Supplying of a wastewater treatment plant in extreme conditions - Tappenkarseehütte

The wastewater treatment plant itself is of a passive type, without power supply, where its first part is formed by a two-chamber separator of coarse impurities continued with a six-chamber sedimentation-aeration reactor partially equipped with fixed carriers and a float-type discharge device for discontinuous outflowing to a biological reactor consisting of four lines, where a distribution structure is built upstream. Due to the controlled water consumption in the mountain chalet, the hydraulic capacity of the plant is only 25 PE, but the substance loading is equivalent to 100 PE. The water stream flows through the completely gravitational system in the mountain conditions with a trouble-free cascade type of flow rate.

WWTP after building-in of individual tanks and landscaping

The plant installation in such conditions requires a specific approach in many terms as well as increased demand laid on all participants in the project. Owing to the chalet situation at the sea-level altitude of 1,820 m and non-existent access road, the plant had to be divided, for the helicopter transport, to individual tanks of the maximum weight of 1,600 kg and these thanks had to be transported by an adventurous lorry driver (MOSS Company) through a forest track up to 1,400 m above s.l. Here, due to the adverse weather conditions at that time, the tanks were only unloaded and they had to wait for three days for the consequent heli transport to the final destination. By the way, one of the tanks weight was (after re-weighing) 1,630 kg. In this case, the pilot had to choose another transport route and not the direct one running over a mountain ridge, where the height limit for the load of 2,000 m above s.l. would have been otherwise exceeded. Therefore, the detour was longer, but its maximum flight altitude was mere 1,900 above s.l.

In addition, the construction work under the local conditions was of a specific nature. The transport of a standard excavator to the construction site turned out to be financially prohibitive and so that a walking excavator was selected for the use. This machine was transported to the nearest trafficable place, i.e. to the road end, but on the other side of the ridge, and from there it walked up to the lowest mountain pass at the altitude of 2,160 m above s.l. with a final way downhill to the construction site. Under these circumstances, the construction work itself was only a small, even ridiculously easy affair of the entire project. Just imagine – according to the machine driver, he is capable of passing the altitude difference of 340 metres in such a difficult ground within approximately five hours! Well done!

The walking excavator approximately at the one half of its climbing towards the mountain ridge

Transport of petty materials, tools, and people to the construction site and back was no less entertaining. Over the hard-surface road as far as to Jägersee Lake, from there with the traffic exemption by the forest track to the cableway lower station and … well, I think it would be better to explain that (especially for our gentlemen) in a more educational way through the example how the beer barrels are transported there (as the chalet manager explained to me).

QUOTE “Down, In Wagrain, I buy a beer barrel in a pub. The publican is my friend and I can get a reasonable price. By car, I transport the barrel to the cableway lower station; however, the cable car is too small so only two beer barrels can be transported at once. By the cableway, I can rise over 400 altitude metres to the level of Tappenkarsee Lake. There I load the barrels to a car. I bought it as a new, for two hundred euros, but I had to cannibalize it so it has neither door, nor registration plates, which does not matter because I use it only here for those one hundred meters between the cableway and the lake jetty. The transport by a helicopter would cost me more, of course. After this, I transport the barrels and load them to a boat. Then I must reverse with the car back to the cableway station, where I have a garage. I lock the car there so that it cannot be stolen or tampered with by tourists. Once the barrels are in the boat I take them to the other side of the lake. I park the boat in a place, where it cannot be stolen and out of reach of children, and the load the barrels to another cableway I constructed between the shore and the chalet. Finally, they are in the chalet. … and do you know how much would you pay for a pint in my chalet? Only EUR 4.20!” UNQUOTE

Therefore, now I think everybody has a clear idea how the things are transported there. If the chalet manager is in a good mood, he will transport you and your things by the cableway and the boat. His service cannot be ordered or purchased; you simply must be on good terms with the landlord J .

Anyway, the installation of such wastewater treatment plant took only three days, including the construction work!

… and in the end, a quiz game for you:

(1) Find the Tappenkarseehütte chalet in the picture

(2) Find the lower cableway station in the picture

(3) … and the most difficult – find the wastewater treatment plant for 25/100 PE in the picture

Ing. Antonín Vondruška