Basic elements Collection chambers and vacuum valve units Vacuum sewer lines Central vacuum station Vacuum technology is based on differential air pressure. Rotary vane vacuum pumps generate an operation pressure of -0.4 to -0.6 bar at the vacuum station, which is also the only element of the vacuum sewerage system that must be supplied with electricity. Interface valves that are installed inside the collection chambers work pneumatically. Any sewage flows by means of gravity into each house collection sump. After a certain fill level inside this sump is reached, the interface valve will open. The impulse to open the valve is usually transferred by a pneumatically (pneumatic pressure created by fill level) controlled controller unit. No electricity is needed to open or close the valve. The according energy is provided by the vacuum itself. While the valve is open, the resulting differential pressure between atmosphere and vacuum becomes the driving force and transports the wastewater towards the vacuum station. Besides these collection chambers, no other manholes, neither for changes in direction, nor for inspection or connection of branch lines, are necessary. High flow rates keep the system free of any blockages or sedimentation. Vacuum sewer systems are considered to be free of ex- and infiltration which allows the usage even in water protection areas. For this reason, vacuum sewer lines may even be laid in the same trench as potable water lines (depending on local guidelines). The system supplier should certify his product to be used in that way. To achieve the condition of an infiltration-free system and therefore allowing to reduce the waste water amounts that need to be treated, water tight (PE material or similar) collection chambers should be used. Valve and collection sump (waste water) preferably should be physically separated (different chambers) in order to protect service personal against direct contact with waste water and to ensure longer life cycles (waste water is considered to be corrosive). In order to ensure reliable transport, the vacuum sewer line is laid in a saw-tooth (length-) profile, which will be referred to more precisely afterwards. The whole vacuum sewers are filled with air at a pressure of -0.4 to -0.6 bar. The most important aspect for a reliable operation is the air-to-liquid ratio. When a system is well designed, the sewers contain only very small amounts of sewage. The air-to-liquid ratio is usually maintained by “intelligent” controller units or valves that adjust their opening times according to the pressure in the system. Considering that the vacuum idea relies on external energy for the transport of fluids, sewers can be laid in flat terrain and up to certain limits may also be counter-sloped. The saw-tooth profile keeps sewer lines shallow, lifts minimise trench depth (approx. 1.0 1.2 m). In this depth, expensive trenching, as it is the case for gravity sewers with the necessity to install continuously falling slopes of at least 0.5 – 1.0%, is avoided. Lifting stations are not required. Once arrived in the vacuum collection tank at the vacuum station, the wastewater is pumped to the discharge point, which could be a gravity sewer or the treatment station directly. As the dwell time of the watewater inside the system is very short and the wastewater is continuously mixed with air, the sewage is kept fresh and any fouling inside the system is avoided (less H2S). Advantages closed, pneumatically controlled system with a central vacuum station. Electrical energy is only needed at this central station no sedimentation due to self-cleansing high velocities spooling and maintenance of the sewer lines is not necessary manholes are not required Usually only a single vacuum pump station is required rather than multiple stations found in gravity and low pressure networks. This frees up land , reduces energy costs and reduces operational costs. investment costs can be reduced up to 50% due to simple trenching at shallow depths, close to surface flexibility of piping, obstacles (as open channels) can be over- or underpassed reduced installation time small diameter sewer pipes of HDPE, PVC materials; savings of material costs aeration of sewage, less development of H2S, with its dangers for workers, inhabitants, as well as corrosion of the pipes may be avoided; sewage is kept fresh no odours along the closed vacuum sewers no infiltration, less hydraulic load at treatment station and discharge sewers absolutely no leakages (vacuum avoids exfiltration) sewers may be laid in the same trench with other mains, also with potable water or storm-water, as well as in water protection areas Lower cost to maintain in the long term due to shallow trenching and easy identification of problems In combination of vacuum toilets it creates concentrated waste streams, which makes it feasible to use different waste water treatment techniques, like anaerobic treatment Limitations vacuum systems are not capable of transporting sewage over very long distances, but can pump long distances from the vacuum station to the next STP or main gravity sewer. vacuum sewerage systems are only capable for the collection of wastewater within a separated system (not for the collection of storm-water) the lines can only reach up to 3-4 km laid in flat area (restrictions of the system due to headlosses (3-4.5 m) (friction and static)) systems should be designed with help of an experienced manufacturer (concepts are usually free of charge) external energy is required at a central point for collecting sewage