100 yards from house to septic tank?

[Dargo]

My barn is 125 yards from my house (straight line), and it has it's own septic tank. Because of the lay of the land here, I would have to go over 400' to get to my house's septic tank. Some of you guys must have little doo doo. The line from my house and guest house to the main septic tank is 6" (I should know, I've cut it enough and had to fix it). I took care of all the cleanouts with the rototiller. They are now about 2 feet underground. I have 3 separate shut offs on waterlines in my yard as well; one to my main house, one to the guest house, and one to my barn. The idea is that if a water line breaks at one location I can still have water at the others. Of course I have the main shut off 1/4 mile away at my meter and, like a good boy, I copied that fancy schmancy tool the water department used to shut off my water main so I can shut it off without calling them and waiting for an hour for them to show up. Do you know how much water a 2 1/2" water line can put out in an hour with 60 psi?! Holy crap man, after I last cut my main water line trenching to my barn for cable and internet I found that my home made shut off tool worked so well, I made a spare. And, when the moron got his concrete truck hung up going around my barn to pour a pad behind it and broke my water line to the barn (oh yeah, he was down over 3' when he got stuck and the almost instant addition of a few thousand gallons of water made sure he was really stuck) I was glad I could shut off the water to just my barn.

Anyway, I just thought I'd mention the separate water shut offs since you seem to be planning ahead. That's always been the challange for me; think of what I'll need 20 years from now. When I had a boring machine out here to run the underground line out to the dock on my lake for electric, phone and internet, I also had them shoot a line to the island on my lake for the same. I can't say that I've ever used that, but if I have the urge, I can sit on my island and run my computer, talk on a land line, and browse the internet. I guess I get carried away sometimes on my 'plan ahead' thoughts.

 

[LBrown59]

Just finished having mine pumped (routing maintenance every 5 years). Some things to thing about:

Location of tank. Be sure that the pumper has access to it. Mine is reachable from the drive but just barely. If it weren't, I don't know what could be done as there is no other access.

We also dug out and pumped my neighbors as he saw the pumper here and asked to have it done 'while you're in the area'. That one was put in in 1988 and never pumped. Problem. Lid and boss was caved in somewhat and the internal baffle displaced. Plastic tank. The pumper related some horror stories of plastic tanks that he found caved in and had to be replaced. Convinced me that any tank I might put in in the future will be concrete (mine is already).

Harry K

So will concrete: How do I know Just ask my neighbor who was on his garden tractor when his concrete tank caved in as he rode the tractor over it.

 

[LBrown59]

Depending on your codes they may require a seperate septic system for the house and shop. I know we had to to, wasn't real happy about it either.

When I built My garage I just put a Tee in the line between the house and the tank and tied the line for the garage into it.

 

[LBrown59]

Seems kinda crazy to have to have a separate system for the barn. What's the difference of going to the bathroom in the house or going to the bathroom in the barn? You could have 15 bathrooms but you only use one at a time. Am I missing something here?

No They are.

 

[LBrown59]

My barn is 125 yards from my house (straight line), and it has it's own septic tank. Because of the lay of the land here, I would have to go over 400' to get to my house's septic tank. Some of you guys must have little doo doo. The line from my house and guest house to the main septic tank is 6" (I should know, I've cut it enough and had to fix it). I took care of all the cleanouts with the rototiller. They are now about 2 feet underground. I have 3 separate shut offs on waterlines in my yard as well; one to my main house, one to the guest house, and one to my barn. The idea is that if a water line breaks at one location I can still have water at the others. Of course I have the main shut off 1/4 mile away at my meter and, like a good boy, I copied that fancy schmancy tool the water department used to shut off my water main so I can shut it off without calling them and waiting for an hour for them to show up. Do you know how much water a 2 1/2" water line can put out in an hour with 60 psi?! Holy crap man, after I last cut my main water line trenching to my barn for cable and internet I found that my home made shut off tool worked so well, I made a spare. And, when the moron got his concrete truck hung up going around my barn to pour a pad behind it and broke my water line to the barn (oh yeah, he was down over 3' when he got stuck and the almost instant addition of a few thousand gallons of water made sure he was really stuck) I was glad I could shut off the water to just my barn.

Anyway, I just thought I'd mention the separate water shut offs since you seem to be planning ahead. That's always been the challange for me; think of what I'll need 20 years from now. When I had a boring machine out here to run the underground line out to the dock on my lake for electric, phone and internet, I also had them shoot a line to the island on my lake for the same. I can't say that I've ever used that, but if I have the urge, I can sit on my island and run my computer, talk on a land line, and browse the internet. I guess I get carried away sometimes on my 'plan ahead' thoughts.

I do the same with gas and Elect. shut offs too.

 

[Henro]

For what it's worth:

20+ years ago I ran a new 4" line to my existing septic tank. About 150 feet. AT the time I asked a plumber how he would run it, and he said just follow the grade. We are in western PA and "follow the grade" could be anywhere from 1/8 inch per foot to over 6" per foot drop. Having read all the books I could find, I decided to run the pipe about 1/4" per foot drop, and use 45 degree angles to step the pipe as required to get to the septic tank. Never had a problem with flow or blockage or anything, never.

