Frequently Asked Questions

A wastewater treatment system accepts wastewater from your home, cleans it, and sends clean water back to the environment (usually into a soil absorption system such as a leach field). The advantage of this process is that the system does the purification work ordinarily accomplished by the soil, which therefore allows smaller, shallower, and less obtrusive drain fields. Additionally, pretreatment greatly extends the life of a drain field since clean water deters solids and biological buildup in your soil absorption system.

Usually, local regulations and soil conditions of your property may dictate the need for a treatment (sometimes called “pretreatment”) system. In some areas, treatment is required by rules and regulations to reduce nutrients such as nitrogen or phosphorus from your waste stream as protection against contamination of groundwater and water bodies.

Traditional septic tanks and cesspools were not designed to treat wastewater, but merely to safely dispose of it. In fact, a cesspool is nothing more than a reinforced hole in the ground that funnels untreated waste directly into our groundwater. Septic tanks are a little better, as they’re only designed to separate solid waste from liquid waste before it’s discharged into a leaching pool that likewise funnels untreated wastewater directly into our groundwater. These are Roman-era technologies that are not suitable to the fragile ecology of Long Island, yet approximately 75% of homes in Suffolk County dispose of their wastewater via a cesspool/septic tank – more than anywhere else in the country. I/A OWTS systems are specially designed to remove nitrogen from wastewater, generally by means of nitrogen-consuming bacteria that converts the nitrogen in wastewater into nitrogen gas.

In recognition of the fact that our reliance on cesspools/septic tanks is the primary culprit behind the nitrogen pollution that is plaguing our local waterbodies, many Towns and Villages in Suffolk County are requiring the installation of I/A OWTS systems in certain circumstances. Government funding is often available to offset or cover the cost of I/A OWTS installation, making it cheaper or at least comparable to the cost of installing a traditional septic tank.

Advanced Wastewater Solution service professionals will perform two scheduled visits per year (at six-month intervals). The standard service visits consist of cleaning the internal components, backwashing and degassing the system, measuring the sludge and scum levels, checking the external blower air filter and replacing if necessary, and taking nitrogen/ammonia readings of the effluent to confirm system performance. Learn more about AWS’ wastewater treatment system services here.

In the unlikely event that the alarm on your Fuji Clean begins to sound, please contact Advanced Wastewater Solutions or your certified Fuji Clean service provider and we will send a service professional out to remedy the situation immediately. In the meantime, you can silence the audible alarm by flipping the black switch on the side of your control panel to “Silent” mode.

For a typical Fuji Clean CEN 5 system (four-bedroom unit), the annual operating costs merely consist of the yearly operations and maintenance fee ($250) plus the cost associated with the system’s electrical usage (approximately $65-85 per year).

Fuji Clean is the only I/A OWTS system with no internal moving parts, meaning that there are no blowers, pumps, or agitators inside the tank that can fail and cause costly problems. Instead, Fuji Cleans are powered entirely by an industry-leading external FujiMac external blower that is cheap to run and easy to repair/replace if it ever fails. Unlike some I/A OWTS systems, Fuji Clean systems do not require a preceding septic tank or trash tank, saving money and reducing your system’s footprint. As the smallest and lightest system on the market Fuji Cleans are also easy to install and ideal for high groundwater conditions. Best of all, Fuji Clean is the only system that can boast a track record spanning 60 years and millions of systems, ensuring an unmatched level of reliability. Learn more about the benefits of Fuji Clean wastewater treatment systems here.

There are many good reasons why nearly three million Fuji Cleans have been installed worldwide and it’s the most popular I/A OWTS system on Long Island. In short, it combines the most reliable and effective system with the best overall price point on the market. More specifically, Fuji Clean has been around for 60 years, and many of the first systems installed in the 1960s are still in operation today. Fuji Clean is also the smallest and lightest I/A OWTS system on the market, making it easy to install and taking up only a small portion of your property. With no moving parts inside the tank (e.g., pumps, blowers, agitators), there is nothing in the tank that can break and lead to an expensive repair. Fuji Clean systems are also extremely energy-efficient, drawing only 1.1 kWh/day of electricity (equivalent to approximately 22 cents per day) for a four-bedroom unit. Quiet and discrete, Fuji Clean systems have just three green lids at grade which can be camouflaged to blend seamlessly into your yard or garden. And with industry-leading nitrogen-reduction technology and hassle-free maintenance, it’s no wonder Fuji Clean is the #1 choice in onsite wastewater treatment!

Fuji Clean uses “Jokaso” technology, which is common throughout Japan. There are five functional chambers in a single Jokaso tank: sedimentation, anaerobic, aeration, clarification, and disinfection, all of which contribute to highly efficient biological on-site wastewater treatment. Jokaso technology has steadily improved over its decades of use in Japan, and now provides treatment performance equivalent to that of a centralized public sewage plant. Click here to learn more about the operation of your Fuji Clean system.

Yes! A recent study commissioned by Suffolk County concluded that the addition of an I/A OWTS system can enhance property values by 13-19%, which equates to $50,000-75,000 for a residence worth $400,000! In other words, on top of representing the single largest environmental impact a Long Island homeowner can make, upgrading your cesspool or septic tank to a Fuji Clean is also a wise investment.

No. Unlike some I/A OWTS systems, the Fuji Clean connects directly to your home’s outgoing waste line, cutting down on both the total project costs and the footprint of your sanitary system. Read about the different types of Fuji Clean products here.

No problem! The external air blower for your Fuji Clean will stop running, but the system simply converts to a conventional septic tank during a power outage, with effluent from the tank continuing to flow via gravity into your leaching pool/drain field until power is restored.

No. While Fuji Clean is the most compact I/A OWTS system on the market, like all other I/A OWTS systems, it is connected to leaching pools or drain fields that disperse the treated effluent from the system into the ground. These drainage structures are professionally designed to ensure there is sufficient capacity for your project.

Probably! Unless your project entails new construction on a vacant lot, grant funding of between $10,000 and $30,000 is most likely available from the County and/or State. And if you reside in the Towns of East Hampton or Southampton, you may be eligible for an additional $15,000 to $20,000 in funding for your project. The available funding is often enough to cover the entire cost of your Fuji Clean installation! For more information on available grants or rebates contact our partners at Bridgewater Environmental Services. Learn more about available Grants and Rebates.

The external blower for the Fuji Clean CEN 5 (four-bedroom unit) consumes only 1.1 kWh/day. This is the equivalent of approximately 22 cents per day, or just $6 per month. Fuji Clean’s dedication to energy efficiency helps make it an environmentally friendly addition to your home and the most cost-effective I/A OWTS on the market.

No! In fact, the FujiMac80 external blower is rated at just 40 decibels, which is classified as “library quiet.” On top of that, AWS houses the Fuji Clean external blowers inside a heavy-duty air enclosure box that further reduces the noise of the blower to virtually inaudible levels.

For a Fuji Clean CEN 5 (four-bedroom unit), the total cost of systems operations and maintenance is just $250 per year, the least expensive of all I/A OWTS systems. Advanced Wastewater Solutions also provides the first year of maintenance service free of charge as a courtesy to its customers.