odours close to the vacuum station can occur, a biofilter may be necessary Integrity of the pipe joints is paramount Application Fields Vacuum sewer systems becomes more and more the preferred system in the case of particular circumstances: Especially difficult situations as ribbon, peripheral settlements on flat terrain with high specific conduit lengths of longer than 4 metres per inhabitant are predestined for the application of vacuum sewerage systems. In the case of sparse population density the influence of the costs for the collection chambers and vacuum stations are less important in comparison to the costs of long and deep sewers on gravity. Missing incline of the ground, unfavourable soil (rocky or swampy grounds) and high groundwater table (with the necessity of dewatering trenches) lead to enormous investment costs in regards to gravity sewerage systems. On the contrary vacuum sewers that are small in diameter can be laid close to the surface in small trenches. Vacuum sewers can pass through water protection areas and areas with sensitive high ground water tables, because there is no danger of spoiling groundwater resources (vacuum sewers have a high leak tightness due to their material; moreover the vacuum itself does not allow exfiltration). Vacuum systems has also been applied to collect toxic wastewater. Vacuum systems are seen as a priority in many environmentally sensitive areas such as the Couran Cove Eco Resort close to the Barrier Reef in Australia. In seasonal settlements (recreation areas, camping sites etc.) with conventional gravity sewer systems, sedimentation problems can easily occur as automatic spooling from the daily waste water does not take place. High flow velocities within vacuum sewers prevent such sedimentation problems. The Formula 1 race tracks in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi are using a vacuum sewer system for that reason. Even in old narrow and historical villages, the use of vacuum sewer systems becomes more and more important due to a fast (traffic, tourism), cost-effective and flexible installation. Good examples and references can be found in France, such as the village of Flavigny, in Oman at the township of Khasab and Al Seeb. Lack of water in many countries and drastic water savings measures have led to difficulties with aging gravity networks with solids blocking in the pipes. Neither the lack of water nor solids affect resp. occur in vacuum sewer systems. That’s why this technology becomes interesting for such kind of applications. As PE or PVC pipes are used, no solids from ageing pipes will enter the system. All other solid are kept out at the collection chambers. vacuum sewer systems don’t have any manholes to dump big solids into the system. Project Examples The county of Sarasota, Florida and the city of Carnation, Washington are developing a county wide collection system and is incorporating vacuum sewers. In Germany, several hundred well-working systems are operating since the 1970. Especially in the Middle East (United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman), vacuum sewer systems become more and more important due to easy and fast installation along with water saving effects and easiness of maintenance. The world’s most famous vacuum sewer project is currently the Palm Island Jumeirah, located at the coast of Dubai City, United Arab Emirates. Approx. 23.000 people will be connected to this vacuum sewer system with only 1 central vacuum station. The vacuum station is considered to be the biggest vacuum station in the world. The biggest installation in Europe (several vacuum stations) can be found in Gerasdorf (near Vienna), Austria, where many benefits of a vacuum sewer system helped to overcome difficult conditions in this mountainous area. Good examples can be found on the Maldives, the post-tsunami WATSAN project UNICEF – UN, where on several islands vacuum sewer systems have been the best option. Several other project, mainly for resorts, have already been realized on the Maldives. Vacuum sewer systems are not only used in the Europe or Middle East but even in low developed third world countries. Several vacuum sewer systems have been already built or are currently under construction in Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia) for townships and rural areas where the benefit of fast construction time, cost saving trenching and high flexibility have come to full effect. Australia has been one of the largest users of vacuum sewer systems due to the low installation and operational costs. The largest system to-date has been at the Tea Gardens development in New South Wales, which will ultimately handle over 4.500 houses. The Water Corporation in Western Australia is considered the largest single owner of vacuum systems in the world with over 30 schemes now under their operational control. The United Kingdom is well served by Vacuum Sewerage Systems, the region most extensively served are the low lying fenlands of the East of England. High water tables (in some cases less than 1metre below the surface) and poor ground conditions have meant that the local Water Company Anglian Water has embraced the use of Vacuum Sewerage, taking advantage of the system’s requirement for small bore sewer pipes laid in shallow trenches, dramatically reducing the requirement for pumping stations as would be required by conventional gravity sewer systems. The largest Vacuum Sewerage scheme in this region serves the villages of Outwell and Upwell, 4 vacuum collection stations serve some 1500 homes in this