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D I Y septic system
I have done some septic tank field and drain line repair work for myself, but I am not sure that I saved any money if I account for my time. I guess it all depends on whether you have the time, equipment, and motiviation to do it yourself.
You just have to remember that water runs downhill and that local codes will tell you how much slope to put on the lines. If there is no code in your area, do not go less than 1/8 inch per foot of run and more is better. You should do perculation tests to determine how much drain field to use.
Some septic systems require additional permits from the state for runoff water contamination.
Also, make sure that they set the septic tank properly. It must be level and there is a specific direction. The outlet is generally lower than the inlet to pick off the middle fluid layer between the sludge and floating scum. I know of one tank installed in reverse and it has always caused problems when the outlet port (should have been the inlet) plugs up with floating debris.
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D I Y septic system
I think codes and allowable practices vary all over the place. A friend of my in another state has to use electrically powered aeration on his septic system. I have never seen anything like that before in any place I have lived. Aeration is used in large sewage treatment plants, but it seems to be required in some new codes.
I had never heard of using barrels or old cars before. I guess that any settling tank should work, but I am not sure how you could ever clean out a barrel or car used in this way. Perhaps the idea was to use it until it stopped working and then it was time to buy a new car and bury the old one. The infiltrators are very beneficial from what I have found out, but my system is also conventional pipe and rock.
The septic tank is supposed to do only a few things. It catches large inflow of waste; allows light matter to float and allows sediment to settle; and it is the site for bacterial action to break down the waste. The outlet is positioned to take off the center water layer between the floating matter and sediment. The only thing going into the drainfield should be this fluid. Sediment or other material going into the outlet will clog the drainfield and eventually make it useless. The better that the septic tank is at separating the waste streams, the longer the system will work well.
Slope is important as has been mentioned. 1/8 per foot is the standard that I know, but I have seen twice that slope used. Comments about sticking with 1/8 per foot make sense to me. Your local codes should tell you what is considered proper in your area.
Pumping the septic tank removes the built up sediment and floating material. If you do not pump the tank, eventually sediment may build up, especially in colder climates where the bacterial action is slower. If the tank fills up, it will do a poor job of separating the waste streams and this can lead to clogging the drainfield.
You do need to know what you are doing. I just moved into a new house and within a couple of weeks I had problems with the sewage/septic systems. It is no fun to come home on Friday evening and have your wife ask you why water gets in the bathtub when she is using the clothes washing machine. The former owner paid for roto-rooting the main drainpipe under the house after I asked about the problem. The septic tank had been pumped as we were buying the house. (Hard water deposits, soap, cooking grease and who knows what else had accumulated in the main line.)
When I was looking at houses, I saw one where the guy was using a shallow well to water his lawn. The water smelled terrible and he said that the water (methane) would catch fire so you had to be careful smoking while watering the lawn. I am pretty sure that he was watering his lawn with water out of his septic tank leach field or the local groundwater was so contaminated that it was a neighborhood problem. I did not buy that house.
The point of this is that the systems need to be put in correctly. They need to be maintained to continue working. And nobody needs the headaches that they cause when they stop working.
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