Upgrading Septic System

[billfires]

Just moved into the house we built in Aug. 2000. I put a drywell in for the washing machine(with 3 kids we are doing 10-12 loads of laundry per week). This consisted of 2 chambers(?) 3'wide x 6' long x 2' high and about 8 tons of stone. If I were to do it again I would put in a seperate grey water system for the showers and tubs( the 2 person tub uses way too much water and is used by someone at least once per day). Hope this helps in some small way.

Bill C

 

[Boondox]

Grey water systems are illegal around here, but I never understood why. The idea sounds really good to me. Can anybody fill me in on what's the matter with them?

Pete

 

[njrqs]

Boondox

My septic tank handles only the water from the toilets.

ALL other water is classed as grey around here.

Up till now you can do with it as you like, as long as you aren't in a sewered area as this place was only 10 years old and had no greywater system at all.

The norm around here is to drain it all to a sump and pump it out over the lawn.

Luckily here we are on the top of a hill, so all mine is gravity fed. Used to feed trees along the driveway, but the lint and soap and grease used to clog up the pipes.

We didn't even have a grease trap, which I have now installed.

So all the water now just goes out through flexible pipes which I just move around the yard.

I have them in the front yard, where the kids won't be.

I understand there is a health issue with it, but as yet there aren't too many rules.

There are issues with faecel matter from showers, baths and washing machines, but I figure there is plenty of good old water to dilute that, and if it is out in the sun, what hurt can it do. There is worse than that coming out of birds and dogs bums wandering around the yard !

That's my take on grey water anyway.

Cheers

 

[billfires]

Pete, they are illegal in Mass. also, but if I had talked with the appropriate people before, I could have installed it with their "unofficial" blessing. Even the drywell for the washing machine is not allowed in this state. The concern is the soap scum will eventually block the liquid from draining. We had a perc rate of less than 2"/min (actually the engineer couldn't keep the water in the test hole).If there is ever a problem I will just move the drywell to the side.

Bill C

 

[RJohnson]

BobT

Your issue with sodium as giving you troubles with your leach field is right-on. You might want to read this article <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.swopnet.com/engr/Septic_Tanks/Gayman_Soil_Failure.html>http://www.swopnet.com/engr/Septic_Tanks/Gayman_Soil_Failure.html</A> It is from the University of Texas Septic Page website. Water softing systems are not always a problem but depending upon your soil type the sodium can clog your soil up and give you troubles.

Randy

 

[RJohnson]

Boondox

The biggest problem that I know about grey water systems it is made up mostly of phosphates (phosphorous) and it is one material that is not handled well by most septic systems and can remain the the water a long time.It can end up being a water pollutant, especially in high water table areas. From what I have been reading on posts from your area of the country, most of your water comes from fairly shallow wells. The grey water can easily end up in your drinking water. I would guess that is why it is now allowed in your area. Espically if you have a lot of rock, Vermont has some rock does it not/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. The cracks in the rocks allow the grey water to quickly get to the water table with very little treatment. We are fighting the same problem in the Austin, Texas area where there is a lot of limestone. Many contractors want to saw a trench out of rock and put in a small amount of soil to treat the houses effluent but it goes down the cracks in the rock and contaminates the water table.

Randy

 

[PhilNH5]

rdwarner,
Lots of folks said to talk to the health officials. I would do that LAST. We brought our first place in MD. 4 months after moving in I was doing yardwark. Washed my hands in a crystal clear spring. They smelled like ****.
I called the health dept. They came out. Smelled it. Wrote me a citation and said fix it w/in 30 days or the property will be condemed! Well I was expecting some helpful input not to be kicked out.
The house was new construction .The occupancy permit/septic permit was all approved by this very guy who threatened to shut me down. I called a lawyer. Tried new percs. Couldn't get one to pass. No place to put a new septic field. Why was permit approved in the first place? Little tiny county, very large good ol' boy network.
Threaten to sue the county. Couldn't - eminent domain. Go after the inspector personally and the builder. They put a trench filled with clay between the spring and the leach field. Same inspector appoved this. Of course next year the surface spring moved as they are prone to do. Right into the leach field. But I lived with it. Never called the health dept again.
So I would suggest calling them last after pursuing other options. Have a plan in place theat you can offer up.

Phil

 

[ejb]

I second this...the LAST thing you want to do is get anyone from the govt poking around your property...they are not going to help. They don't care how much it costs to fix it, they don't care who caused the problem...you will be forced to pay whatever they deem is the best solution to fix the problem.

I have often told my wife that if my septic system fails, I am buying a backhoe for my tractor /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif and fixing it myself...at least when I am done, I still have a backhoe to play with and won't have to sink 30K into a hole in the ground/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

Fix the problem yourself, make sure your drinking water isn't contaminated and call it a day. (and see if you can get a backhoe out of the deal!)

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Phil, what county in MD are you in? I'm in Calvert and just wondering what poking around will be done when I go to sell this place. thanks, bret w

 

[mikim]

Thank You! The well water we have is hard and causes the faucets etc to need replacement every few years, so I was considering a softner, for what will be the new house, to save the hardware. I think I'd rather replace faucets on a regular basis than ever have a septic failure. The ground is clay to start with so I can imagine failure in a very short time. TBN to the rescue - again.
mike