Toilet Project - Need Help

[NonTypicalCPA]

Yea, that right - a toilet project. I've got an 80 acre hunting paradise that I bought last year, and on it is a steel barn that sits 1/4 mile back in the woods - i.e. no electricity. I drove a shallow well (45ft) last summer for drinking water and lucked into a flowing well that produces at approximately 1 gallon per minute. This well sits 2 feet from my barn and I would like to add a toilet in the barn for those impromptu moments that we all have.

The barn has a concrete floor and footing. I was thinking about building a platform to put the toilet on and conceal the plumbing. Then run the black water out through the wall of the barn into a septic tank. How can I use the flowing well to "flush" the toilet? Currently, the well pipe sits about 3 feet out of the ground. I was thinking about trying to put in an additional riser pipe (if the well head is high enough) that would then run into a holding tank in the barn to be used as a gravity flush. Would this work? Has anyone tried this before?

Lets hear your thoughts. Any I don't need anyone telling me to use a tree or log in the woods - my brother in law has already given me heck. Besides, I've got two young kids that would put it to good use as well.

 

[tommu56]

try something like this and put the plumbing in the wall.

BuyPlumbing.net - AMERICAN STD Glenwall Bowl ELG PA W/M WHITE


The wall has to be strong ours at work are like it on a block wall with sloan valve no tank.

You can use a bucket to flush it if you had to that's how we do my cabins we use rain water because well is only 1 gallon per hour.


and add this to make it comfortable
http://www.buyplumbing.net/?pg=pd&_i=WARMSEAT

for the winter flush it and fill with rv antifreeze

tom

 

[rdbrumfield]

you might put in a header tank that you can fill with a hand pump. run a line outside for overflow when full. You might be able to see it from the wellhead. have a drain on it for winter and take the pump home when you are leaving. a tank that will handle a few flushes should be ok long as your company know to leave it full.

 

[2manyrocks]

A camper porta potty doesn't require any plumbing.

There is supposed to be a minimum separation between your septic line and your well. I can't tell you what it is, but I remember our codes guy making sure we had the right distance when we installed our septic lines.

 

[tommu56]

I had a old camper toilet andhooked it up don't use one.
I did and at first and the "waste" sticks because there isn't a puddle in there to brake the fall.
The temporary cure was put 2 X's of paper in toilet and cover the bottom of the bowl.

tom

 

[pat32rf]

If your well has enough head to reach the top of the toilet tank, then you are all set. Just let it flow into the top of the tank (add a globe valve if you want it to flow slower) and let the excess flow down the overflow of the flapper valve and out thru the toilet. If your septic cannot handle the volume of water, then rig an overflow to the outside instead. You only need pressure to the tank if you are using the normal fill valve (float ball)

 

[2manyrocks]

Are we talking about the same camper potty?

Thetford Porta Potti/Potty 135 Portable Toilet RV Camper - $..

I put water and the potty chemicals in it and never have a problem.

I was just thinking that winterizing the pipes for a real toliet would be a hassle.

 

[PILOON]

Shucks, as long as the toilet tank is full it will flush no matter how you fill it. Even filling with a pail it will flush.

Hang a sign;
If yellow, let it mellow-brown flush it down!

 

[MikeD74T]

We have a camp on a small island without electricity. There's a pitcher pump that sits directly next to the toilet. Last user refills the toilet tank before they leave. The pump draws from a wellpoint & we just lift the pump valve to let the pump drain back for winter & put RV antifreeze in the toilet( camp used in summer only). Because there's no foot valve on the pump we sometimes have to reprime the pump if left unused for a while in warm months.
This would work for you if the well is low enough to drain the pump or you have another way to drain it, i.e. a street shut off valve with a drain.

If the flow from the well is elevated enough to fill the toilet tank you could plumb a line across the top of the tank with a faucet that opens to fill the tank. The pipe could continue part to a drainpoint. Constant flow would prevent freezing. MikeD74T

 

[tommu56]

Are we talking about the same camper potty?

Thetford Porta Potti/Potty 135 Portable Toilet RV Camper - $..

I put water and the potty chemicals in it and never have a problem.

I was just thinking that winterizing the pipes for a real toliet would be a hassle.

No I was talking about a rv trailer toilet with out any tank with the flapper valve plumbed in to a holding tank or septic tank.

tom