Replies

1. 
   user-457547 | Sep 24, 2003 04:18am | #1

   I think what you want is information on what to do with "greywater" (as opposed to "black water" which would be from your animal waste. I just tried a web search at:

   http://www.google.com

   for the keyword "greywater".

   I got hundreds of hits. It seems there are books on the topic and maybe some freebie information there too. Depending on your location there may be laws as to what can and can not be done with greywater. In general, though, it might be quite acceptable to do something without a septic tank. If you have the space you might be able, for example,  to add a sideline task along with the cats where you use the greywater for irrigation.

   Sorry for not being more specific but this might get you started toward finding out what you need to know.

2. 
   hasbeen | Sep 26, 2003 05:20am | #2

   Of course I don't know anyone who's actually done this:

   Get a plastic 55 gallon barrel (I get them for $15.  They had detergent in them).  Stick the incomeing PVC waste line into a hole cut in the side, near the top, of the barrel.  Opposite the incomeing:  another hole with a 10'er of ridgid PVC perf pipe (like what is used in some septic systems and in some french drains) sticking out of it.   Get a few tons of larger (I've heard that some used 1 1/2 to 3" rock) rock and put it in the big hole that you dug next to the barrel.  Perf pipe, of course, sits in the rock, holes downward.  Don't worry about the pipes fitting the holes in the barrel or about having an end cap on the perf pipe.  Cover the top of the rock & pipe with fiber cloth and bury the whole works.  Make sure it's at least ten feet from the foundation of the building.  Plant flowers on top.  If it "craps out".  Repeat the process.  Should last a very long time under the conditions you describe.  If it were me, I'd try to use biodegradable pet shampoo.   BTW the barrel just gives someplace for a certain amount of hairballs to accumulate.  Wanna be really top notch?  Put a T on the end of the perf pipe inside the barrel.  If you can find a barrel with screw on or clamp on top, you could even clean out the barrel.  Yuck.

   By the way, did you hear the one about the value of a cat in M....   never mind.

   Side story:  I lived outside Helena, MT about twenty years ago.  There's a little town there called Unionville.   A guy there called an excavator buddy and said his septic system was backing up.  Buddy went to look and recommended more leach line.  The HO said that's what he thought, too:  How about adding 10'.  Buddy said that's not much, how much ya got now.  Answer:  TEN FEET!  Seems a family of five had been living there for years before they had a problem...  Not to worry any of you:  The home made septic system was well over 20' from the creek.

   Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.

1. 
   goldhiller | Sep 26, 2003 05:56am | #3

   "The home made septic system was well over 20' from the creek."

   49 Chevy coupe for a septic tank?

   Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.

2. 
   Luka | Sep 26, 2003 06:59am | #4

   The following advice may not exactly be legal to follow where you are.

   ...

   If you are going to use an RV trailer, you could use the method that I thought of a while back.... (I haven't done this because of nosey neighbors, but if I could get it done without notice, I know that it would work.)

   Get two 55 gallon plastic barrels. Drill one full of 1/2" holes. About 3 inches apart, all over every surface of the barrel.

    On the second barrel, leave the bottom half of the barrel solid.

   Dig a big hole. Put in the second barrel first. Wrapped in landscape fabric. Put an inlet pipe into the top of the barrel, and a cap on the pipe. Put in the first barrel, about a foot away from the second barrel. It should be wrapped in landscape fabric, as well. Put a pipe between both barrels, up near the top.

   You may also want to put in a small. 3/4 or 1 inch "vent" pipe... in the barrel that is full of holes. Something that can be capped, but can be opened when you want to empty the RV tank.

   Fill the hole with 3/4" gravel. Cover with at least a foot of clay-type soil. Then sod.

   The black water sits in the tank in the trailer until the tank is almost full. Chemicals are added to the tank, that aid in the liquifying of the solids.

   (Have a covered trashcan, (with plastic bag inside), nearby for all the paperwork. Including the women's things. When the trash gets near full, simply burn it.)

   When it is time to empty the RV black water tank, the vast majority of what is in the tank will already be liquid. Run the drain hose from the tank to the inlet pipe that you left inserted into the barrel in the ground. A 55 gallon barrel will hold every bit of the contents of any black water tank I have ever seen on an RV.

   It will drain out of the holes in that barrel, down to the point where the barrel becomes solid again. What is left is enough liquid, and enough chemicals that by the time the trailer tank is ready to be emptied again, all the solids in the barrel have been liquified.

   The next time you empty the RV tank, the barrel will be half full, but there is a second tank for all the liquid drainoff.

   In my novice opinion, I think this setup, if all paperwork, foreign materials, bleach, etc... are kept from entering the blackwater system... will deal with the blackwater as well as, if not better than, the crap systems that pass as "acceptable by code" in this county.

   ...

   You can set up a seperate, one-barrel system, for your grey water. Just don't let scraps down there, or you'll fill that barrel up. On a grey water system, I think I would pour a half gallon of bleach in there once or twice a year.

   You could also just run the greywater out to a deep bed of gravel. Insects and birds would get a free meal from food scraps washed out there. You would have to go out and mix and rake the gravel once in a while. You may even have to occassionaly give it a washdown with a dishsoap solution in a garden sprayer. You'd still be giving the environment a free smorgasboard.

   A good heart embiggins even the smallest person.

   Quittin' Time

3. 
   TomT226 | Sep 26, 2003 01:48pm | #5

   First check your county codes for greywater disposal. Since you said "country", I assume you're not in a urban residential area.

   Simplest method is to plumb your sink with a standard "P" trap, and run the outfall outside the structure, under the floor. The trap will keep bugs out of the pipe.

   Dig a shallow trench graded away from the structure, lay enough PVC to get away from the drip line, and backfill with gravel.