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By Kathleen Gallagher of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 21, 2008 |
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Pumping life into septic tank
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Company's product adds oxygen to extend system's existence |
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Thoughts of gurgling toilets, sewage backup and foul-smelling liquid saturating
the lawn flashed across Karl Holt's mind when he realized his septic tank was
nearly full.
It was potentially a very dirty problem, but Holt said he didn't like the available
remedies.
Pumping the tank is a short-term solution, and additives can hurt more than they help,
he reasoned. Replacing the system would cost a minimum of $15,000 - not including
re-seeding the lawn and replacing the deck.
"I was looking to save that $15,000," said Holt, 45, president of Aero-Stream LLC in
Hartland.
So he began tinkering.
The result is a patented product that sells for less than $1,000 that Holt says
homeowners can use to revive failed septic systems and avoid more expensive
alternatives.
"One of the difficult things about this business is you have to educate people,"
Holt said. "They won't think twice about putting a coat of paint on the house or
getting an oil change every 3,000 miles, but they just want to flush their toilet
and not think about their septic tank."
Janet Vance was one of those people, until the septic system at her second home
in Kentucky failed.
"We couldn't do laundry and we flushed once a day. It was pretty much a goner,
" Vance said.
She did extensive research and found Aero-Stream® on the Internet. Holt's solution
seemed too good to be true, and Vance said her husband and other family members
discouraged her from pursuing it. It seemed worth a try, though, and Holt offers
a refund if customers aren't satisfied at the end of a year, she said.
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Ken Adamec, manufacturing manager at Aero-Stream® LLC, uses a drill press at the
company's factory, where the Remediator oxygen-injecting system is built.
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It worked, and now the water in the septic tank is clear with no odor, Vance said.
Aero-Stream®'s product, called a Remediator, transforms a septic system into one
that is filled with oxygen-loving bacteria instead of less efficient, oxygen-hating
bacteria, Holt said.
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Karl Holt is president of Aero-Stream® LLC, a Hartland company that sells a patented
product for making septic systems more efficient. Holt says his product helps
homeowners avoid having to replace failed septic systems. |
Users plug the Remediator into an outside electrical outlet, he said.
Call it aerobic exercise for a septic system; the Remediator pumps oxygen into the
tank through a hole customers drill in its cover.
Holt says that destroys within 48 hours the oxygen-hating bacteria in the tank that
have been eating the waste and encourages the growth of oxygen-loving bacteria.
Oxygen-rich liquid begins to flow out of the tank into the leach field. The
oxygen-loving bacteria are so much more efficient at gobbling up waste they cut
off the oxygen-hating bacteria's food source by 70% to 80%, Holt said. They also
eat the black slimy mix of oxygen-hating bacteria and their secretions that have
been clogging the soil, and treated water starts flowing again down into the water
table.
"Many people, even in the industry, do not understand the mechanics of the process
and therefore find it difficult to comprehend the simple solution," Holt said.
Professional doubt
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The way Holt's product works is theoretically possible, but experts who aren't
familiar with it wonder how the Remediator can get enough oxygen into the leach
field to fix the problem quickly.
Can it really unclog a drain field, given all the organic matter that stops water
from flowing through it in a failing septic system, asked Brian Holmes, a professor
of biological systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
It would seem more promising if the oxygen were being delivered directly to the
field, said Rick Reichardt, an environmental engineer with the state Department
of Natural Resources.
Holt says once it's aerated, the liquid - known as effluent - flows fairly quickly
out of the tank to help get rid of oxygen-hating bacteria. Soggy lawns with surface
ponding will lose their odor within two weeks, and dry out in six to eight weeks,
he said.
Ten reviews of Aero-Stream's product on www.ratepoint.com are all positive, as is
Linda Paun, owner of the Merton Custard Shoppe.
Cut her costs
Paun says she wouldn't have been able to build her restaurant if she'd had to
install the as-much-as $75,000 system Waukesha County initially wanted instead
of the nonindustrial system she installed that uses two Remediators.
"I don't know where Karl comes up with all these ideas, and I don't know how he
figures out how to design and build them, but it works," Paun said.
Holt has a mechanical engineering degree from Milwaukee School of Engineering,
and he's done product development at Harley-Davidson Inc., Strattec Security Corp.
and other companies.
Holt says he's also made a Zamboni out of a garden tractor to shovel an ice rink
on the lake near his home, and made progress developing an electric drive system
for pontoon boats.
The simpler, the better is his motto, he said.
Aero-Stream is distributing the Remediator across North America, including Canada,
which now provides about 20% of sales, Holt said.
Aero-Stream has five employees and is producing revenue, said Greg Reuter, an
accountant at EWH Small Business Accounting in Waukesha, which does the company's
accounting work.
"If he can hit the right marketing streams, I think it's got unlimited potential
basically because he's looking at anyone who isn't hooked up to a city sewage system,
" Reuter said.
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Contact
Aero-Stream® , LLC
W300 N7706 Christine Lane
Hartland, WI 53056
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Phone: (262) 538-4000 or
(TOLL FREE) 1-(877)-254-7093
Fax: (262) 538-4093
Email: info@aero-stream.com |
| © 2003-2010 Aero-Stream, LLC All rights reserved® |
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