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Additional Resources About Saniflo News / Product Releases SFA Saniflo Supports SCI-Arc/Caltech’s Solar Decathlon Entry with Grinder Donation SFA Saniflo Provides Saniswift Drain Pump System To Aid Family Counseling Center in Alaska Enhanced SANISWIFT Gray Water Pump Makes Adding a Wet Bar, Laundry Sink, Shower Easier Than Ever SANICUBIC 1 Grinder System Offers Clog-Resistant, Lower-Cost Alternative to Sewage Ejector Packages With Years of Proven Technology, Redesigned SANIBEST PRO Offers Most Powerful Upflush System Saniflo Unveils SANIACCESS Upflush Macerating Unit, With Double-Panel Access for Easier Maintenance Saniflo Redesigns Web Site, Offering Enhanced Project-Planning and Product-Selection Features SANIMARIN Delivers Quiet, Efficient, Reliable Plumbing Solutions for Every Boat Owner New SANITOP Offers Quiet Performance Plus Ability to Create a Half Bathroom Anywhere Saniflo Unveils ‘Quiet Range’ Saniplus Macerator With Higher Performance, Quieter Operation Compact, 1-GPF SANICOMPACT® Saves Water, Turns Tight Spaces into New Bathrooms New Compact SANICUBIC® CLASSIC Handles Wastewater Removal for an Entire Structure ‘Touch of Security’: New SANIALARM Detects High Water Levels in a Macerator or Gray Water Pump Powerful, Petite SANISWIFT Gray Water Pump Comes Preassembled, Saving Installation Time Feature Articles The Pitfalls of Busting through Concrete Herndon Plumbing Installer Recommends Above-Floor Plumbing vs. Sewage Ejection Slumping Economy Prompts Homeowners To Open Doors To Family and Boarders Now Is an Excellent Time for Smaller Residential Remodeling Projects A Better Way to Build a Basement Bath Now That’s Comforting: A Luxury Basement Addition That Doesn’t Break the Bank! Case Studies For Rent: Above-Floor Plumbing System Transforms Wholesaler’s Family Room into Studio Apartment South Richmond Hill Plumbing Installer Modernized Fordham University’s Walsh Library Restrooms Sanicubic Lift Station Solves Industrial Firm’s Long-Distance Drainage Problems Cost-Effectively No Bathroom? No Problem. Easy-In/Easy Out Macerating Toilet Eases Construction Headache |
When Conventional Plumbing is too Costly or Impossible, One Proven Alternative Pleases Contractors and End UsersHow property owner Kathy O’Brien used Saniflo-brand above-floor macerating toilet systems in three residences in Hawaii, overcoming tough plumbing challenges and increasing her rental income. BY JULIE REYNOLDS 
Kathy O’Brien has discovered this first-hand. Over the past 11 years, the retired commercial airline pilot has renovated three homes on Maui, each time facing down one of the biggest and most common home-improvement obstacles: no simple or inexpensive way to install conventional plumbing. O’Brien’s renovations all included updated and added bathrooms, but excavation for below-grade drainage for the new facilities wasn’t practical for any of the projects. “In Maui, many homes are built on a slant uphill,” she says. “In the area where I live, it is solid volcanic rock beneath the yards. Most houses are up on piers.” Rock or Cement, it’s Expensive to Dig O’Brien first encountered this challenge when she helped her father update a spare bedroom and bathroom in his two-story island house in 2001. There was a McPherson up-flush toilet on the lower level that had worked well for nearly two decades, but needed replacing. The toilet’s manufacturer was out of business and local contractors kept steering O’Brien toward the installation of a sewage ejector and a holding tank. That concept didn’t appeal to O’Brien, especially the need to pump out the tank regularly. Plus, she couldn’t dig through the volcanic rock to bury the tank in the yard. “I liked the idea of going direct to the sewer,” she says, “but I couldn’t have a conventional toilet, because you can’t hook into a sewer line below the house. The sewer lines are on the street above you, so you have to pump waste up.”
