Energy-saving, Odourless and Fully Biological
Enteron is the name of the small sewage treatment system for boats and yachts by the company “tom logisch UG”. The name has been chosen carefully. “Enteron is the Greek term for the intestines,” explains Tom Logisch. The human intestines are six metres long and the core element of the sewage treatment system by the company from Kleinmachnow is equally long, namely six metres; it is a tube with thousands of minuscule holes, inside of which bacterial cultures “feast” on the human faeces.
In no time the company from Kleinmachnow received 1,700 requests
At the industry fair “Boat Düsseldorf 2016” Logisch presented his newly developed product for the first time and immediately received 1,700 requests. Some interested parties ordered right away. The small sewage treatment systems operate fully biologically: using only bacteria and no chemical additives. They are odourless and energy-efficient. Solar cells can provide the necessary energy. In addition, the systems are small enough, for example, to be “hidden” in a yacht’s poop. “To shrink this kind of system down to this size has never been achieved before,” pointed out Tom Logisch. The small sewage treatment systems are available in four formats. Mr Logisch’s systems have another advantage: the orders can be processed quickly. It takes approximately one and a half weeks from initial measurements on-site with the client to the installation of the system. A 3-D computer image of the system is generated and the data is then forwarded directly to production. The first step consists of creating a model out of foamed plastic that is true to scale. “In order to test whether the system can be brought to the boat and installed in one piece,” explains businessman Logisch. Provided that everything fits, the sewage treatment system is then produced in Berlin and immediately delivered to the client where it is installed.
Green technology
The first system was installed by Mr Logisch for a client of a Danish sail yacht shipyard. Especially the northern Europeans and the Swiss are, according to Logisch, among the first ones to use new green technologies to do something positive for the environment. In this regard, Mr Logisch points out that the wastewaters of the giant ocean yachts during their long voyages did not pose the main problem. This is why his products and services are geared especially towards skippers that remain in the vicinity of the coasts and that can’t find pumps on land to empty their waste-holding tanks. “Owners of houseboats need to think about what they will do with their wastewater,” points out Logisch. He himself is a passionate sailor and has been offering yacht equipment at his company for 20 years. In 2015 he started working on a small environmentally friendly sewage treatment system. At that time, such states as Sweden and the Netherlands had started to regulate the release of faeces into the water.
Tom Logisch has put his ideas into practice together with students of the Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin. Within the sewage treatment system a shredding pump pushes the faeces through the “intestines” of the system many times until nothing but clear water remains of the dirty mixture. Then UV light is used to destroy all the germs that remain in the water. Logisch stresses that “per 100 millilitres of water only 67 bacteria survive. The acceptable limit for bathwater is 500 bacteria per 100 millilitres.” 14 systems have been tested over a long period of time in order to generate data and improve the software. This year in June the small sewage treatment system Enteron was approved for worldwide sales. Tom Logisch is bracing himself for new orders. This year he already wants to employ more persons for the assembly of the systems.