agglomeration. On initial costings for a conventional gravity sewer to serve the area, previously served by domestic septic settlement tanks the site would have required the installation of 32 pumping stations. Using a vacuum sewer system, this number of pumping stations was reduced to 4 vacuum stations. Other companies in the UK such as Southern water operate vacuum sewer systems, too. Lately, vacuum sewer systems become popular for industrial and commercial projects as well, where only little domestic waste water occurs and where the flexibility of a vacuum sewer system allows easy coordination with usually plenty of other utilities in the ground. Good examples can be found again in the Middle East, such as some small industrial areas in the Emirate of Ras al Khaimah or the newly built Qatalum Aluminium Plant in Qatar, the world’s largest primary aluminium plant. The well known eco-city of Masdar, U.A.E., uses a vacuum sewer system as well to separate grey from black water. Installation and construction The following section covers some basic information regarding the installation of vacuum sewer system. This section is not complete and should only give a basic overview. Based on long term experience, only HDPE pipes should be used for vacuum sewer system pipe works. The recommended pipe classification is SDR11. Preferences should be given to electro fusion joints rather than butt welding. In general, butt welding shall only be allowed for pipe diameters bigger or equal than 150mm as the internal beads from butt welding methods will reduce the diameter especially for 90mm pipes significantly which can cause blockages inside the pipes. It is most important not to use any 90 connection within the pipe work. This refers to any main or branch lines connections as well as to horizontal direction changes. Only wye-fittings and 45 bends may be used. Using 90 connection will lead to blockages within the system and may create water hammers with temporarily pressure drops affecting the equipment. It is furthermore very important to follow the pipe profiles which should be given by the system supplier. A minimum requirement is a constant slope of 0.2% within the so called saw tooth profile. Upwards slopes and deviations from the given pipe profiles will lead to water sags causing temporarily blockages and pressure drops resp. additional head losses. In worst case, this can lead to a failure of the system. Especially the connection line from the collection pit to the next branch or main line needs to maintain a certain slope as otherwise water sags may cut off the valves from the vacuum inside the pipe system causing malfunction of the valves. Special attention has to be given to the civil works related to the pipe work installation. Over-compaction or damages to the pipes by excavators may result in significant problems during operation. Even if the pipe withstands the pressure tests during construction and after backfilling, squeezed pipes or pipe full of concrete or other construction debris will lead to blockages and water sags during operation. Although international guidelines give clear recommendations for gate valves (every 400-500m within main lines and for branch lines longer than 200-250m), all important side branches should be equipped with a gate valves. This will allow much faster pressure tests and leak detection during construction and will allow emergency measures if problems occur. Ruling technical guidelines and norms EN 1091 DWA-A 116-1 (also known as ATV-DVWK-A 116, Part 1) WEF (Water Environment Federation) Alternative Sewer Systems (Second Edition -2008) WSA 07 (Australian Code) AS 4310 – 2004 (Australian Vacuum Interface Valve Standard) External links Airvac, International (U.S.A.) Roevac, International (Germany) Iseki, UK Quavac, Netherlands Flovac, International Vacuum sewerage systems on Wikipedia References ^ PCS: Vacuum Sewer Construction ^ http://www.ci.carnation.wa.us/sewer/factsheet-vacsystem.pdf Categories: Sewerage infrastructure
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There is some dangerous news for those of you who step into your protective overalls for every day on the construction site every morning. Analysis by the Construction Merchandise Association (CPA) has shown that the construction business is going to continue declining for three a lot of years. Output is anticipated to fall by virtually 10 % this year and another four % the following year. This forecast is a lot of grimmer than previous reports and if this decline happens as predicted, it will be the most important decline in 30 years.
Chief executive of CPA Michael Ankers said, “The speed of decline is having a dramatic impact on many elements of the construction industry and is being driven by an unprecedented reduction in personal sector investment resulting from the credit crunch and economic downturn.”
The credit crunch affects all business sectors, significantly the motor and property industries, and the development industry is certainly no exception. The house building and repair sectors are the toughest hit with house starts expected to fall to their lowest level since the fifties and maintenance and residential improvements expected to fall by 15 % this year alone.
In addition to the present grim forecast, past construction output speaks volumes. Within the last 3 months of 2008, construction output within the UK came to ?19.3 billion which is ?1.5 billion down from the identical time period in 2007. But, the total output for 2008 was just about on par with the overall output for 2007.
