Saniflo solves drainage issue for prestigious floating holiday accommodation

Saniflo UK – a leading designer and manufacturer of macerators, pumps and lifting stations – is known for being able to supply drainage solutions for unusual places, such as basement and attic conversions in older buildings, commercial venues with limited waste discharge options and a whole range of other applications.

In recent years, the boom in staycations here in the UK has revolutionised the tourism sector and the more unusual the accommodation and the location, the more de rigeur the venue becomes.

Many need a pumped waste solution and Saniflo has supplied a range of products for glamping pods, cabins, caravans, boats, campsites, festival venues and portable WC and shower cabins.

Recently, Saniflo provided a number of Sanibest Pro macerators and a Sanifos 280 lifting station to Hampshire-based MDL Marinas – a multi-service leisure business running marinas, boatyards and holiday centres in the South of England – for its new marine lodges overlooking the stunning Badnam Creek on the River Hamble. 

The challenge for pontoon supplier, Intermarine and lodge manufacturer, Trojan Timber, was to work out the most efficient waste discharge from the bathrooms and kitchens with least possible disruption to customers and marina staff.

Pumps were always going to be needed in the lodges themselves, but collection and storage was the biggest stumbling block and ideas such as manual collection with a waste trolley or a separate floating tank were considered but rejected. 

Saniflo was approached by Tony Goodman of Trojan Timber for advice and a technical engineer from the company visited the site to meet the stakeholders, assess the options and present a workable solution. This was in the shape of a Sanibest Pro macerator fitted in the bathroom of each lodge and a Sanifos underground lifting station to collect and pump away the waste to a landside drain. 

Waste is discharged through a pipe out of each lodge which connects to a run of pipe installed under the service cover along the main pontoon. This then runs for 20m to meet an adjacent jetty where a Sanifos 280 lifting station, built in to an anti-corrosion black metal box, is installed out of sight under the edge.

It is activated when a certain fill point is reached and the waste is then pumped into discharge pipes under the water, up the wall of the quay and across to the mains drain.

Karl Decaux, from pontoon supplier, Intermarine, was delighted that the solution recommended by Saniflo enabled the waste to be discharged landside.

He comments: “Thanks to the innovative method of connecting the Sanibest Pros into the Sanifos, the whole waste discharge process happens automatically and makes use of the mains drains on the site and that means no manual emptying – a real bonus.

“We couldn’t be any more impressed with the support we received from Saniflo and there are plans to add more lodges in future. We will know from the outset how to plan the drainage using their recommendations.”