Question about aerobic septic system for house and shop

[Corkpuller]

My goal is to share the same system between a detached shop with 1 bathroom living quarters and a house with 2 full bathrooms.

Trying to find out the maximum amount of solid line you can run from house and shop to meet at the point of the first tank location. Or, is there a certain way to accomplish my goal?

We've had a conventional septic with two 500 gal tanks to a distribution box to the field (leech) lines for 30 yrs. I have very little knowledge about the aerobic systems.

And yes, I know I could contact an aerobic system installer to find out my answer. But I ain't, yet.
Bear in mind that this will be located in TEXAS.
Not interested in hearing about any "codes" for any other State. It will not be useful info to me.

Thanks

 

[LouNY]

I'd be tempted to put in a sump with a grinder pump at the shop, then run 2" up to your existing tanks.
If you do so ball valves will be your friends for any maintenance.

 

[wagne223]

The restriction on length of solid line will be the drop.
Drain lines must drop 1/4" per foot to function properly.

When I added a bathroom to my house, I could not get enough drop so I did what Lou recommended. I installed a sewage ejector system to pump from that bath to the Septic tank. It works great.

 

[AllByteNoBark]

I believe wagne223 is correct. I'm in South Texas and my furthest bathroom is about 125 feet from the tank. The septic installer complained a little about how deep he had to go but it all works as it should.

 

[Corkpuller]

The restriction on length of solid line will be the drop.
Drain lines must drop 1/4" per foot to function properly.

Thanks for rattling my brain, I knew that >>>>>> getting the proper drop. However, I wouldn't have known that 1/4 : 1' is required for a sewer system.

If'n my figgerin is correct, 60 feet of solid line from the house and shop to the common tank would put the entry to the tank @ 15". That should be no problem, and a man may want that tank even deeper.
With these systems, is there a maximum depth to set the tank?
The aerobic systems I see around here have exposed mushroom looking tops above ground. ??? I suspect the solid line inlet is situated somewhere between 3/4 to the top of the tank. ???

I need to start looking around here and find a house being built and ask when the septic install is, then I could see the "guts" of the system.

 

[RNeumann]

I’m not sure what you mean by “solid line”. Are you talking rigid pipe or solids as in turds?

Their is no maximum distance between the structures and the tanks if that’s the question. Entire cities are run on gravity if it’s possible. Either your structures are uphill from the tank your your tank will need to be deeper for a gravity system. If you are talking pumping those can be sized to pump about any distance. At some point it will be cheaper to install a second system vs the cost to pump though.

How far and what’s the grade difference (higher or lower vs the tank)? How far apart is the house and shop? I’m assuming the tank is near the house?

 

[Corkpuller]

How far and what’s the grade difference (higher or lower vs the tank)? How far apart is the house and shop? I’m assuming the tank is near the house?

Ain't built anything yet. Have a clean slate, ~2 acres clear cut out of our 9 acres. Ground will be at the same grade.
Ain't gettin any younger, so this shop (40x60) will be very close to the house.
Probably back wall of house will be even with front wall of shop. If the house plan ends up with front facing garage doors I may line the fronts of both buildings up.
Still kickin tires and doodlin with a pencil.

and solid line, I'm talkin pipe. If I was talkin turds I'd a posted on the Mahindra forum.

 

[hawkeye08]

When we installed our septic system for the house we were building in '93, we were living in a trailer about 50 from end of house that the septic was planned for. We simply put a "Y" in the pipe to the tank, house comes into one side, the trailer on the other. All the pipes have the proper slope, never had a problem.

 

[Corkpuller]

When we installed our septic system for the house we were building in '93, we were living in a trailer about 50 from end of house that the septic was planned for. We simply put a "Y" in the pipe to the tank, house comes into one side, the trailer on the other. All the pipes have the proper slope, never had a problem.

Is that an aerobic system?

I was thinking of doing it the same but am not sure if there would be any “get ya’s” with the aerobic systems.

 

[PILOON]

More and more cities are mandating frequent pumping, in our area its every 2 years (but 4 for seasonal users).

Based on this trend I suggest you want to do whatever to have only the one system.

Just this year folks have been getting letters to confirm their seasonal usage.

 

[3Ts]

Thanks for rattling my brain, I knew that >>>>>> getting the proper drop. However, I wouldn't have known that 1/4 : 1' is required for a sewer system.

If'n my figgerin is correct, 60 feet of solid line from the house and shop to the common tank would put the entry to the tank @ 15". That should be no problem, and a man may want that tank even deeper.
With these systems, is there a maximum depth to set the tank?
The aerobic systems I see around here have exposed mushroom looking tops above ground. ??? I suspect the solid line inlet is situated somewhere between 3/4 to the top of the tank. ???

I need to start looking around here and find a house being built and ask when the septic install is, then I could see the "guts" of the system.

May want to verify the slope requirements. My understanding is that the 1/4" per foot is for 3" and smaller pipe with the 4" pipe being 1/8" per foot.

There are a number of requirements imposed by the "Texas Commission on Environmental Quality"
On-Site Sewage Facilities (Septic Systems) - TCEQ - www.tceq.texas.gov
so you may want to spend some time going thru their information, there's also info from other sites that are easier to read than the governments.

