FORMCELL Living Filter®
www.formcell.com      
Massachusetts (413) 566-0107
Connecticut (860) 604-6146 - (203) 605-6095

EFFECTIVE LEACHING AREA RATING
(Adjusted to State of Connecticut Department of Health Formula)
for
Leaching and Filter devices approved for use with Septic Systems
in the State of Connecticut
as approved by
 the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health


The Products are listed in order of efficiency to deliver effluent into the subterranean.  A higher rating will reduce space requirements for both the main system and the reserve area*** for most installations.  This will preserve the environment by providing greater separating distances to sensitive areas such as water supply wells, aquifers, open streams and water in addition to providing more lot area for other uses.

All devices are measured for the total wetted perimeter (actual surface area where the biological clogging layer forms).   The State of Connecticut Board of Health then assign an "Interface Factor (IF)" to the wetted perimeter interface.  Some products may have more than one type of interface and are thus assigned a factor for each.  The IF or the combination of more than one type of interface allows the CT DPH to assign en Effective Leaching Unit (ELU) for each product which leads to a rating in sf per lineal foot of installed device.  

The method used, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health Subsurface Sewage Division to develop the "IF", is a highly guarded secret.  An open bottom interface where it is prone to severe clogging is given a permeability coefficient of 2.0 (the highest), a fabric covered assembly of plastic aggregate is given a 1.5 which is double that given to the Living Filter at 0.75 (which uses a stone aggregate and has a long track record of superb performance unlike the other devices).  Of course there are apparatus where employees (or former employees) of the State of Connecticut had or have financial stakes and thus it appears the rules are customized to favor those with which they have a personal connection.  Oh well, get a state job to serve the public while writing the rules not only to facilitate certain in house products but also to downgrade the efficiency and cost effectiveness of products like our Living Filter (a competitor and originator of efficient septic treatment apparatus). 


The Living Filter is assigned the lowest IF (.75) and the open bottom chamber the highest IF (2.0) thus the ELU rating of the Living Filter is much reduced vs the open bottom chambers.  This translates into open bottom chambers being rated for more (20%) effective leaching area than that physically present while the Living Filter is reduced by 55% from that physically present.  It is assumed that aggregate and filter membrane masking at the infiltrative surface reduce the available infiltrative surface by 55% while the open bottom chambers are given a 20% increase added to the actual surface area based on the assumption that no masking occurs in direct soil open bottom interfaces.   The actual wetted perimeter (WP) of the Living Filter LF3626 rated at 20.4 sf/lf is actually 45.5 sf/lf while the actual WP of an open bottom chambers rated at 4.0 sf/lf may be less (3.5 sf/lf +/-).  The Ruck A fin is rated at 7 sf/lf with actual WP being approximately 7.7 sf/lf.  The ELU rating of the Living Filter is thus ultra conservative and provides a significant reserve which should also result in extended performance.
 
  NOTE: Other devices have been approved and added by the State of Connecticut and may have higher effective leaching area ratings (according to their secret method of rating).  Please check with the State of CT, Dept. of Public Health.  Be wary of long term performance.  The Living Filter has been in the ground a couple of decades without failure.  There is one system which was installed below the high water table in Westport, CT and drowned (flawed design and installer).  A commercial BIOREN / Living Filter System was installed at the Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut and comprised eight sections of Bioren / LF.  After the installer had left all flow directed into 1 unit (1/8 of whole system) for 1 year and 3 months the ground gave way under the end of the Bioren System due to huge volumes of effluent entering the ground.  The Living Filters never failed in spite of having been overloaded by a factor of eight (8x) for over a year.  There are many new devices with short reference time.  Be ware.  There is a knockoff product called Green-Leach which has been in use for about three years.  It can not be treated as an equal to the Living Filter as the component parts of the LF has been tested over the past twenty years with outstanding performance and comprise proprietary materials.  

Rank  PRODUCT NAME           Height    /     Width       ELA   C/C
     1  Living Filter LF3626     36" High x 64" Wide      20.4 sf/lf    27 ft
     2  Living Filter LF3026     30" High x 64" Wide      17.1 sf/lf    24ft
     3 Living Filter LF2426      24" High x 64" Wide      14.2 sf/lf    21 ft
     4 Living Filter LF1826      18" High x 64" Wide      11.0 sf/lf    21 ft
     5 Living Filter LF3610      36" High x 29" Wide      10.1 sf/lf    21 ft
     6 Concrete Gallery             48" High x 72" Wide (incl. stone)        9.2 sf/lf    18 ft
     7 Living Filter LF3010      30" High x 29" Wide        8.6 sf/lf    18 ft
     8 Concrete Gallery             36" High x 72" Wide (incl. stone)        8.0 sf/lf    18 ft
     9 Living Filter LF1224      12" High x 60" Wide        7.4 sf/lf    18 ft
   10 Concrete Gallery             27" High x 72" Wide (incl. stone)        7.1 sf/lf    15ft
   11 Ruck A Fins -R1032C      7" High x 32" Wide        7.0 sf/lf    15ft
   12 Living Filter LF2410      24" High x 29" Wide        7.0 sf/lf    15ft
   13 Concrete Gallery             24" High x 72" Wide (incl. stone)        6.8 sf/lf    15ft
   14 Concrete Gallery             18" High x 72" Wide (incl. stone)        6.2 sf/lf    15ft
   15 Concrete Gallery             12" High x 72" Wide (incl. stone)        5.9 sf/lf    15ft
   16 30" Recharger 330         30" High x 52" Wide        5.6 sf/lf    15ft
   17 Living Filter LF1810     18" High x 29" Wide        5.5 sf/lf    15ft
   18 Eljen In-Drain Type B      7" High x 36" Wide        4.7 sf/lf    12ft
   19 20" Recharger 180          20" High x 36" Wide        4.1 sf/lf    12ft
   20 Living Filter LF1210      12" High x 29" Wide        3.9 sf/lf      9ft
   21 14" Biodiffuser             13.5" High x 34" Wide        3.7 sf/lf      9ft 
   22 12" Contactor 100        12.5" High x 36" Wide         3.6 sf/lf      9ft 
   22 11" Biodiffuser                11" High x 34" Wide        3.6 sf/lf      9ft 
   22 12" EnviroChamber        12" High x 34" Wide (Standard)        3.6 sf/lf      9ft 
   23 18" Contactor 125           18" High x 26.5" Wide         2.9 sf/lf      9ft 
   24 12" Contactor  75         12.4" High x 26.5" Wide        2.6 sf/lf      9ft 
   25 ENVIRO-SEPTIC           12" Diameter        2.3 sf/lf      9ft 
   25 GEO-FLOW                     12" Diameter        2.3 sf/lf      9ft
   26 SIMPLE-SEPTIC           12" Diameter        1.5 sf/lf      9ft
   27 SB-2                                   10" Diameter        0.9 sf/lf      9ft
   20 Infiltrator sidewinder    16" High x 34" Wide (High Capacity)         3.9 sf/lf      9ft
   21 Infiltrator Sidewinder    12" High x 34" Wide (Standard)         3.7 sf/lf      9ft
***

 

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