Septic question - pumping to drain field

[RobA]

Short comment. I am a liscenced sewage system installer in Illinois. We have the clay soil issue. We have went to an aeration system. I have one in my home. It is very compact. Requires no leach field. The discharge is chlorinated and is basically clear water. Do you have an option like this?

Not sure if they are OK in my area. But schism's comments make me leary of them.

 

[CCWKen]

The best thing to do is check with YOUR county health department. The rules and regulations vary by county as well as State. I would hate to see you have to rip it out and pay a $20,000 fine PER DAY for being wrong.

 

[2manyrocks]

When I first read this post, my reaction is that it sounds very involved, and anytime something gets this involved, things go wrong. Plus it's usually very expensive.

 

[CurlyDave]

2manyrocks has it right. Complicated sounds bad to me too. Also, the thought of a "maintenance intensive" poop pump makes my blood run cold. I know exactly who is going to be the maintenance worker for that little gem.

 

[Kays Supply]

I am not starting a fight. In Illinois there is no inspection. The cost of running the aerator is about $30 a month. The chlorine is in tablets and I will admit I have not kept track of that cost. The install cost me about $3000 since I could do it myself. This included 200 ft of sock pipe, not required it just helps on the discharge. I have replaced one air pump in 8 years for about $450, I upgraded to a silent model. All said, you just have to do what it takes ,complicated or not, if you are going to live in the country. The option is a bucket under the bed.

 

[Egon]

Going off track a bit but still about disposal.

It woulds almost seem that a new type of disposal system could be devised for difficult areas. One in which toilet effluent is kept separate and passed through a composting system or electric disposal system and another that would handle the more benign general or gray water which should be easier to treat??

Someone must have ideas on how to do this.

In general I am of the opinion that we have complicated all our sewage systems by the addition of large quantities of expensive potable water which in the future may not be as readily available as they are now.

My apologies for digressing from the OP's original thread.

 

[Dmace]

The best thing to do is check with YOUR county health department. The rules and regulations vary by county as well as State. I would hate to see you have to rip it out and pay a $20,000 fine PER DAY for being wrong.

It's getting designed by a LICENSED DESIGNER, there is no need to go talk to 40 different people and get 40 different answers. The designer knows your topography, soil types, drainage calculations, and layout. If they know what they are doing this should not be a problem. I have done a few hotels that make this project a walk in the park.

It sounds as if you are only going up a gentle sloping hill and in that case you may get away with a single pump in a pump tank right after the septic tank. Stay away from aeration systems, I have designed 2 in the past 6 years and both have been removed and replaced by a much cheaper and much more reliable geo-system like and Enviro-Septic or Eljen In-Drains. I am sure there is something available in your area like these systems.

Also, pump systems are not "maintenance intensive", I have clients that have systems over 10 years old and have never even looked at the system let alone had to maintain it at all. These pumps are built on the same motor design as your well pump and everyone knows how long those last. They use very little electricity and most have built in alarms just in case the pump fails to turn on.

I don't know about your area but in NH you have to have what they call "differential venting" for all pump systems. The basics to this system is that there is a PVC pipe coming off the distribution box that goes straight up in to the air about 11ft with a 180 elbow and then on the end of the system there is another pipe about 1-2ft straight up with another elbow. The difference in air pressure between the two allows for easy, no vaccuum flow which significantly lengthens the leach bed and pump life.

 

[IslandTractor]

Yet another example of LBrowns thoughts on Septic Systems.

We already know we don't want to live downstream of LBrown.

Or upstream either!

 

[LBrown59]

Short comment. I am a liscenced sewage system installer in Illinois. We have the clay soil issue. We have went to an aeration system. I have one in my home. It is very compact. Requires no leach field. The discharge is chlorinated and is basically clear water. Do you have an option like this?

We used to have till the county got the bright idea to require leach fields/bed on them which reintroduced the problem they solved .
Nothing short of brilliant.

 

[LBrown59]

And it is systems like that, that are causing the kinds of septic regulation changes that are on our horizon here in the Puget sound area....

Why Is that.How are they doing it?

We already know we don't want to live downstream of LBrown.

The sad thing is you are no better off being down stream
of those other systems that merily drive up the bulding and or bying cost of the home owner.