By Ruben Gonzales
Mountain View Telegraph
A new septic vent pipe filter, invented by an East Mountains resident, may offer reprieve to those battling septic stench wafting onto their porches or into houses.
Aaron Appel, inventor of the OdorHog, said he thinks his filters have eliminated septic system odors altogether.
The filters are designed to fit directly on vent pipes that are generally on rooftops. The odors are pulled through the charcoal-activated filter that completely absorbs hydrogen sulfide, which creates the rotten egg smell that is emitted from the vents, he said.
Appel said he was eager to create an odor filter after fighting septic smells at his Edgewood home. He said work on a filter came after failed attempts at using septic tank additives like organic and biological agents as well as acids and alkalis to remedy the odors.
Appel said he got the idea for a charcoal filter after realizing fish tank filters and certain air filters use charcoal.
"I started building these in my garage, and people saw what I was doing and wanted them too ... it spread by word of mouth," Appel said.
Appel, who was a pilot instructor at one time, said a student of his, Steven Grabiel, saw the potential in the filters and wanted to get involved.
Grabiel, a Sandia Knolls resident, is a 50 percent partner in A&M Bio-Filter, the company producing OdorHog.
With the aid of the Internet, Grabiel said the company has taken off in sales. Dave Appel, Aaron's brother, is credited by the business partners for his work on the OdorHog Web site, www.odorhog.com.
"If you type in septic filter," Grabiel said, "we're at the top."
He added that the backbone of the business is in e-commerce, or Internet sales.
The company really took off six months after the first filter was available two years ago, Grabiel said.
As business quickly picked up, a third person, Eric Gonzales, was hired to assemble the filters in his South Valley home in Albuquerque. After the filters are assembled, they are sent to Grabiel's house in Sandia Knolls to be packaged and shipped.
Although initial sales were to Sandia Knolls customers, demand now comes from customers in places like Chicago, California, England and Germany, Appel said.
The filters were originally designed for use on houses, Grabiel said, but they have been sold to big businesses like the Denver Coliseum, Aspen ski resort and some of the Chili's restaurants in California.
"I think we've barely scratched the surface of the market potential," Appel said.
Right now the company has only one wholesaler, Climate Equipment and Distributing in Albuquerque. The wholesaler buys the filters in bulk and sells them to local plumbers, Appel said. The wholesaler also sells filters to the public, one or two at a time.
Filter costs vary according to the various sizes available.
Appel said he wants to expand distribution to include companies throughout the United States and abroad. Patents are pending, Appel said, and improvements on existing filters are under way.
In many northern states in the United States, problems exist with freezing vapors clogging vent pipes, Appel said. One new development, the PowerHog, has a solar strip to catch solar heat and melt frozen vapors.
"In many places people are climbing on their roofs where there's ice and snow, with hot water to pour down these pipes," Appel said.
Appel said OdorHog customers are usually satisfied, and those who aren't have usually tried to use the filter in ways for which it wasn't designed. He said people often use it for problems like filtering out odors originating inside of the house.
mountain 
...go to bookmarks
E-mail Story
Print Friendly
