Septic system planning

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This post will go into the sewage and waste subseries of the off-the-grid series of posts.  [Note:  not really a series.  The previous button will eventually send you to a grab bag of links.  The next button will send you back to the table of contents.]


Isn't it funny that the thing that you need to spend the most time on is the thing that you spend the least amount of time on?  At least that is the case with this septic system.  Without this approved, I am nowhere as far as using the land is concerned.

With that in mind, I have to move forward on this, or not at all.  The rest is just playing around.

Decisions have to be made.  Number one, I have to relocate the cabin.  If I am going to sink a lot of bucks into this thing,  I need to get the location right.  The current location may be too close to the property line.  I may need to move it about 50 feet further into the interior.  This may require a new trip out there in order to select a new site.  If  I do that, there are two possibilities:  1) move towards the highest point on the property that I know of, or 2) move a little further in the same direction my shack was in.   The trouble with the second option is that I don't know its elevation.  The problem with the first option may be in accessing it.

I was thinking of using an altitude measuring device in order to determine elevation.  The topological maps don't seem to be accurate enough.  According to those maps, I am already near the highest point.  The land is pretty flat, so any loss in elevation isn't likely to be significant.

Money is always an issue, so I have to simplify what I am doing.  From my info sources, which are incomplete, it looks like I can get a couple thousand gallons of month of water on a contract at about  40 bucks per month.  I have to haul it myself.  If I am going to pay that much for the water, I may as well not recycle it.  The recycling effort takes money, and I am already paying for the water if I follow the current plan .

I would like to use no more than 5 gallons per day.  I have run some experiments that makes me believe that I could do this, but it would require a lot of discipline.  Plus a little bit of equipment.

For example, the shower puts out about a gallon per minute.  The kitchen sink puts out about a gallon every two minutes.  The battery powered shower gizmo puts out about a gallon per minute.  Therefore, I can practice with the battery powered gizmo to get a feel for what it would be like.  A battery powered pump comparable with the one I have already got should do the trick.

With respect to the water itself, I know how much weight I can put on the van.  I will limit each water excursion down to 150 gallons/ 1200 lbs.  I can make as many as 2000 divided by 150 trips per month on the water allowance.  That's 13 trips per month.  I won't make that many, especially if I only use 5 gallons per day.  In fact, only 1 trip would be required.  A lot of leeway.

I need to state where I get my water and how much I use.  This will determine the size of the holding tank.  I want to keep the tank as small as possible.

As mentioned in earlier posts, I want to cut down on the water flows, and direct most water into the gray water stream.  If I release no more than a gallon of black water daily, then I should be able to get approval for a small holding tank.  There will be no black water from the toilet, as I will use an incinerating toilet.  If that cannot be approved, I have located a toilet that uses but a small amount of water and can be fitted to a holding tank.  Then I will use the incinerating toilet anyway, providing that it pays in terms of expenses.

In other words, I have a plan that could get approved.  It is now a matter of how to put it all together.

What kind of equipment do I use?  I may be able to use a skid steer, but that is a big machine to haul a long, long way.  Since the tank may be small, I was thinking of using a "jackhammer" to break up the hard pan.  I can rent one from Home Depot for 48 bucks per day.

That's two things I can do before doing anything big.  The first thing site selection, and the second thing is to experiment with the jackhammer.

I have to find out where this water company is.

I haven't talked with the county man, except for one time.  He gave me a list of people who can do the septic system installation and/or site evaluation.  I am wondering how to economize on this.  Do I really need an evaluation if it only has a holding tank?  I may want to just tell him what I want to do.  He can approve it or not approve it.
 
I know one thing.  I cannot afford to spend a lot of money on this thing.