NewsLetter Volume 25, No. 3

Transcription

1 NewsLetter Volume 25, No. 3 Western Michigan Chapter THOUGHTS FROM YOUR ELECTED PRESIDENT... Presidents Message Upcoming Events: November 3rd ASPE Trade Show at the Elk s 3:30-7:30PM Open to all! Hor s d oeuvre and drinks December 8th ASPE Christmas Party Details Board to follow Meeting 4:15 p.m. Social 5:00 p.m. Dinner 5:30 p.m. Our thanks go out to Etna supply for hosting the meeting on HDPE piping and joints. They truly had great insight on the use and installation of HDPE systems. November 3 will be our Bi-Annual trade show at the Elks CC. Please stop by and visit the different booths and learn about your profession! We as designers and engineers have a responsibility to clients and our employer that we keep up with the latest in product advancement and technology! After all, we are considered competent in our field, and if we don't go to seminars and trade shows to learn, then not sure you are. Take advantage of these opportunities, and by the way theres free food and drink. Santa { don} tells me that the December meeting will be special.! Last year was, so plan on attending. Several members will attend the ASPE seminar this month, we will update the chapter on the experience and material. Hope to see you at the trade show, invite a coworker. Gordy With Meeting to Follow Cost : $25 per meal

2 Volume 25, No. 3 Page 2 VP Membership-Ryan Fiebig Fellow Members, We currently stand at 70 members, we have had no new members yet this ASPE season. Please spread the word to any fellow co-workers that you would think are interested in ASPE and ask them to consider. If anyone needs an ASPE membership ask them to contact ryanf@gmb.com. We hope to see all of you at the upcoming trade show it should be a good show as usual. Ryan. ef Series Ultra High Efficiency Save energy usage Lower NOx emissions Power vent or power direct vent Vertical or horizontal venting flexibility Up to 99.1% Thermal efficiency Honeywell Integrated Control Made Better in Michigan a few miles south of Grand Rapids! VP Technical-Tom Kingshott I want to thank Steve Vandeweert and the rest of the people at Etna Supply for the delicious dinner and great program on HDPE piping applications and installation methods. For our upcoming December technical meeting, we will have staff from the State of Michigan, LARA - Bureau of Health Systems - Division of Health Facilities & Services, Health Facilities Engineering Section to discuss not only the current codes and trends that apply to health care facilities in Michigan, but also national trends and future regulations for health care facilities. I have attended the Annual Health Facilities Planning Seminar several times that is hosted by this group and the A.I.A. and have never been disappointed with the speakers and content. Thomas Kingshott, CPDSenior Engineer

3 Vice President Legislative-Paula Leatherman Page 3 OMG, the Open Forum lives!put on your way-back hat and refresh yourself with the below anonymous letter posted in the newsletter in February of I just received a response to that letter which you will find posted below the 2/2011 entry. One anonymous reader writes in 2/2011: What is the sizing method required as prescribed by the 2009 plumbing Code, paragraph through ?How do we arrive at the flow rate and retention time for sizing outdoor interceptor? New code language exception: 500 gallon and larger outdoor interceptor shall not be required to meet chapter 10 This new exception will likely default to size selection that only meets minimum Grand Rapids ordinance requiring a 1000 volume interceptor. I do feel that it is proper to default on the selection of a concrete outdoor G.I. that only meets minimum 1000 gallon Grand Rapids city ordinance. Various Food Service Establishments, i.e., Mom & Pop 25-Seat Restaurant, Fast Food Restaurants, Schools, 300 Bed Prison, 500 Bed Hospital, University Student Union Centers and Large Banquet Halls do not have the same flow rate, kitchen equipment, building drain line size, etc. The cleaning intervals necessary for a 1000 gallon G.I. to meet the effluent quality of 100mg/L, as required by the same ordinance, would be much more costly to maintain than a larger passive grease interceptor that is engineered, tested and certified.signed, ASPE WMC Member The following was received In response to the above anonymous ASPE WMC Member. Re: Anonymous Grease Interceptor Letter First off let me state that I have some skin in the Grease Interceptor and Oil Interceptor market in Michigan as the representative of both Zurn Industries and Green Turtle Americas, producers of the Proceptor brand of interceptors. An ASPE newsletter I received in the last spring commented on Grand Rapid s new requirement for a 1000 gallon grease interceptor, stating that this size may not be big enough for some applications. The writer is absolutely right; larger units are routinely put in for dorms, large commercial kitchens and fast food chain restaurants. McDonald s has standardized on either a 1000 gallon or 1500 gallon unit. Wal-Mart uses a 2000 gallon unit, Tim Horton s uses 750, 1000 or 1500 gallon units, depending on the size of the store. These large professionally run operations understand the need for larger outdoor units. Many cities have changed or are in the process of changing their grease interceptor requirements because they believe that the small individual units are not doing the job or they have no reliable method of verifying that the units are being cleaned. Michigan Plumbing Code in section requires grease interceptors be sized and tested in accordance with PDI standard G101 (PDI = Plumbing Drainage Institute). The largest models to carry the PDI seal have a 100 gpm and 200 gallon capacity, which is not very large and can require weekly or even daily cleanings. Gravity grease interceptors 500 gallons and larger and located outdoors are NOT required to meet any of the requirements of this code section. The small PDI approved units are doing their intended job, but fail because of lack of timely cleaning, causing grease to pass to the city sewer. This results in either a blockage that is difficult to trace, or high costs at the waste water treatment plant to remove the grease that has passed through. Since the outdoor 500 gallon or larger units need not adhere to the PDI standard, fiberglass, steel or modified (Continued on page 4)

