Ecoflo and the Ontario Building Code
The OBC recognizes an Ecoflo as a Tertiary Treatment System which gives it preferential status where sizing and performance of a septic system is under consideration.
That means that an Ecoflo can be spaced in areas that are one third the size of a conventional bed and when calculating distances from in-ground piping needed by a conventional system or the other dozen or so Tertiary Units approved in Ontario it can be smaller by one quarter! This means that an Ecoflo will fit on properties where nothing else will!
For example, a 4 bedroom home with good soil would need to use 345 square metres of ground to fit the leaching bed, but an Ecoflo system would need only 125 square meters, or less than 1/3 of the space! With set-back restrictions, the Ecoflo is incomparably better, since there is often no piping needed to treat the waste.
Ecoflo is able to do this because when designing a Septic System, the OBC requires use of a Treatment Unit (such as a septic tank) and a Leaching Bed. The agreement that Ecoflo has with the OBC regulators through the Building Materials Evaluation Commission (BMEC) is that the Ecoflo SYSTEM is recognized as a Treatment Unit that discharges to something other than a Leaching Bed.
This means that all of the regulations regarding set-backs from property lines and homes etc. are modified when using an Ecoflo. The Treatment Unit itself must maintain distances according to code, but the rest of the system—that is the sand and gravel—do not have to comply to the regular rules and guidelines outlined it the OBC!
Why? For one reason, the waste water exiting the Ecoflo unit is so clean that it is over 7 times cleaner than OBC regulation 8.6.2.2.A requires! The regulation demands that waste exiting the treatment unit measure no more than a Biology count of 15 mg/L. The Ecoflo has consistently shown that it produces waste that measures a mere 2mg/L!
E-Coli Bacteria
Since the waste is already clean, almost no treatment is performed by the soil, other than some polishing of the last bit of Biology and phosphorus and nitrate removal.
Clean Water for You
BNQ Certification for Ecoflo
Click Here to see the BNQ Certification
NSF Certification for Ecoflo
