Greywater Storage Tank Idea - Will it work?

[4570Man]

I had to have a renters tank pumped ( I hate rentals and I personally don’t own any ) and there was like 5 inches of grease at the top of the tank. They must have fried meat every night and dumped the grease down the drain.

 

[BoFuller]

See, I'm not sure I would use it for that. The water we're talking about has household stuff in it, oils, soaps, various other chemicals, etc. I use collected rainwater for vegetation by means of tanks or ponds and a few barrels on downspouts from gutters.

I collect rain water too, but when you only get 12 inches a year, almost all of it in August, it makes for a dry springtime. I had the plumber put in the plumbing for grey water, and I have a valve in the basement to separate them or run them together. They have been together for 4 yrs now, and I think it痴 time to turn the valve. There痴 just my wife and I and we are really careful about what we use.

 

[crashz]

I know of a couple who does not flush TP either. They state they can go 8-10 years without pumping their septic system. I wouldn't even approach my wife on that. The whole wipes and blue toilet water habit was difficult enough to break.

Bo - I'm sure if you guys are careful, you shouldn't have grey water quality issues. i would still think that a tank that will allow solids to settle and maybe even a grease baffle to eliminate/reduce floating oils would be beneficial. It would cut down on the scum from soaps and such.

 

[CHF4]

Just get a seat mounted tail sprayer off amazon and you barely use any tp.. just spray a bit before the first wipe.
And you don’t have a stinky arse. There’s a reason people use wet wipes on babies vs dry tp! Haha

 

[shootemup604]

Grey water disposal locally used to be legal to discharge into a wooden "soapbox". However, when things were "deregulated" the responsibility for install, repair, maintenance etc was given to "authorized professionals" who charge an arm and a leg ($15k and up), and you can no longer install or even fix your own system, unless approved by an AP, and there's no incentive for them to let you do that (you used to be able to install your own with design input and an inspection from the local health inspector.

My property has five septic systems previously installed in the 70's - I am using one for the house, one for the cottage, one for the shop bathroom, one for the RV pad/sanidump, and I have one that will serve for a "clubhouse" type recreation building in the future. My property is also nothing but gravel, so drainage is excellent and the systems should all run forever - if one does fail, I'll plumb it 100-300 feet into the next closest system. Each is pumped out every 10 years and gets a dead chicken or coon or possum occasionally for bacteria.

For my hunting rig greywater I dug a hole in the sand next the parking spot, buried a plastic 50 gallon drum perforated with 1/2" holes for the top 1/4, with an inlet at the top, and surrounded by a couple yards of 3" rocks and landscape fabric. Works like a dandy.

 

[fried1765]

Grey water disposal locally used to be legal to discharge into a wooden "soapbox". However, when things were "deregulated" the responsibility for install, repair, maintenance etc was given to "authorized professionals" who charge an arm and a leg ($15k and up), and you can no longer install or even fix your own system, unless approved by an AP, and there's no incentive for them to let you do that (you used to be able to install your own with design input and an inspection from the local health inspector.

My property has five septic systems previously installed in the 70's - I am using one for the house, one for the cottage, one for the shop bathroom, one for the RV pad/sanidump, and I have one that will serve for a "clubhouse" type recreation building in the future. My property is also nothing but gravel, so drainage is excellent and the systems should all run forever - if one does fail, I'll plumb it 100-300 feet into the next closest system. Each is pumped out every 10 years and gets a dead chicken or coon or possum occasionally for bacteria.

For my hunting rig greywater I dug a hole in the sand next the parking spot, buried a plastic 50 gallon drum perforated with 1/2" holes for the top 1/4, with an inlet at the top, and surrounded by a couple yards of 3" rocks and landscape fabric. Works like a dandy.

And just where is "my property"??
No location shown in your profile.

 

[shootemup604]

Sorry, must have missed that. British Columbia.

 

[PILOON]

Some 30 years back we had gov't environmental folks give a series of lectures with septic being the hotter subject.
They gave us approved plans for various septic solutions and I DIY'd my system according to one of them.
\The tank was built with filled concrete blocks and used rebar,
Dual communicating compartments to separate solids from liquid.
Due to my terrain I made the optional 10 ft diameter absorption field which is essentially a big hole with a circle of concrete blocks all which sits on about 10-12 yards of crushed stone.
Both the 'field' and septic tank covers are rough cut cedar planks.
My city inspector came and signed off.

My cost? 100 or so cinder blocks at $1-2.00, rough cedar at perhaps $30-40. or so.
Labor, who counted, but perhaps 10-12 hours.

I had that septic system pumped 20 years after building it and the pumper guy said it was in as good shape as a usual 4 year old well used system.

Go forward and today you need a certified soil engineer to make a report, a city permit to proceed and a certified installer all of which you'll say Bye Bye to over $20.000.
Guess that progress!
Guess that's inflation! (bit exaggerated however).

Oh, I'll add, as a director of our association we have available dyes for members to detect any faulty septic systems that might leak to the environment..
That DYE test passes every time!

 

[ultrarunner]

It is even more restrictive anywhere near water in Washington state with many new systems requiring long-term contract supervision with alarms, pumps, etc.