Julian Davies is the Managing Director of Earl Kendrick Associates, a chartered building surveying firm with offices in London and Brighton.
In simple terms, a macerator is a pump that drives water and liquid waste from one part of a property to another.
How a Macerator works:
It uses a fast rotating cutting blade to break up waste and toilet paper so it can be pumped under pressure through small bored pipes to the sewer.
The allows you to re-site toilets, showers and other wet facilities to rooms not otherwise connected to a buildings original drainage system and where running of new drainage pipework is restricted.
All you need to know about Macerators
The use of macerators provide flexibility in the citing of wet areas, allow you to change the layout of a flat, moving the kitchen or bathroom to a different room.
A common term used for a macerator unit is ‘Saniflo’, which is the name of one macerator manufacturer.
In many circumstances, a macerator is a simple and hassle-free solution, but problems can arise, especially when used in blocks of flats. The main problems are noise and leaking.
For these reasons, in many residential blocks of flats, the use of macerator units is prohibited by Landlords.
Considerations:
Where the Landlord will permit the use of macerators (and subject to any other restrictions on the relocation/creation of wet areas), there are three key considerations that should be dealt with by Formal Consent/Licence to Alter:
- Acoustic isolation
The macerator should be placed in a location where noise will not be audible in the property or neighbouring property/flat.
- Leak-proof bund
The macerator should be placed in a leak-proof bund, or tank, so that in the event of any leakage, the liquid will be contained and not escape into the property or neighbouring properties/flats.
- Annual service
The macerator should be service on an annual basis, to ensure it is working properly, de-scale when necessary and any leaks are discovered and dealt with. In order to facilitate annual servicing, the macerator must be accessible, i.e. not trapped behind tiles or places without removable panels! If all of these conditions are met, the risk associates with leaks and noise affecting other flats can be reduced. However, further specifications and Building Regulations must also be followed
Technical Considerations
- The installation will be subject to the requirements of the Building Regulations.
- Horizontal pipes should have a minimum fall of 1:100, discharge pipework should be copper or solvent welded, not push fit, and pipes should have smooth radius bends and good levels of support.
- Air admittance valves are needed where pipework falls to a lower floor, and it should be noted that the modern type of close-coupled WC does not have enough space between the cistern and pan to locate the macerator at the rear of the pan without additional boxing.
- An un-switched spur is required in a location that will not be subject to splashing.
- Finally, all homes must have access to a standard gravity-fed appliance and a personal washing appliance that is not connected to a macerator.