However, construction output in some areas is seemingly to extend in the following years. Rail construction work ought to increase dramatically in the subsequent five years; the CPA report has predicted that it can increase by a hundred ninety%. Additionally to the current, public construction that is not housing-connected will go up by over 20 p.c in the following 2 years. Michael Ankers has asserted that the only sectors where construction output is forecast to extend are linked to public spending.
Spending on construction for education is expected to extend by nearly 30 p.c in the next 2 years, mainly because of the Building Colleges for the Future programme. The development trade is relying heavily on public spending throughout the recession. Luckily for those utilized within the trade, spending on public construction comes creates significantly more employment than different sectors of the trade and mainly British merchandise are used. This is often really the silver lining of the recession storm cloud for the trade and the well-developed British public sector is to thank for this.
Marketers looking for evidence that out-of-home advertising can improve sales and amplify the effectiveness of their other advertising need look no further than a new study from Clear Channel Communications and MarketShare Partners.
The study, “How Out-of-Home Advertising Works,” examines the return on investment of using out-of-home advertising as an ingredient in a larger marketing mix. Specifically, the report finds OOH advertising provides a significant, incremental sales lift that equals, or is often greater than, other drivers.
“After careful analysis of thousands of marketing optimization models, and considering decades of research and applied marketing science, independent research from MarketShare Partners conclusively shows that OOH is an effective marketing vehicle and should be included as a component of the optimal marketing mix across a broad range of industries,” said Debbie Reichig, senior vice president of Business Development and Marketing at Clear Channel Outdoor.
So what can marketers expect from OOH advertising? Quite a lot, actually. A press release announcing the report outlines some of key benefits, including:
*Adding OOH in the media mix, for industries and products where it provides observable sales lift, makes other media more effective.
*OOH can provide a significantly higher sales lift in conjunction with TV when the creative messaging is coordinated across platforms.
*OOH can provide a significantly higher sales lift in conjunction with radio when there is a call to action.
As I’ve discussed before, out-of-home advertising using a medium such as digital signage networks is making great strides these days. Recent developments in technologies and techniques to count audience elevate the stature of OOH advertising in the minds of marketers and ad agencies alike.
The latest study from Clear Channel Communications and MarketShare Partners advances the medium further still. It not only demonstrates how OOH ads can provide a sales lift when used together with radio and TV advertising, but it makes specific recommendations on the optimum allocation of marketing resources to out of home.
The study finds the best allocation of marketing dollars to OOH advertising falls somewhere between 5 percent and 25 percent of the total advertising budget for most products and brands.
While some may discount this study as self-serving -after all Clear Channel Communications recently announced its recommitment to OOH ad networks and is one of the largest purveyors of outdoor advertising in the world- to do so would be shortsighted in my opinion. Sure this company has an interest in OOH advertising, but both Clear Channel and MarketShare Partners have an equally strong interest in protecting their reputation in the industry. To do anything other than to look honestly and completely at OOH advertising in the report would be harmful to both enterprises.
I applaud the companies and the release of “How Out-of-Home Advertising Works.” The study offers the advertising and marketing communities key insights at this important stage in the development of OOH advertising on digital signage networks. Not only does the study demonstrate how OOH advertising can help marketers achieve their goals, it quantifies what portion of their ad budgets should be allocated to this medium to maximize the effectiveness of their advertising efforts.
