Who can lead me to a properly designed septic system?

Somebody out there in GRM land should know how to lay one out, but I don't.

I am looking to remove the concrete tank that is not a Septic tank in the Convoy Compound and replace it with a proper Septic system. There are no inspections in this area but I want to do it right, especially as my water is well water.

I have until Spring when the ground thaws and have found a good price on a tank (1500gallon).

Can somebody lead me to a online layout or post up some description of a correctly installed Septic system.

Thanks in advance

Steve

I can't give you specifics, but if you can use the good old fashioned lateral line type system instead of an aerobic system you will save yourself a lot of grief and money.

Well, I'm no expert, but in '03 - exactly 10-days before closing on the sale of my house(and the purchase of this one) - I discovered I needed a new septic system that was quoted at ~$10k, which coincided with all the profit from the sale(which was to be the downpayment on this place!).

I did what any GRMer would do, and designed and installed it myself, with the help of a few friends. We ended up pushing closing out a couple days, but it ended well & my total cost ended up being $2500.

I did have to meet code & pass an inspection, though the inspector was very easy to deal with(I had a feeling they have people doing this on their own very often). Overall, it was hard work getting it done in time, and making it work in our yard, but it wasn't difficult to design the system.

Here's what I can remember:

1.)The size of concrete tank, and your runs, is determined by the number of bedrooms. I'd guess your county health department would have the specs, even if you don't need to follow them.

2.)E36 M3 rolls down hill. Seriously, remember that & you'll be OK. IIRC, I only needed a 2" drop in 12' or maybe even less.

3.)I bought the tank & all the pieces for the runs(I don't think they call them leach-fields anymore, but they basically look like small, perforated, ABS plastic dog houses about 1' tall x 2' long that interconnect) from the same source. They delivered it all & placed the tank with their crane.

4.)I rented a mini-backhoe for a couple days & had a friend who operates heavy equipment come run it for a day & teach me how to use it. It barely reached to the bottom where we needed to put the tank, but we did get it done.

5.)I borrowed some survey equipment from another friend who's a geologist, who also taught me how to use it. To me, one of the hardest parts was getting the slope correct & even for the runs, yet also not going too deep(IIRC, we couldn't be more than 36" under the surface, which was a problem since our yard sloped uphill).

I'll dig around and see if I can find my envelope full of notes & plans. Not sure if there's anything else in there that may relate or be helpful, but I'll check. I also remember finding some online reference & help at the time, not sure if I have those URLs in there or not.

Good luck!

Talk to your local health district to find out the basic requirements for your town first.

When you decide how to run it(PM me your addy and I can send some sketches)don't scimp on stone. That is what makes the difference between a great system and one that might work.A good foot of stone below the pipe and at least two feet above it. Cover with that black landscape material before backfilling. Roughly 1 1/2"-2" pitch on each 10 foot length of pipe .More than that and the liquid will run off too fast. Generally, you'll want to have at least 50' runs from the distribution box and a minimum of four of them. The county can tell you what state code is, based on # of bedrooms and soil conditions. Figure on spending 3k, if you're a good shopper and good with a shovel. It's not rocket science, but you do only want to do it once. Stay away from the plastic tanks and distribution boxes, to properly anchor them is a pain. I would also stay away from ABS, it gets too brittle in the cold and crushes much easier than regular PVC drain pipe.

minimac wrote: don't scimp on stone.

Depends upon your soil. Stone isn't used on my neck of the woods.

I'm going to suggest that you hire a professional to at least design your system. This should only be a couple hundred bucks. It will be well worth it, versus screwing it up and having to redo it all. However, if you insist on doing it yourself, then go to your local public library and borrow some books on how to design septic systems. One I have on my shelf is Constructing & Maintaining Your Well & Septic System by Max & Charlotte Alth, (C) 1984 TAB BOOKS. It is very hands-on, here's how you do it, with lots of drawings.

Also make sure that there is no inspection where you are. I live in rural Arkansas. That's just about as far from the world as you can get and still speak English. Even here, the only inspection/registration needed is the septic system. I think it's a federal thing, or yet another unfunded federal mandate. If AR requires it, OH will too, and probably instituted the requirement 20 years before AR. Call your county and talk to whoever is in charge there about it. They will also know who to recommend to design your system, one way or another. They may have a list. Here, they call them a "D.R." I forget what that stands for. Designated something. Prices vary greatly from one to the other, so shop all the ones on the list.

Each state has a plumbing code. Localities can make it more stringent, and usually counties cover septics to take into account local soil conditions. Dirt may work well in Texas, but in NY and Ohio, you have a frost line of 3-4 feet. Leach lines don't work too well when they are frozen! Another consideration is any wells in the area. Here a septic field can't be closer than 100 feet. Again, this is locally driven. It's not brain surgery, nor is it rocket science, but you want to do it once and do it right.

Good ideas everyone, thanks for responses.

I will contact the county to be sure of any regulations.

minimac you will be getting a PM

Local codes and regulations will have a lot of influence on how easy or hard a system is to design and build. Minimum and maximum depths, local water tables, slopes, soil type, etc. I would recommend splitting the job with a professional. Someone else to design it, you do the labor.

I am checking to be sure but from what I have heard there is no inspection done on the site, I am just trying to find out how to do it correctly

Contact the Environmental Office of your local Health Dept.

Most of the country now has septic regulations. It is always the first code to be instituted in any area.