Replies

1. 
   Jeff_Clarke_ | Feb 23, 2002 07:49pm | #1

   *
   Nic -

   Their waste-treatement function is essentially similar, but a cesspool is an oxygen-rich environment while a septic tank is an anerobic environment. Thus, the types of bacteria in each type of system needed to break down waste are different.

   Jeff

1. 
   piffin_ | Feb 23, 2002 08:21pm | #2

   *A septic tank and drain field are underground while a cesspool is often open

1. 
   Randy_Rogers | Feb 24, 2002 07:51pm | #3

   *I'm wondering if terms "cess pool" and "lagoon" are interchangable? In our area (north Michigan) there are heavy clay deposits. If property size is sufficient many homeowners put in lagoons in liu of typical drain field (leech field) connected to septic tank. Septic tank drains, via single underground pipe, directly into lagoon, where final bacteria action takes place. For a single family home the lagoons are approximately 50' in diameter and 5'-6' deep. The natural occurring clay acts as the liner and rather than effluent filtering down through a sand bed and soil, the lagoon is open to the air. There is no odor and ducks and frogs are common inhabitants of the "circular pond".The lagoons are less trouble prone in this particular soil condition. Randy

1. 
   Journeyman | Apr 15, 2007 03:51pm | #4

   Randy,

   I know you're post is old but I searched the archives and this is exactly the information I am looking for.  Here's the situation I'm in.

   I recently purchased 10 acres in MO in a county where there are no inspectors for anything. It's really rural. At present there is a 40'X45' pole barn with plumbing already roughed-in for a bathroom and kitchen sink. There is also a single wide 2 bedroom trailer all hooked up and ready to move into.

   Now, here's my question. Both the trailer and pole barn have the exact drainage system you mentioned, a single drain pipe with adequate pitch that extends into a lagoon/cess pool to drain all the waste into. The ground is clay and the liquid retention is plenty adequate. It is not as big as the 50' diameter as you had mentioned. Is this a sufficient and reliable system of treating waste? Are there any chemicals that need to be added to the lagoon? Would I be better off just keeping this system instead of installing an underground septic field?

   Thanks  

    

1. 
   JimB | Apr 15, 2007 07:10pm | #6

   Dan's reply gives the explains the standard industry definition of cesspool.  What you are describing is a lagoon.  Lagoons can be "sufficient and reliable" but like any other sewage treatment method, they need to be properly designed and installed.   The correct depth to surface area ratio is necessary to keep the lagoon from becoming anaerobic, which creates odors as well as preventing proper treatment.  Insect breeding needs to be considered as well as potential overflow from rain.

   The local health department or county extension office may be able to help.  Here's a link to info that may be helpful.  http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/envqual/wq0402.htm

    

2. 
   Journeyman | Apr 17, 2007 11:42pm | #17

   I'd like to thank everyone for the respnoses. Jimb the site is excellent and I'm going to check it out as soon as I can get time off hopefully this weekend.

   Thanks again.

3. 
   JimB | Apr 18, 2007 04:23am | #19

   Glad to be of help.  Good luck.

4. 
   BillHartmann | Apr 15, 2007 11:30pm | #7

   You might check with the county health department. Although they don't have building codes there might be health rules that cover this..
   .
   A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.

5. 
   DanH | Apr 15, 2007 11:54pm | #8

   Actually, it's best to do this BEFORE buying. You may discover that no improvements will be allowed to the house until the septic is brought up to code. And you may further discover that there's not enough land with enough "perc" to install a conventional septic system.
   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin

6. 
   rez | Apr 16, 2007 12:12am | #9

   Which means any inquiries you do should be from a distance without directing attention to yourself.

   More than one person in the world has unintentionally shot himself in the foot.

   Parolee # 53804

7. 
   SamT | Apr 16, 2007 01:38am | #10

   Whereabouts in Misery are ya? I'm in Columbia. SamT

   There are three kinds of people: Predaters, Prey, and Paladins. The really strange thing is that Prey feels safer from Predators by disarming Paladins.

8. 
   Journeyman | Apr 17, 2007 11:32pm | #15

   about 5 miles east of Buffalo

9. 
   IdahoDon | Apr 16, 2007 05:09am | #11

     ... where there are no inspectors for anything.

   I doubt that's the case.  As with many rural states, if the city or county doesn't have an ordiance covering septic systems, the state requirments still need to be followed.

   The following link seems to provide information specific to each county and the state:

   http://www.dhss.mo.gov/Onsite/PermitProcess.html 

   Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.

10. 
    bigal4102 | Apr 16, 2007 05:33am | #12

    I'm in rural Southern IL, there is no inspector per say, but I am still required to get a permit for a septic system from the regional office of the state health dept. The permit is free, and just filled out and mailed in.What they do is check the records of the local septic tank salesman quarterly, and check that list against their permits, and then go checking on the purchasers who don't have a permit.So far here in IL, new construction is the only thing being watched, but Uncle Rod seems like he is trying to get some more fees from us for forced biannual inspections or some such bull.As far as my research goes, an aerating septic tank, draining to daylight is a better deal than a leach field, because our clay soil is so tight. I don't think lagoons are legal here anymore, but I don;t know for sure.A medium to large guy named Alan, not an ambiguous female....

    NOT that there is anything wrong with that.

11. 
    bigal4102 | Apr 16, 2007 05:35am | #13

    Sorry Don, that was supposed to go to Journeyman.A medium to large guy named Alan, not an ambiguous female....

    NOT that there is anything wrong with that.

12. 
    IdahoDon | Apr 16, 2007 06:15am | #14

    No prob.  :) 

    Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.

13. 
    BossHog | Apr 17, 2007 11:38pm | #16

    "...Uncle Rod seems like he is trying to get some more fees from us for forced biannual inspections or some such bull."

    I've been keeping an eye on that, an it really burns my butt. Our county health department is fighting it.

    I think they're trying to get it changed so that you only have to have your septic tank discharge tested *IF* it discharges onto someone else's property.
    Did ya hear about the guy who drowned in a septic tank?
    He couldn't swim, but he went through all the movements.

2. 
   DanH | Apr 15, 2007 05:00pm | #5

   I suspect that there's some regional variation with regard to the meaning of "cesspool". I've generally understood it to be an on-site sewage treatment system that falls short of being a "modern" septic tank/lateral setup. More specifically, a common approach is a round tank maybe 4-6 feet in diameter and 6-10 feet deep, with porous sides. Often this would be constructed with loose-fit brick or concrete segments, using the "arch" effect to resist soil pressure.

   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
1. 
   Piffin | Apr 18, 2007 12:38am | #18

   It can be as simple as a hole in the ground - a "pool"but it was usually a hole dug and then framed with cmus in such a way as to keep soils out and allow fluids to perk away into the surronding soil. Some are open and some get closed over with timbers.The thing that distinquishes between cesspool and septic tank is that a cesspool allows fluid to seep all around while a septic tank is designed to contain fluids for dispersion to a field 

    

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