Business One is good solution when you are midmarket organization with attributes of multinational corporation, such as branches in foreign countries and headquarters and research facility in the United States. SAP B1 is popular in international business scenarios as it is localized in such popular regional powers as China, Brazil and Russian Federation. There are known cases studies when companies with non-SAP Corporate ERP applications launched Business One for their branches in Brazil and later one switched to it in the headquarters as well. There are some challenges however and one of them is consolidated financial reporting. As you may know such popular tools as Microsoft Management Reporter and FRx do not have GL connectors to SAP BO. Some customers are doing GL trial balance export to Excel and then prepare it to fit consolidation template. This is definitely possible way but you may mention that it is time consuming and open to human errors. In this publication we recommend old-good-days method of GL consolidation:
1.How does it work conceptually? You have to create new company with account structure matching your template. Then you schedule regular GL entries migration into this company General Ledger. This company obviously doesnt represent legal entity but it has all your branches GL activity and ready for consolidated Balance Sheet and P&L. You can use internal reporting
2.How does it work technically? You can deploy several tools. First of all it is possible to pull GL records via Data Transfer Workbench when it has integrations for each company SQL database via ODBC. Second method is programming with Software Development Kit. This second method might seem like something challenging. However it is only one type of transactions and code samples in VB and C# are straight forward. There are ISV products working with SAP B1 SQL database via direct data feed. They are usually expensive and require learning curve. But if you are ready to deploy luxury solution then you should probably make your homework
3.International Business Specific multicurrency. Business One is multicurrency enabled so in our opinion it is just one additional factor to incorporate into the solution. We have done it for the company which operates in Brazil and USA with respectively Real and Dollar
4.Standard for Chart of Accounts. This might be additional challenge as often company deploys the same system in several countries but contracts different consulting partners to do from ground up implementation without coordination with central office. In consolidated financial reporting Chart of Accounts should be reviewed and unified in all business entities. In any case this is good exercise in order to understand you foreign country branch operations and finances or in other words strengthen central control
5.Other aspects of multinational environment and Business One. It is generally good idea to host all the installations on the server located in the Headquarters. There are definitely some specifics associated with foreign company regulations and tax code. But these compliances should not be the central emphasis. Instead you should think about your new Corporate ERP system as the tool allowing you to exercise tight central control over all of your overseas subsidiaries. General advice is to assign chosen consulting organization here in the United States for picking subcontractors for each country to implement just compliance related functionality. Compliance is just a small part of what the system is for
6.Please call us 1-866-304-3265, 1-269-605-4904 (for international customers, where our representative pick up the phone in St. Joseph, MI call center). [emailprotected] We have local presence in Chicagoland, Southern California, South West Michigan and Houston and Dallas areas of Texas. We serve customers USA, Canada, Mexico and Brazil nationwide and internationally via web sessions and phone conferences (Skype is welcomed). Our consultants speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Chinese. We feature our expertise is in International Business. We provide second opinion in SB1 data migration, customization and reporting
There are only three variations of sales jobs. These are known as “Outside” sales, “Inside” sales and Retail. Without doubt, the individual with the ability to understand the mechanisms that make up a good sale is crucial to how fulfilling a sales job will be. In a very fundamental way, most people have sales skills. However, to succeed in sales, resilience and a progressive attitude are necessary. Experienced sales people never allow a rejection to stand in the way of their initiatives. In this respect, a sales job can be more fulfilling for those with the fortitude to continuously push forward, than an office job. Sales, unlike an office job, has its ups and downs. It’s never dull or boring since it lacks the routine of most office jobs.
Outside, Inside and Retail Sales Outside sales jobs are for the individual who finds working behind a desk isn’t to their liking. Outside sales means working out in the field by surveying and prospecting in a specified sales territory. Inside sales usually refers to sales initiated and completed by phone or email. Retail sales are those related to sales in large department stores where a particular product, such as clothing or furniture, are the main focus of sales. In this type of sales, unlike others, most of the customer traffic is via shoppers.
Office Jobs Many jobs that fall into the category of “office jobs”, such as management, accounting, personnel or inventory control as well as administrative. While office jobs often require interaction with other staff members, in most cases an employee with an office job is presented with a specific area of the product or service of the company for which they are responsible.
Defining The Fulfillment Factor When it comes to making a choice between sales jobs or office jobs, a lot depends on the employee’s personality. Each employee has preferences for the variation of work that is most fulfilling on a long-term basis. There is one advantage to sales jobs. Sales staff usually work a pipeline until it becomes depleted and move on to the next sales job with ease. This isn’t necessarily the case with office jobs. An office job, predicated upon routine and the system mandating workflow, may be fulfilling in the sense that employees achieve upward mobility if they are stellar performers. From this achievement is derived fulfillment.
Consider Sales If An Office Job Isn’t Your Cup of Tea Sales jobs aren’t for individuals who take each rejection of their sales pitch personally. There is also another factor inherent to sales jobs. Working a specific sales territory grants the ability to control sales commissions. The territory effectively belongs to the sales person. Therefore, it can be mined for sales commissions to best advantage. The savvy sales person is always looking for new sales and devises resales based on their talent and skills for closing a sale. Closing a sale is undoubtedly the most difficult part of sales jobs. After the initial introduction to the product or service takes place, closing the sale has to be managed properly and with professionality to secure adequate sales commisions. This is generally what defines the success and fulfillment of sales jobs: the ability to increase sales quotas that earn solid sales commissions as well as creating a confident customer base.