About
Innovative RUCK Systems
Innovative RUCK® Systems is a successive firm to a firm
originally called Southeast RUCK® Systems, Inc.
Southeast RUCK® Systems has been dissolved.
Michael B. McGrath is a Professional Engineer and Land Surveyor in
Falmouth, Massachusetts. Early in
1980, primary market of Holmes and McGrath, Inc. was the design and approval of
subdivisions in Falmouth and nearby towns.
In 1984, the Town of Falmouth adopted a nutrient loading requirement as
part of the approval of subdivisions. In
the process of preparing the initial nutrient loading studies, it became
apparent that the primary impact on coastal estuaries was the impact of nitrogen
from septic systems. Mr. McGrath
arranged for a patent search to be made to see if there was a solution to the
problem of nitrogen loading from septic systems.
The patent search revealed that Dr. Rein Laak of the University of
Connecticut had a patent for a passive denitrifying septic system. Mr. McGrath and his partners approached Dr. Laak and came to
an agreement whereby an initial Residential RUCK® System was
constructed in Davisville, East Falmouth, MA.
The RUCK® System was installed in early 1986 and operated for
four years. During the four year
operation, the system was tested monthly.
The initial RUCK® System in Massachusetts had several
problems. The septic tanks leaked
and a raw chamber where denitrification was supposed to take place clogged.
However, in spite of these problems, the testing data showed that the
system consistently denitrified to a point where over 60% of the
total nitrogen was removed in the initial RUCK® System.
Consequently, in 1990 the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
approved Residential RUCK® Systems by a variance procedure.
In 1995, the state adopted nutrient loading requirements and Innovative
RUCK® Systems applied for a General Certificate for Residential RUCK®
Systems. In 1995, based on
the results of an analysis of data from the East Falmouth installation, as well
as data from various test locations across the United States, the Department
issued a General Certificate allowing Residential RUCK® Systems to
be approved by the local Board of Health. Residential
RUCK® Systems are also awarded a density bonus of two more bedrooms
per acre in nitrogen sensitive areas. In
the past, innovative RUCK® Systems has proposed other alternative
systems: Stacked RUCK® System and ECO RUCK®
System.
Stacked
RUCK® and ECO RUCK® Systems are not being further proposed by Innovative RUCK®
System at this time.