"When the first one came, there was nothing to setting it up. They rolled the belt press off the truck, we put it in place, and hooked up the hoses. Our only installation concern was making sure the floor was level. After that, all I had to do was learn how to run it. It runs really quietly, too."

-Steve Ball
Ball Septic Tank Service
Charlotte, Mich.

Steve Ball of Ball Septic Tank Service, Inc., in Charlotte, Mich., is dis-assembling his 15,000-gallon-a-day Frontier belt press dewatering system, because he has traded it in for one that handles 30,000 to 40,000 gallons a day.

To accomodate the larger machine, Ball built an addition onto one of his pole barns. "Right now, I'm moving the tanks and hoses from the other barn to this new spot," he says. "When the first one came, there was nothing to do setting it up. They rolled the belt press off the truck, we put it in place, and hooked up the hoses. Our only installation concern was making sure the floor was level. After that, all I had to do was learn how to run it. It runs r eally quietly, too."

Ball brought a belt press dewatering system into his self-contained facility to get away from land application. Living in Michigan, he faces regulatory constraints, environmental issues, inclement weather, and too many days when mud, ice and snow make the fields inaccessible. His four pump trucks service a four county area, but will go wherever the business is. All the septage comes back to the facility to be processed.

Ball says he chose the Frontier press for its mechanics and simple, basic design. "Although we also collect grease, only septage runs through this unit," he says. "Grease traps are run through a vacuum filter." Effluent is discharged to a municipal wastewater treatment plant, and the solids are hauled to a landfill.

According to Ball, adding the appropriate polymers to the sewage at the proper dosage is important to ensure that the material is processed correctly. "Fortunately, Frontier sold me everything I needed," he says.

Ball also bought the manufacturer's FTRS-1000 (1000 GPM) Predator receiving station and runs all the sewage through it before the waste hits the belt press. "The Predator's auger and bar screening remove any solids up to 3/8-inch in diameter," he explains. "If I didn't pretreat, the heavy solids would clog the screens," The screened waste goes to the landfill, too.