48
FEATURES
Plumbing our products is done above the surface,
because it uses small diameter pumping.” These
can be equally used in the residential as commercial
environment, varying only as to size.
French inventor, manufacturer and brand owner of
the macerating pump system, Saniflo, has long been
acknowledged as the supplier of smart solutions for
hard-to-plumb areas, having commenced business in
Paris to provide plumbing to homes in built-up high-rise
areas where sewer lines were not in place and trench
digging and construction simply wasn’t a viable option.
The Saniflo technology allows the installation of a
complete bathroom or a kitchen anywhere without major
construction work, even if the main drain is situated the
other side of the house and without worrying about the
usual gravity restrictions.
Saniflo can transform unlikely spaces into kitchens and
bathrooms by grinding and pumping waste through small
bore diameter pipes, thus making the installation of
sanitation easy in any area where it is needed.
Depending on the Saniflo units, all human waste will be
dilacerated and pumped vertically up to 14m or 140m
horizontally – and as a combination of both it could
be 7m vertically and 60m horizontally (combinations
considered) – for the largest pump, finally reaching the
main drain pipe, septic tank or directly into the sewage
pit. “It does eventually go into the main sewerage
system, but gives an alternative route there,” says Frank.
July 2019 Volume 25 I Number 5
The affordability of the system depends on how much the
system is needed for quality-of-life purposes, explains
Frank. Its residential pump starts at R6 000, which may
be expensive for a low income home, but becomes
affordable in a context where such a home doesn’t have
an in-house toilet. “In such a situation, it is the cheapest
option, as minimal building work needs to be done,
compared to building an entire bathroom, because it
saves on the labour cost and time.”
In a commercial context, for instance, it permits the
sub-dividing of a warehouse or similar structure whereby
the toilet facilities are located in one section. The other
section can economically and quickly be provided with
toilet facilities bypassing other structures and electrical
lines and enabling sub-division.
Grundfos, in addition to providing a macerator pump,
also provides pumps especially for complexes, which
provides uniform water pressure throughout the complex,
and also for individual homes. “However, this is an
area where plumbers are in error: you cannot install
such a pump on the municipal line – it is illegal, but
we frequently come across this. It must go through a
breaker tank between the municipal line and the house
– because of the fluctuating water pressure. A qualified
plumber should know this,” says Dobson.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
R&D has been a key aspect of Grundfos’ success,
culminating in most of their plant being ‘plug-and-
www.plumbingafrica.co.za