Toilet Project - Need Help

[Gary Fowler]

I dont know if you can find them in the states, but many of the toilets in UK and Europe have the drain coming out the back. The commode sets on the floor but the drain does not go thru the floor like the American versions. If you could find one of those, it would simplify your drain installation. You can also run your sewer line 100 feet easily before it goes into your septic tank. Just keep the slope to no more than 1/8" per foot so your water doesnt run off and leave the solids behind. That would get you away from your well. As for the water supply, just pipe a loop from your well to the toilet tank and put a tee in with a valve to open for filing the tank after flushing. You would have to stand there for a couple of minutes to watch it fill OR you could pipe the tee to an auxillary tank of say 5 gallons or so that you could pipe the well directly into and let it run continuously. Put a drain line in the other side and make the drain at least one size up from the inlet so it wont overflow. Then that tank would always be full. Run a valved 1.25" line from the bottom of your auxillary tank to supply your toilet tank and it would refill very quickly from your auxillary tank. Your auxillary tank overflow would then be routed to where every you wanted to put the run off. This way you would always have at least 2 flushes of water in the 5 gallon holding tank and your well would constantly replenish your holding tank. THis is all dependant on the well head being able to push the water to the height needed above your toilet.

 

[radioman]

one idea you could implement is have your water flow into a 5 gallon plastic drywall bucket ( i am sure you can find them for free). The 5 gallon bucket would be mounted higher then the tank for pressure. On the bottom of the bucket would have a fitting to connect to the toilet inlet. Near the top of the bucket would have over flow outlet flowing outdoors to a drywell (hole filled with rocks) to return water outdoors. If you use a plastic bucket, this will take care of the big condensation issue associated with porcelain toilet and running water.
For your septic needs - i would use two plastic 55 gallon drums. They have them in restaurants. the first one with a baffle installed in center. The first drum would receive the waste from toilet and let solids settle. The second drum is for liquid over flow. This would boost your capacity to 60 flushes. (one flush a day on a 3 day weekend hunt would last you about 20 weekends or less). If this was buried in ground, I don't think you will have a big freezing issue. Depending on how often you flush, I am sure you can go 2 years or so before you need to dig it up and pump out the effluent.

just a thought - whatever you do it probably illegal but theoretically it might work.

 

[EddieWalker]

Why make the 55 gallon drum a storage tank? In the places that I've seen them used, they are just mini septic tanks.

The barrel is burried in the ground so the top of the barrel is bellow the drain pipe. The pipe has an elbow at the end and drops down into the barrel. Then on the side of the barrels, near the top, another line is installed that leads to a leach field. They use a solid pipe for a short distance, and then a sloted or drain pipe for the field. The hole is dug out bigger then the pipe by a fair amount. It's filled with stray hay and covered with some plastic and then dirt. It's not legal and I'm not saying to do this, but it does work for years and years. If it's used lightly, it might work indefinately.

Don't over complicate the plumbing. Storage tanks are an extra step that I wouldn't mess with. With the amount of flow that you have from your spring, you don't need anything else.

You don't need any sort of return line for you water. Just dead head it and leave it be. Water does not have to flow, it's just fine sitting there in the pipes waiting for a valve to open.

Eddie

 

[Taylortractornut]

I put in alot of septic tanks over time, Ive redone several metal ones dad pt in nearly 50 years ago. They were metal tanks 250 gallon jobs with a tar coating on them, Back then some times money was tight and they used poles for their field lines. You dig you trench with the grade at 1 inch per 50 feet and then they laid 4 and 5 inch pine and poplar poles in them. that makes a good leack line Also for 2550 gallon capacity in MS we use well tiles stacked with a cover and an open bottom its legal,

 

[radioman]

Why make the 55 gallon drum a storage tank? In the places that I've seen them used, they are just mini septic tanks.


Don't over complicate the plumbing. Storage tanks are an extra step that I wouldn't mess with. With the amount of flow that you have from your spring, you don't need anything else.

You don't need any sort of return line for you water. Just dead head it and leave it be. Water does not have to flow, it's just fine sitting there in the pipes waiting for a valve to open.

Eddie

eddie . the OP lives in Michigan. The water needs to be running all the time if the water can flow on its own due to freezing and dead heading will burst the pipes in no time. My thought is if the toilet and water well is on the same side of the barn , it can contaminate the well water. yuck. If this is just a hunting property, and not hunting every day , why not contain the waste, just to be responsible ? OP can follow your advice with straw thing if the leech line can flow to the other side of the barn away from well water.

