a lot of amenities are rendered unusable for large periods of time whilst conventional plumbing work is taking place. And of course restrictions on design flexibility, especially if your project has plumbing fixtures that sit below or are far from a sewer connection.

In response to these challenges, we have a range of alternative and cost effective plumbing solutions. 

These involve macerator pumps, gray water pumps and lifting stations. Macerator pumps are able to take wastewater from a full bathroom. That's a toilet, vanity basin, shower and a bath, and we've got a range of pumps to cater for all bathroom configurations. Greywater pumps have been designed to discharge wastewater from kitchen sinks, laundries and dishwashers, showers and hand basins. And we too have a range of models to cater for most greywater projects. We also have lifting stations that have been designed for more demanding applications and can take wastewater from multiple fixtures. 

Macerator pumps are able to defy gravity in that they're able to pump wastewater vertically and then horizontally to the nearest drain connection. They have a quiet operation of around 46 decibels, as a benchmark, normal conversation is measured between 60 and 65 decibels. The units also have short operating circles. The units can also be placed behind the wall as shown on the slide for a seamless design look. The wall cavity is then closed with an access panel to give easy access to the pump for service and maintenance requirements. Macerator pumps are also ideal for domestic and commercial bathrooms and are a viable plumbing solution for childcare centers with their quiet operation levels. Macerators also ideal for accessible bathrooms, giving people with disabilities the space required to move around without any restrictions. 

Gray water pumps are very efficient compact units that can be discreetly installed under the sink in a cabinet as shown on the slide. They too defy gravity, they have a quiet operational level and they also have short operating circles. These have been very successfully used in medical, dental, hospitality, office and domestic applications. 

Lifting stations are either larger gray or black and gray wastewater pumps. They're able to pump higher, further and also handle higher wastewater temperatures. The unit on the left is the Sanicom 1, and that is a dedicated gray water lifting station. A key feature of this unit is been able to handle 90 degree temperatures, making it ideal for commercial kitchens as well as medical and laboratory applications since the unit is also capable of discharging contaminants and diluted chemical water. The Sanicubic 1 in the center is ideal for small dwellings, cabins and granny flat type setups as the unit is capable of accepting wastewater from bathroom, kitchen and laundry fixtures, making it an all in one pump solution. The Sanicubic 2VX on the right is a powerful lifting station that has vortex bladeless pumping technology and is able to operate without blockages due to a 55 millimeter free passage. The unit is also ideal for uncontrolled areas of gymnasiums, public restrooms, and even night clubs where one cannot control what has been flushed down the toilet. 

Lifting stations can be underneath a dwelling as shown on the slide, or next to the dwelling in a pit with a cover. The unit can be installed up to seven meters from the toilet, giving the home owner some positional flexibility. For commercial applications, the lifting stations can be installed on a finished floor surface as shown in the slide. 

In terms of new products, we have a new addition to our lifting station range: Sanicubic 1 GR lifting station is a tough, reliable unit that can take wastewater from multiple fixtures. The unit has a 20 meter vertical lift and can pump 200 meters horizontally. For any residential or commercial projects that have extreme pumping requirements, the Sanicubic 1 GR is well placed to address these. 

We also have the Sanicompact; the first all in one macerating toilet seat. This unit is ideal for a small en-suite or laundry addition. It features a water saving cistern-less flush: 3L for a full flush and 1.8L for half flush. The unit has soft close technology and the unit can also connect to a vanity basin. This unit is ideal for domestic and bespoke type studio applications.

We also have a Sani Interlock alarm. It's been designed for the prevention of flooding and this unit is mostly specified for office fit-outs and refurbs for under sink pumps that could serve a dishwasher and/or washing machine. The unit comes pre wired with a low voltage solenoid and a magnetic float switch, and the unit is easy and quick to install with a plug and play installation process. This unit is compatible with all our pumps and gives owners that added peace of mind. The alarm unit can also be installed in the cabinet as shown on the slide. 

In-ground pump chambers will soon be a new addition to our product family. These are ideal solutions for medium to large residential and commercial applications where great gravity reliance storage is not possible due to either sloping properties or limited site access. The images on the slide show a cross sectional view of the tank installation. The tank is installed in the ground and access to the motor is gained through a threaded screw off lid at the top of the tank. This is an exciting sector that we're all looking forward to, and looking forward to working with architects and designers on future projects. 

We've also put together a designer hub to assist architects and designers with their projects. The designer hub includes an electronic version of our product catalog with easy access to data sheets and technical files. So all your step and rebate files are accessible to assist you with your projects.

So in summary, the benefits of using macerators, greywater pumps and lifting stations include being able to install sanitary fixtures that are either below or too far from a sewer connection, it's a cost effective solution when renovating, there's no need to core drill, remove wall linings, dig up concrete slabs, or even expensive flooring and avoids major work in domestic houses or commercial premises. They also offer more design flexibility and options, as plumbing fixtures can be installed anywhere in a room and is not reliant on having plumbing ports available to achieve this. That concludes my presentation. Thank you for your attendance and I trust you found the presentation informative.

Q&A

Q: If those pumps power operation what is happening in case of power outage?

A: If there is a power outage the unit won't work so you'd have to wait for the power to be restored to continue with the operation.

Q: What needs to be done to combine two Saniflo systems?

A: Yes, they can be combined. One would need to just ensure that when the one Saniflo flows into the other that you have a bend just to stop the force of flow, but they can be combined.