I've not found anything that limits length of sewer line other than the drop. I have at least 200' of sewer line from my RV pad, past my cabin, past my barn, past another RV pad, and finally to the septic tank. And I have another 150' of sewer line from my house that ties into the mid point of that 1st line and no problems with any of it. Each section of pipe was carefully measured and adjusted for slope before burying any of it and there's been no problems.

There's also plumbing codes that deal with the piping to the septic tank that are well worth paying attention to (including the type of fittings) and those can be found in a number of books. The best ones I've found to be published by Taunton Press and articles from "Fine Homebuilding" and the "Journal of Light Construction". All of which will require a few $ to peruse but are well worth the money. I can get you the ISBN number of what I consider to be the best ones if anyone is interested. And no, I don't get any kind of compensation for this recommendation other than knowing I've helped someone avoid some mistakes.

 

[4570Man]

Thanks for rattling my brain, I knew that >>>>>> getting the proper drop. However, I wouldn't have known that 1/4 : 1' is required for a sewer system.

If'n my figgerin is correct, 60 feet of solid line from the house and shop to the common tank would put the entry to the tank @ 15". That should be no problem, and a man may want that tank even deeper.
With these systems, is there a maximum depth to set the tank?
The aerobic systems I see around here have exposed mushroom looking tops above ground. ??? I suspect the solid line inlet is situated somewhere between 3/4 to the top of the tank. ???

I need to start looking around here and find a house being built and ask when the septic install is, then I could see the "guts" of the system.

I doubt you can burry the tank very deep because the fill lines have to be lower than the top.

 

[RNeumann]

You will have no issues adding the shop the your septic.......same number of people just more bathrooms. Your septic won’t know where the turds are coming from and won’t care!

 

[Corkpuller]

3Ts - you are a wealth of information, thank you. I'm not going to install this system, the local septic man will do it.

I doubt you can burry the tank very deep because the fill lines have to be lower than the top.

yessir, I know that applies to a conventional system with leech lines, but that's not what I'll be using. Aerobic system is the stoopid water sprinklers that water the grass while its raining. :duh:

 

[Corkpuller]

You will have no issues adding the shop the your septic.......same number of people just more bathrooms. Your septic won’t know where the turds are coming from and won’t care!

yer right about that!!

3Ts brought up the point of pipe size for figuring the drop per foot. So that's something I'll study up on. I know my 30 yr old conventional system is all 4 inch, not sure about the Aerobic systems. I thought all main drain lines to the septic from a house were 4 inch.

 

[RNeumann]

yer right about that!!

3Ts brought up the point of pipe size for figuring the drop per foot. So that's something I'll study up on. I know my 30 yr old conventional system is all 4 inch, not sure about the Aerobic systems. I thought all main drain lines to the septic from a house were 4 inch.

4” pipe has been the standard underground sewer line for decades. No change for your system. In the shop you can go 3” but outside will need to transition to 4”.

With underground work you want 1/4” per foot of slope or more.

 

[gsganzer]

I have an aerobic system shared by the main house and a detached shop/in-law apartment. The line from the shop is about 100' of 3" PVC and has the correct slope. 3" was used so the liquid wouldn't over run the solids with it's limited use.

When it was first installed, the house calculations required a 500 Gallon per day system by code. I bumped it to 800 GPD, so the shop could be added later.

I don't think the length of the pipe is an issue, just the slope.

 

[Corkpuller]

I have an aerobic system shared by the main house and a detached shop/in-law apartment. The line from the shop is about 100' of 3" PVC and has the correct slope. 3" was used so the liquid wouldn't over run the solids with it's limited use.

When it was first installed, the house calculations required a 500 Gallon per day system by code. I bumped it to 800 GPD, so the shop could be added later.

I don't think the length of the pipe is an issue, just the slope.

Great info, thank you sir.

 

[kc5dlo]

I had a conventional septic system with a mobile home and in the late '90s built a 30x50 shop/house. I really liked not having to pay people to come on my property and take samples to test 4 times a year as well as electric costs and equipment repairs that would happen eventually. I did not want an aerobic system but all new construction (Kaufman County Texas) at that time required aerobic. I went to the courthouse and asked to speak with someone that would have answers to my questions and was directed to an office in the basement that was literally a former closet. Explained what I was doing and was told as long as the property stayed single family, I could simply tie into my existing system with no permit or permission needed. Since the outflow of the new building ended up lower than the lateral line of the old system, I installed a 30 gallon sump basin and a 1/2hp sewage pump to pump into the septic tank.
That system has worked very well for 20 years. I did have to replace the pump once but besides that and the electricity to run the pump, the system has been free.
I am sure that closet / office at the court house is now much bigger, but I would do everything I could to stay with a conventional system as long as it is working well.

 

[Corkpuller]

I would do everything I could to stay with a conventional system as long as it is working well.

This is for new construction on property I'll be building on and retiring to.
Got a clean slate, 2 clear cut acres among 9 acres total.

May have confused some with my comments about the conventional system. That is what we have at our current homestead.