- (1) A recirculating gravel filter may be used to meet Treatment Level C.
- (2) Pressure distribution of the effluent to the filter media is required.
(3) Filter media must meet the following specifications:
- (a) Effective particle size between three mm and five mm; and
- (b) Uniformity coefficient less than or equal to two.
- (4) Filter media depth must be at least thirty-six inches.
- (5) The recirculating pump must be controlled by a timer.
- (6) The dosing schedule must provide for at least forty-eight doses per day, equally spaced throughout the day.
- (7) Doses must be uniform in volume.
- (8) The influent or filtrate mixture must cycle through the filter five times before dispersal.
- (9) The maximum hydraulic loading rate for the gravel filter is five gallons per day per square foot, if influent BOD5 is no greater than 230 mg/L.
(10) The hydraulic loading rate must be calculated on the basis of the incoming BOD as follows:
| Loading Rate (expressed as gpd/ft2) | = | 1150 |
| BOD5 of septic tank effluent |
(11) The maximum influent values are:
- (a) BOD5 - 575 mg/L; and
- (b) O&G - 30 mg/L.
- (12) The minimum horizontal setback from the recirculating gravel filter must meet the sewage tank requirements in Table 3 in WAC 246-272B-06050.
(13) The filter bed must be contained in:
- (a) A flexible membrane-lined pit where the membrane has a minimum thickness of thirty mm and there is a three-inch layer of sand beneath the membrane; or
- (b) A concrete vessel that is water tight, durable, and structurally sound.
- (14) Monitoring ports for recirculating gravel filters must meet the requirements in WAC 246-272B-06400 (3)(b).
(15) Two monitoring ports must be installed every one thousand square feet in the recirculating gravel filter and distributed uniformly throughout the filter area.
- (a) One monitoring port must be installed to the top of the media interface; and
- (b) One monitoring port must be installed to the bottom of the underdrain.
(16) The minimum volume of a recirculating mixing tank is:
- (a) One hundred fifty percent of the daily design flow for residential applications; or
- (b) One hundred percent of the daily design flow for nonresidential applications.
- (17) Underdrain and filtrate handling must be designed as required in WAC 246-272B-06750 (11), (12), and (13).
(18) The return flow from the recirculating gravel filter must be split to direct:
- (a) A minimum of eighty percent of the effluent back to the recirculating or mixing tank; and
- (b) The remainder to the drainfield or next downstream LOSS component.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.118B.020. WSR 11-12-035, § 246-272B-06800, filed 5/25/11, effective 7/1/11.]