The biggest concern is freezing here, and that is why i suggested a plastic bucket before the toilet. if the condensation freezes on tank, my ! it gonna be one big ice cube sitting at your back when trying to take a dump.
draining the tank by shutting off the water before it goes into the tank and flush will prevent freezing of lines and tank. just a small amount of antifreeze or washer fluid in toilet will prevent busted toilet. I have done this for others when winterizing cottage camps by lake.I have also seen one landowner had a flowing well that is 2000 to 3000 ft away from home and halfway a pipe comes up from ground to flow into a old bathtub for cows to drink water and other end flows into a holding tank in basement for water supply. temps do go into zeros there and it never freezes due to running water. OP mentioned its just needs something to function on hunting land so I assumed he will not be using it everyday. Perhaps OP can clarify his situation a bit more ? Eddie - not trying to complicate things , but freezing is an issue.

 

[MarkV]

Why not just an old time out house. Done properly they do not have to be smelly little sheds and will last for a long time without worry of freezing. It can also be placed far enough from the well to be safe.

I'd very much be worried about well contamination with the home made septic unless 100' from the well head. To run 100' of pipe from a minimal use toilet I am not sure there would be enough flow to move the solids. I would also worry about the pipe holding up to frost heave with Michigan winters.

MarkV

 

[saltman]

I had the same dilema on my property so I put in a regular flush toilet. I know that some people are comfortable with the compost toilets and out houses but I wanted a flush toilet.
& to me it is well worth the efforts.

I put a metal 55 gallon drum under the discharge and leave it open, I put some sani wash that you use for camper toilets in it and never smell a thing. It will not fill near as often as you think due to evaporation and when it's about half full I pull my tractor up to it and wrap a chain around it, take it about a mile away and dump it in a spot that will be my future garden! With all the wildlife in my area I am putting out far less waste than the animals so I don't feel like I am being at all irresponsible.

I will have to get a new drum in ... about 5 years who cares they are cheap.

The sewage you dump isn't what you think of it's all broken down by the time you dump it, if you only use the toilet for number 2 and you will be surprised how infrequent you dump it & you can run your discharge as far from you toilet/ well as you want.

 

[radioman]

I had the same dilema on my property so I put in a regular flush toilet. I know that some people are comfortable with the compost toilets and out houses but I wanted a flush toilet.
& to me it is well worth the efforts.

I put a metal 55 gallon drum under the discharge and leave it open, I put some sani wash that you use for camper toilets in it and never smell a thing. It will not fill near as often as you think due to evaporation and when it's about half full I pull my tractor up to it and wrap a chain around it, take it about a mile away and dump it in a spot that will be my future garden! With all the wildlife in my area I am putting out far less waste than the animals so I don't feel like I am being at all irresponsible.

I will have to get a new drum in ... about 5 years who cares they are cheap.

The sewage you dump isn't what you think of it's all broken down by the time you dump it, if you only use the toilet for number 2 and you will be surprised how infrequent you dump it & you can run your discharge as far from you toilet/ well as you want.

this is pretty much what i was thinking but didnt think of leaving top off to have it evaporate during warmer months. I wonder if that is a safe thing to do ? perhaps you have figured out a way to keep rain and critters and curious kids out ?

 

[EddieWalker]

eddie . the OP lives in Michigan. The water needs to be running all the time if the water can flow on its own due to freezing and dead heading will burst the pipes in no time.

Why not just put a valve on the line and open it when he's there? The water can continue to flow outside the building, but to fill up the toilet, just turn on the valve and leave it on while there. Insulate the pipes and if it's going to get cold at night, drain the pipes.

Put another valve at the lowest point in the line and have it lead outside. Open it to drain the line when leaving or when worried about a freeze. In the same thought, why not just leave it cracked to keep the water flowing if that's a concern? Then when it warms up, close it off. I would imagine that even with the drain cracked, it will still fill the tank just fine, but it wouldn't take much to close the drain to fill the tank when you need water in the tank. Then open the drain and let the water flow.

Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

...if you only use the toilet for number 2 and you will be surprised how infrequent you dump it ...

The OP said a big reason for the toilet was that he had kids.

You will be surprised at how often it will need dumped. Kids like to use lots of paper and flush a lot.

Me, when I go hunting, I prefer the outdoors over any kind of toilet, which always stinks when it is done as a kludge, but he already said that wasn't a possibility.