“I’m mechanically minded, so I could see the benefit of how the pump works,” she explains. “Macerating technology is a very clean approach.” How it Works Both the fixture and the enclosed macerator are installed directly on top of the floor, while the discharge piping – like the macerator – can be positioned in front of or concealed behind the wall. The system can also handle wastewater from a sink and a tub/shower. Not having to install a below-floor drain line avoids the expensive, time-consuming chore of breaking through concrete or – in O’Brien’s case – volcanic rock. With macerating systems, walls and floors remain intact, and installation is accomplished quickly and economically with minimal disturbance to room layout. The system can be fully operational within a day, says Joe Sakofske, manager of Advance Plumbing and Heating Supply Company in Walled Lake, Mich., a member of Saniflo’s nationwide network of wholesalers and distributors. Sakofske isn’t just a wholesaler; he’s also a customer. He installed a Saniflo system in his own house recently when he added a home suite, so his sister-in-law could move in. “We used a Sanigrind, which saved busting up the floor,” he says. “What would have taken three days with conventional plumbing took us just eight hours.” Encore Performances At the time, macerating plumbing was still an emerging technology on the island. Because her local dealers were more familiar with sewage ejection, she tapped into Saniflo’s nationwide network of wholesalers and distributors. Working through Sakofske’s company, O’Brien this time bought a Sanibest model to handle the bathroom sink and tub-shower. The most powerful of Saniflo’s products, the Sanibest is a high-performance, one-horsepower grinding system constructed from hardened steel that can easily handle larger sanitary articles, as well as waste and toilet tissue. That makes it ideal for rental properties. By the time she bought the third house in Maui in 2010, O’Brien had the macerating plumbing process down to a science. She decided to add a bathroom to the home’s lower level office and, once again, knew Saniflo was her best option. For this install, she purchased a Sanigrind. Like the Sanibest, this model can pump effluent vertically 18 ft. and horizontally 150 ft., easily reaching the sewer connection on O’Brien’s street. Island or Mainland, Maceration is the Solution To that end, Sakofske holds two to three training opportunities for his customers each year. “We introduce contractors to Saniflo with smaller projects, such as installing a wet bar in the basement,” he says, adding that time- and cost-savings are a big part of his presentation. “The worst thing you can tell a homeowner is that you’re going to dig a 20-foot trench in his or her basement floor,” Sakofske says. “People don’t like that. It’s a lot of work, and it’s dirty and expensive. Maceration is a much neater way to go.” The training sessions are effective and help contractors see the benefits of macerating technology vs. effluent pumps and sewage ejectors, which “can’t handle female hygiene products,” Sakofske explains. “Hygiene products would cause the sewage ejector to get plugged up, and then a repair has to be done. A service tech would need to unbolt the ejector and pump out some of the waste before repairs can even start. It’s a very messy situation. Guys who go into pits to repair sewage ejectors readily see how much better this system is. And once the contractors try maceration, they just take off with it.” O’Brien is thrilled with the macerating technology and how it has overcome her plumbing challenges and improved her properties. “I’d buy it again,” she says. “I may be the only one who has Saniflo products in Maui, and I don’t know why. It’s wonderful.” While Sakofske focuses on the contractor market, he also reaches consumers through home shows, where he presents working demonstration units. “If the end-user sees it, they want it, and they ask their contractor for it,” he says. “After the show we always hear from a dozen or so contractors who call and say their customers saw Saniflo at the show.”
SFA SANIFLO U.S.A. — whose parent company originated macerating plumbing technology — offers a complete line of up flush toilets and gray water pumping systems for residential and commercial applications. Saniflo developed its innovative, “above-floor plumbing” technology more than a half-century ago and has led its commercialization worldwide. Today, the company markets macerating technology through 14 subsidiaries in 50 countries and has sold more than six million units worldwide since 1958. Saniflo markets through independent sales agents throughout North America, and the product line is currently available at distributor and dealer locations throughout the United States and Canada. For more information, contact Saniflo at 1-800-571-8191. Or visit the Saniflo website at www.saniflo.com. For editorial assistance, including photography, contact John O’Reilly c/o GreenHouse Digital + PR: # # # End User: Supplier: Photo Credits:
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