Members of our team have just returned from an on-site waste water study tour of North America and Canada. Where they specifically sort clarification on the Audit process that resulted in only 4 manufacturer’s with 5 systems holding a License to sell. With the Enviro-Septic and the Advanced Enviro-septic making up 2 of the 5 systems.
Previously we advised that as a result of the annual BNQ Audit program all other systems had their licence revoked. This was incorrect. The actual process that resulted in all but these 5 systems holding a licence was that in 2006, legislation was introduced requiring all systems on the market in Canada to submit to independent testing at BNQ’s only approved standards testing facility at Stoke, QUEBEC. Testing was for 1 full year under actual live effluent loads drawn from a cluster of 25 homes. No preprocessing was permitted. IE No pumping, trash screening , etc. Systems were required to achieve BOD and TTS outcomes of BOD <15 and TSS<15 for Advanced and BOD<30 , TSS<30 for Secondary.
When the legislation came into effect, the majority of manufacturers that had been selling their systems under the classification of Secondary or Advanced Secondary elected not to submit their products for testing and others withdrew their systems early in the testing process due to not meeting the required water quality outcomes.
Asked why this legislation was introduced the reply was, ” The Legislation was introduced to comply with their obligation to protect Canadian Consumers, Community Health and the Environment, not manufacturers.”
Advanced Enviro-septic has now passed 6 Annual BNQ Audits achieving <10 Bod, <10 TSS