Proved & Approved

The Waterloo Biofilter has been thoroughly tested and proven effective by a number of third-party verification programs.  We pride ourselves on the high treatment levels our technology consistently demonstrates.  Our systems are designed to work even in cold climates where biological activity is decreased, so that’s where we test them – and we aren’t afraid to publish the results!

Download the Waterloo Biofilter Third-Party Testing Summary ( PDF, 84KB).

Third Party Testing Results

US EPA Environmental Technology Initiative (ETI)

The ETI program, performed at the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Centre (MASSTC) located in Sandwich MA, was created “to evaluate the performance and operation costs of new and innovative wastewater disposal technologies in a carefully controlled and unbiased manner and provide this information to regulators and consumers.”  For this program three Waterloo Biofilters were installed side-by-side and sampled for over two years.  The three Waterloo Biofilters collectively averaged the following results over the duration of the program:

Download the Waterloo Biofilter ETI Interim Report (PDF, 547KB).

Download the Waterloo Biofilter ETI Final Report (PDF, 2.7MB).

NSF & US EPA Environmental Technology Verification

The ETV testing program was created by the US EPA and NSF “to facilitate deployment of innovative or improved environmental technologies through performance verification and dissemination of information.”  This program is similar to the NSF/ANSI Standard 40 test protocol but is more stringent as it involves more stress tests and lasts 12 months or more to include testing over the winter season.  For this program a Waterloo Biofilter was installed at the MASSTC and sampled over 14 months.  Influent wastewater temperatures fell to as low as 4°C (39°F) during the study.  The Waterloo Biofilter averaged the following results over the duration of the program:

Download the ETV Summary Statement (PDF, 85KB).

Download the ETV Final Report (PDF, 818KB).

Buzzard’s Bay Fine Sand Disposal Bed Testing

Additional third-party testing performed by Waterloo Biofilter at the MASSTC involved measuring fecal coliform concentrations below sand disposal systems following the Waterloo Biofilter treatment unit.  Pan lysimeter samples were taken at various depths below coarse sand and fine sand trenches receiving highly treated Waterloo Biofilter effluent.  This testing found that fecal coliform removal is >99.999% after a Waterloo Biofilter plus 10″ of fine sand loaded at very high loading rates (basal floor contact area loading rate up to 212 L/m²/day).  This high removal of pathogens is the basis of the Shallow Area Bed disposal system developed by Waterloo Biofilter Systems in the 1990’s.  This independent testing shows that:

• Waterloo Biofilter treatment units alone remove >99% of fecal coliforms
• Waterloo Biofilter plus 12″ of coarse sand removes >99.99% fecal coliforms
• Waterloo Biofilter plus 10″ of fine sand removes >99.999% fecal coliforms
• Waterloo Biofilter plus 10″ of fine sand loaded at 212 L/m²/day is equivalent in fecal coliform removal to a standard septic tank plus 60″ of coarse sand loaded at 80 L/m²/day

Download the Buzzard’s Bay Area Bed Pan Lysimeter Test Results (PDF, 1.1MB).