extra sewer system

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I've been planning on rerouteing my drains from my kitchen/bath sinks, shower, dish washer, and washing machine toward the garden and empty into a 30 gal. plastic barrel (baried underground). Then drain from the 30 gal. barrel out into the garden. Only the commodes will be left to drain into the original septic system. Does anyone see any problems with this. I live out in the country with no type of inspections. Thank you.

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), May 02, 2001

Answers

I'd be careful of anything which might be, or become, putrid. Routinely, people run kitchen sinks through what's called a greasetrap (which it is, too, to avoid sealing your drainage area up with fat) but which also acts as a small septic tank for the food scraps (this has been covered in the archives). I'd also think about where you or others might be washing dirty babies or nappies or manure-covered overalls or whatever.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 02, 2001.

You say no inspections. I find that hard to beleive. Most sanitation issues are handled by county health services.

Your goals are ok, but needs a little work. What type of plastic barrel are you planning on using? If it was not ment for burial then it will not survive in the ground for long and will collapse. Where do you live and what is your tempature ranges? What about the water table? A big barrel in the ground can float up if the water table is to high or due to frost heaving. Also where is the overflow going to go? If you have more than 1 person in the house, 30 gallons is not much water. A quick shower could come close to filling the tank. Think bigger tanks. IN addition you will need a way to service the tank. You also need a "junk" tank to collect solid materials in your water (mainly food scraps) that go down the drain. Your dishwasher will generate a lot of junk. This junk tank will need to be accessable as well to pump clean from time to time.

You may find that its better to put a Y value on your drain lines. Switch it to the garden tank till its full then switch it back to the main drain line.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), May 02, 2001.


Why not get a book or surf the net for info on graywater systems?

-- Diane (dshogren@uswest.net), May 02, 2001.

I'd keep the kitchen sink with the toilets... For reasons already mentioned. One other thing I would consider is using either larger barrel, or more than one.

We plan on installing graywater systems AND having composting toilets... Don't know how far we will get, but that's the plan, lol!

There's a ton of info on graywater systems, and some on what to do with the 'other' as well, if you really want to make the most out of both systems!!

Finally, remember that often times bleach is used for some laundry... Plants will be killed by this. Because plants absorb so many different things as far as chemicals go, be careful what soaps/detergents (or ingredients thereof) are in all that wash water!!!

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), May 02, 2001.


Russel, I've had very good success with doing what you're planning. Two caveats, though. First, if you're a carnivore, forget it. My neighbor did this, and ended up with a patch of grease about fifteen feet by twenty-five feet, covered with yellow jackets (so called "meat bees") and flies. Gross!

Second, even if you're a vegetarian, as I am, don't let the kitchen drain go onto a flat area. It will likely form a shallow little wet area which will also be gross, and anaerobic. I had this happen in the first system I built this way.

By dumping the kitchen waste (and I'm only talking about the inadvertant food particles that get past your sink strainer--not wholesale dumping of food scraps) onto a hillside, the food particles will settle out, while the water will continue on down the hill. At least that's what my experience is.

At my new house, everything but the shitters and the kitchen sink are reused. I wish I'd have plumbed the kitchen sink away from the septic tank as well, but I was thinking about resale. I COULD have made the system convertible, though. Oh, well. Good luck!

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), May 02, 2001.



Don't know where you live but the health dept will be all over you when they find out. There are too many dangers from this idea to think them all out. The soap from the washer, and all along with the grease will make a really smelly mess. You might be able to use it with lots of serious work but don't think it would be a reasonable expense. Good luck

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), May 02, 2001.

I just sold a house (in the country on an acre of land)that had a drain out of the basement onto the lawn about 20 feet from the house for the washing machine and basement water. The county health department came out to inspect the well and septic, and the guy just said, "Tell the new owner to be aware of this", and let it go. I've known a lot of homes to have somewhat of what you're describing, it's sometimes known as a "dry well", usually just a deep hole filled up with large rocks, and the grey water drains into it and filters out into the ground around it. Saves the septic tank and drainfield. If you're careful of grease, I would think it would be O.K. I've NEVER poured grease down the kitchen drain, anyway. Don't know what county you live in, but the county I'm speaking of is very strict about most things and didn't flinch at it.

-- Bonnie (chilton@stateline-isp.com), May 04, 2001.

Russel I have my kitchen sink (my new dishwasher which I love), washing machine water and showers going out to the woods. Just kept adding pieces of pvc, until it was out about a hundred feet then I buried the pipe and just dug a "pond" behind the big oak tree. My hens run across the yards and into the woods to peck through this, it was also great for the ducks. I spatula off all my plates before they hit the sink for the chicken coop or dogs anyway so we don't even have a grease trap. We are out in the woods, so nobody to say we can't do this. We do have the bathroom sinks going into the septic, our toilets are low water ones, and my husband was worried we wouldn't have enough water going through them for the leach lines to work correctly. I do use the sink in the bathroom for cleaning my milking equipment about every week to get the good bacteria down their. We have been out here 14 years, knock on wood we have not had to have our septic pumped, and not a lick of trouble out of it. Good luck with your venture. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 04, 2001.

Russell: During one of our last drought seasons, the county relaxed abit on using grey water for landscape purposes here in southern CA. And now all cities have re-routed the waste water through eye-catching lavendar lines to water landscape along the freeways. I installed a collection system to capture the water from the washing machine. It pumped from the washer out into a series of two - 33 gal poly trash cans which were connected at the bottom by PVC. The washer would over-fill just one barrel, therefore the two in series. I attached a garden hose to an outlet after collecting the water and let it drain onto the yard. What I found was that even with laundry soap and the use of bleach, bacteria would multiply in this water and within two days produce an oder and sludge similar to the septic. Therefore, I would advise you to use the water as soon as you collect it. If you place your barrels into the ground, I assume you plan on using a pump to lift it up and out through the line. Any thing left in the bottom will become septic very quickly. I always rinsed my trash cans out with the hose afterward to stop this from occuring. Good luck

-- Dwight (summit1762@aol.com), May 15, 2001.

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