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Biospan Plant Staff Show the Process on Video
Fat, oil, and grease (FOG) are the bane of sewer lines everywhere. FOG deposits harden into a soap-like substance that contributes to sewer overflows. This in turn can cause environmental and public health problems and lead to fines and costly repairs.
Biospan BR90, a Canadian product made from a secret formula that has been available for more than 60 years, claims to make short work of FOG deposits and other blockages in sewers and septic systems, as well as eliminate nasty odours.
Biospan is a mixture of aerobic and anaerobic enzymes and various microbial strains. It contains 10 billion colonies of selected natural bacteria per gram—bacteria that, in the absence of heat and light, have a voracious appetite and rapidly digest waste, according to George Aucoin, sales administrator with Bercan Environmental Resources Inc.
“Once one gram of bacteria connects with water, that multiplies into 10 billion bacteria, and that unites with the bacteria that’s in the sludge or the human waste and it just keeps increasing. What it does is it sucks the water out of the material and what’s left is pure enough to be bagged and sold as fertilizer. And after two or three days there’s no smell. That’s how it works,” says Aucoin, a resident of Victoria, British Columbia.
Bercan CEO Allan Mc Innes of Lantzville, B.C., owns the rights to the formula. It was passed to him 37 years ago by someone who had held it for 30 years prior to that. Mc Innes, 76, plans to pass on the formula to a family member.
But it will always remain a secret, says Aucoin.
“Nobody [but Mc Innes] really knows what it’s composed of. There are 57 different bacteria and it’s mixed a certain way. A lot of people have tried to break it, but they could never do it.”
The product, which comes in powder form, can be used widely, including on household drains; septic tanks and fields; industrial and city sewage plants; holding tanks in RVs and fish boats; and to clear lines and grease traps used by commercial establishments such as hotels, restaurants, and hospitals.
It liquefies organic waste in tanks, speeds the action of overloaded systems, and even digests anti-freeze, says Aucoin.
Glowing testimonials from as far afield as the United States and Australia point to Biospan’s effectiveness. Water Efficiency Pty Ltd of New South Wales, Australia, has used the product several times to good effect, including reducing hydrogen sulphide gas and associated odour and septicity problems for the Sydney Water Board.
“The programme of BR90 inoculation has been shown to achieve excellent results in preventing odour, septicity, and grease accumulation in sewage pumping stations,” reads a testimonial from the company.
“The procedure is very easily adopted, uncomplicated, and extremely cost-effective.”
The City of Calgary used Biospan in 1991 to clear out the pipes and pumps of a lift station in a sewer system in which grease had built up. The grease had also accumulated on the walls and formed a “mat” on the wet well.
“After seven to ten days we noticed the floating grease mat started to break up,” wrote lift station supervisor Art Pols. “We instructed our pump men not to clean the pit during this test. We checked the station approximately two weeks later. The floating grease mat had vanished; all that was left was a white foam about half an inch (1.3 cm) thick.”
The smell was also “reduced to almost nil,” Pols wrote.
Given its efficiency, Aucoin believes Biospan would be more widely used by municipalities if it weren’t for opposition by engineers, most of whom, he alleges, are committed to the existing pump system and refuse to consider something as simple and cheap as Biospan.
“If you use Biospan then you don’t need pumps,” he says. “This product is biology; these guys are engineers and they’re all about spending millions of dollars on pumps. Last year, Victoria spent $10 million on sewage pumps.”
Currently, the product is being tested by a company in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to see if it will dispense palm oil, which reacts differently to bacteria than FOG, sludge, or human waste, according to Aucoin.
“They’re paying about $100,000 every month in fines because they’re polluting the waterways, so they’re testing Biospan there,” he says.
In 1994, Brigham City Wastewater Treatment Facility in Utah converted from an aerobic to a completely anaerobic system using Bercan technology. Before the change the plant used 14 drying beds; with Biospan it has been reduced to two.
Plant staff recorded the entire process on video, which can be seen along with other videos about Biospan at www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8gwUL_giSA. For more information, contact [email protected].
AREAS OF USE:
Septic Systems (domestic and industrial)
Sewer lines
Industrial waste
Animal waste
Composting municipal water treatment facilities
Lift stations
BENEFITS:
Solids reduction
Oil/grease reduction
Reduction of noxious odours
Insect control
Pathogen control
Harmful bacteria reduction
Biochemical PH adjustment
Source: Bercan Resources Inc.