4 Volume 25, No. 3 Page 4 (Continued from page 3) concrete septic tanks have been specified and installed in years past. Some manufacturers of these large units have gotten State of Michigan approval. These can be found on the Plumbing Division website at Please note that putting a modified concrete septic tank in as a grease interceptor is no longer being tolerated. Many cities have learned that concrete units can quickly deteriorate, even if epoxy coated as recommend by the Portland Cement Association. Sections (Prohibited Traps) and (Third Party Testing) of the 2009 Plumbing Code have been sited at some of the plumbing inspector training sessions I put on as the reasons that many cities will no longer allow concrete units to be installed. Nationally the grease problem is cited as the number one reason for sewer blockage. Many cities have been sued by homeowners because of sewer back-ups caused down line of their taps to the sewer system. The larger outdoor units allow the municipalities to use a dip tube like a sludge judge or, if a sample chamber is installed, a jar test, to determine if the unit needs to be cleaned out. The thought process is that a larger unit (1000 gallon or more) with a scheduled clean-out time frame (a part of many of the ordinances) will never get close to capacity, ensuring that the grease will not pass into the city sewer. For sizing help, Green Turtle and others can provide assistance in sizing large, high demand applications. Before this response is over I must also make the Engineering community aware of some overzealous manufacturers. These manufactures who do not have PDI approval, but have gotten approval from the State of Michigan for SOME of their products, continue to sell other not compliant, non-approved units as if they are approved and sometimes even make false claims regarding capacity. Check your grease and oil interceptor specifications to verify that the products listed meet the State of Michigan Code requirements. If you have any sizing or compliance questions feel free to contact me or george@balfreyjohnston.com for assistance. Highest Regards, George Johnston President Balfrey & Johnston, Inc.

5 Volume 25, No. 3 Page 5 VP Education-Ashley Baker Our Annual Western Michigan ASPE Trade Show is back this month! Join us Thursday, November 3 from 3:30-7:30 at the Elks for our Trade Show. Come out to see great new products, network with engineers, sales representatives, and contractors, and enjoy some appetizers and adult beverages too! You may be wondering if we are having our annual seminar with the Trade Show. The answer is, no. We have decided to continue our annual seminar in the spring. Look for more information in the next couple months. Don't forget - at the end of October ASPE is hosting the National Technical Symposium in Orlando, Florida. We will be expecting to hear some good information form those who are attending! Don't forget to have some fun while you're down there too! Thanks again to Steve VanDeweert & ETNA for hosting last month's meeting! See you at the Trade Show! Ashley

6 Volume 25, No ASPE - Western Michigan Chapter Board and Committee Chairpersons PRESIDENT Gordon Berridge, CPD Applied Energy Engr. (616) glberridge@comcast.net VP LEGISLATIVE Paula Leatherman, CPD FTCH (616) pjleatherman@ftch.com ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY Patrick Tanner Balfrey & Johnston, Inc. (616) pmtanner@balfrey-johnston.com VP TECHNICAL Tom Kingshott, CPD Hooker / DeJong, Inc. (231) tomk@hdjinc.com VP MEMBERSHIP Ryan Fiebig GMB Architects Engineers (616) ryanf@gmb.com CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Dave Andrus Progressive Marketing & Sales (616) Andrus.Progressive@gmail.com VP EDUCATION Ashley Baker GMB Architects Engineers (616) ashleyb@gmb.com TREASURER Don Glennie, CPD GMB Architects-Engineers (616) donaldg@gmb.com BOARD ADDRESS: ASPE West Michigan P.O. Box Grand Rapids, MI ASPE Newsletter Editor Patrick Tanner ASPEWestMichigan@gmail.com

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9 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLUMBING ENGINEERS Western Michigan Chapter P.O. Box , G.R., MI Western Michigan ASPE, ASHRAE, and PHCC Tradeshow THE WESTERN MICHIGAN CHAPTERS OF ASPE, ASHRAE, & PHCC ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE A PLUMBING TRADE SHOW!! Where: The Elks Lodge When: November 3, 2011 Time: 3:30 pm 7:30 pm OPEN TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN SEEING THE LATEST IN PLUMBING FIXTURES AND TECHNOLOGY!! CONTRACTORS ARE WELCOME, BRING A BUDDY! ENGINEERS ARE WELCOME, BRING A CO-WORKER!! INSPECTORS, CLIENTS, OWNERS AND ALL OTHERS ARE WELCOME TOO!! THIS IS A FREE EVENT NO COST TO THE ATTENDEE HOR S D OEUVRE ARE AVAILABLE (2) TWO FREE BEVERAGE TICKETS THE ELKS LODGE AND COUNTRY CLUB IS LOCATED AT 2715 LEONARD ST. N.W., GRAND RAPIDS, MI, THIS TRADE SHOW IS ORGANIZED BY THE WESTERN MICHIGAN, ASPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, OR HAVE INTEREST IN A PRODUCT TABLE, PLEASE CONTACT: Or Dave or Andrus.Progressive@gmail.com Paul or pauls@gmb.com

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