So two years ago public sewers come through and I have to tap in. It is about 250 feet from the house to the tap in point. I get the necessary permits to do it myself, and ask the county plumbing department if I should step the pipe down the slope to maintain a 1/8" inch or so slope the whole way. What? the guy says. No, just follow the slope. So I did. As did the plumbers who installed a number of neighbors systems. Two years have past and no problems with the new run.

So no problems with the one that I ran accouding to the 1/8" (or so) drop per foot for the last 20+ years, and probably no problems for the line I put in two years ago that follows the slope (probably 1" to 2" per foot drop).

Around here I think they do just about anything that is slightly more than flat in its drop. This is Alleghey county, PA, the center of which is Pittsburgh, PA, so it is not like it is a rural area without PITA codes and such.

It still amazes me that when I did not have to follow the codes (cause I just did it the way I wanted to myself, for myself) I probably did it better than most plumbers do that do follow the regulations (even if there is no regulation on slope outside the house...)

Bottom line is that it seems that we run sewer pipe at just about any slolpe you can dream up, and while problems do occur, they are not that common. Rare really...

 

[kmdigital]

That part about the liquid outrunning the solids is an old wives tale. You can't get a sewer line to steep. This is common sense. Solids get left behind when the line is too flat, and there isn't enough slope to carry both the liquids and solids down the line. I.E., the liquid slowly, slowly drains away, and leaves the solids behind. And even this won't normally happen unless there is a belly in the line that collects liquids and solids.

I know, many plumbers will tell you that too steep is a problem, but remember, plumbers in general are some of the most old fashioned and stuck on the old ways of doing things around. They don't like change because "if it was good enough for my dad and his dad before him, then it is good enough for me". And they are some of the worst people around for believing and repeating totally false tales like this.

As mentioned before, city sewers run for miles and miles and miles without any problems, so 300' is absolutely nothing. And city sewer lines can be as small as 4" up to lines you can walk through. 1/4" per foot of fall or greater is ideal, but 1/8" will work if you don't have enough grade to make it steeper. The key is to get the bottom of the pipe as straight as possible so it doesn't have any belly in it. At 1/4" per foot a little belly won't hurt, as it still has slope, but at 1/8" per foot a slight belly can easily create a flat spot in the bottom of the line, and this is what causes problems.

And don't EVER install a pump or a pump system if you don't have to! Believe me, they are absolutely no fun to work on when they fail, and the WILL fail. 100% guranteed! Something as minor as a tampon can cause problems, and even though you can tell women not to flush these things, they still do. Believe me, that's no fun at all. I am a licensed plumber and have been for almost 20 years, and they only thing that might be worse then working on sewage pumps is unclogging a plugged urinal drain. This smell is even worse then a septic tank, if that is possible.

Bottom line, only use sewage pumps when there is no other choice. They cost hundreds to install, must be maintained, break down at the worst times, don't work if the electric goes out, clog up if someone accidentally flushes rags, tampons or even paper towels down the toilet. Can you tell that I have pulled to many out of pits over the years to ever want to do that if I don't have to?

Sure, you can get heavy duty grinder type sewage pumps that will chew up rags, etc, but they start at about $2,500 and go up, way up. And they are even higher maintenance then regular pumps due to more moving parts and the cutter blades. Forget the pump unless you have no other choice.

 

[tracecom]

Wow - tons of good advice here! Unfortunately, the health department guy nixed my plan today. The place behind the (still unbuilt) pole barn is too wet for a field line long enough to service the (still unbuilt) house and the pole barn, but there is a good area just behind the house, so I will put the septic tank uphill from the pole barn. The inspector said that I could (a) install a pump to pump the stuff back up the hill, (b) install a separate tank and very short field line behind the pole barn, or (c) put in a new kind of septic tank for the pole barn that doesn't require a field line. He didn't mention option (d) for the pole barn which will see very low toilet use, and neither did I. (My land is very rural and I have just over 50 acres.)

 

[plowking]

One last thing.... With our system, part of the 6 monthly maintenance includes putting a chemical (Copper something) into the tank. This is passed out through the dispersal field and inhibits root growth in the area immediately adjacent to the pipes. Won't help at all with the "main flow" pipes, but I thought this quite clever way to protect the dispersal field.

It is called copper sulphate, some root killer products use a different ingredient to kill roots. The products that contain copper sulphate have warning labels. In my area , some states don't like it, and you have to be carefull how concentrated you make it by amount you pour down. I think the other ingredient used in other root products is silver nitrate. plowking

 

[CTyler]

Seems kinda crazy to have to have a separate system for the barn. What's the difference of going to the bathroom in the house or going to the bathroom in the barn? You could have 15 bathrooms but you only use one at a time. Am I missing something here?

I don't understand the reasoning for a second tank and didn't get an explanation from the inspector other than it was code. I tried to plead a case but it went nowhere. The shop has one bathroom and a 500 gal tank. The house has a 2000 gal 75' behind the house and 4" pipe. When we finish the basement there will be 5 bathrooms. Having a jacuuzi/bathtub added to the sizing as well.

Only thing I can think of is if you split the acerage and/or it becomes a seperate dwelling? Don't know.