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paulz
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2023 10:28am
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Kinda quiet around here so I’ll share my morning yesterday.
So yesterday morning my wife yells “the toilet won’t flush!â€. Great, another cabin day starts.. we have a conventional toilet, going to a 500 gallon holding tank downhill and gravity fed from another 500 gallon tank uphill (all our cabin fresh water from the well).
I go in there, take the top off the toilet, dry as a bone inside, because the bottle of water I had put in there to reduce the flush volume, had fallen over on the flush chain and held the rubber stopper off the seat. How long ago? Don’t know, but no fresh water coming out anywhere in the cabin.
So, in the cold and dark I hike up to the water tank, which had about 400 gallons left in it from a recent fill. Also dry a bone, drained through the open toilet stopper. Great, no water at cabin and toilet needs to be flushed. I hop on the ATV, in the dark, drive down to the well, and fortunately the generator there is full of gas and fires right up.
Little while later the fresh water tank is full, toilet flushed and making morning coffee. Ah, back to normal, isn’t cabin life fun? Wait, I forgot, the sewer tank now has the 400 gallons of fresh wate in it. Well that can wait a bit, took care of that after the sun comes up.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2023 10:47am
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I know it aint for everybody, but we are so happy with our diy compost T system at the cabin; conventional at home.
Do you run just the black water into your holding tank and divert the grey water? (not to code here but it is done by some).
Im wondering how often a 2 people place has to pump a holding tank if its only black.
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2023 11:20am
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When I built my place a Septic System was not a part of my game plan.
First setup was a Composting / Sawdust toilet with Urine diverter that diverts the urine into the grey water system. I also installed a Urinal (DIY from an Aluminium 30# Propane Tank) as that is 9 of 10 visits...
Last Year, we ran into problems with the Urine diverter & female targeting/aim... oivey, some never get it. Urine in the sawdust toilet is NOT good.
So change comes along and I got a Sparett Tiny with urine diversion (12V model) and I have to say, pretty good and no more "accidents" with females, also no more need for sawdust cover.
REF: https://separett.com/de/en/urine-diverting-toilet-separett-tiny-with-urine-tube-2
On my GreyWater system. The kitchen sink, tub-shower, bathroom sink & urine diversion go into it. There are two filters that it goes through before the drywell and drain lines. We also adhere to the Clean Plate rule, so no grease or food particles get into it and if some does, the filters catch it. Filter Cleaning is not pleasant but ok... (I raised 5 kids so, gross has a diff meaning  )
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paulz
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2023 11:30am
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Black only. Only had it pumped twice but for years we were only hare weekends. The plastic water bottles (have 4 now) in the tank reduced the flush volume considerably. Gets flushed twice a day, couple gallons/500.
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ICC
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2023 12:35pm
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Since you have an old toilet already, get one of these. #1 flush or a #2 flush. They work pretty good to retrofit older toilets to use less water. Not as good as a well designed low flush toilet, but better than those oldies and no messing with bottles or bricks, whatever.
https://www.amazon.com/HydroRight-Universal-Water-Saving-Toilet-HYR460/dp/B005FPNGWO/ ref=sr_1_2?keywords=danco+hyr460+hydroright+hydroright&qid=1698510515&sr=8-2
Available at many hardware and big box stores too
-Izzy
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2023 01:28pm - Edited by: Steve_S
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Second what ICC posted. I was in a rental house for a while and the owners did have something very similar installed and it worked a real charm ! I don't know the make/model but it had what looked like a pressure tank, so when you did a #2 it had an extra bit of Ooomph... it was odd but worked well... the flush was pretty loud though compared to a standard old porcelain altar.
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paulz
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2023 02:30pm - Edited by: paulz
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So that’s a smaller flush for pee? We don’t flush for pee. She lets it build up in there all day and night. I pee outside with the dog, it’s our time together.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2023 11:30am - Edited by: paulz
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I’ve been wondering..
We have a conventional toilet, with several bricks in the tank to reduce the flush water to a minimum. Not a problem as the 4†pvc drain pipe runs about 100’ steeply down hill to a 500 gallon tank, which I have pumped, myself or professionally. When I have done it, the top few hundred gallons are very liquid, I guess it settles down there.
Back in May, when I got back from 6 months anway and returned to cabin life, I noticed the half full tank didn’t seem to be filling very fast. At some point I noticed the drain pipe had come apart, about halfway down the hill. Don’t know how many flushes like that, couple weeks probably, but I was able to reconnect it without working in a pile of crap. The ground is soft dirt and tree duff.
So the point of all this is could I reduce what has to be pumped by:
1. Adding a leach line to the tank, maybe a foot or two from the top of the tank, to drain the liquids?
2. Would there be a way to divert the liquids off before reaching the tank?
Really don’t want to change toilets…
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Brettny
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2023 02:58pm
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Quoting: paulz Adding a leach line to the tank, maybe a foot or two from the top of the tank, to drain the liquids? 2. Would there be a way to divert the liquids off before reaching the tank?
That's what a septic is. A tank that the solids settle out of and the liquids leach out into the ground via a leach field.
Really a whole leach field is just a way to accept liquid from the septic tank and deal with it with out backing up.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2023 04:09pm
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Thanks Brett. My holding tank is just a round poly tank, above ground, probably 6’ diameter and 4’ high, some kind of water tank originally. It has an 18†lid on top that I drilled to hold the 4†pipe from above. Regular septic tanks I’ve seen have a diverter wall or something inside to catch the solids before they hit the leach field.
So I was thinking maybe drill a hole in the side of the tank, somewhere above halfway up, and run that to a leach field. But I can’t do the diverter wall inside, although the top couple feet I’ve pumped out before were just liquid. Maybe at some point the more solid matter would rise up to the leach hole, and I could pump it then.
Don’t need any trouble from the authorities over this, that’s why it’s all held captive now, just tired of hauling leach field type liquids away.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2023 04:18pm
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A leach line from a septic needs to be located in an area with soil suitable for the purpose. That is why a perc test is done before a septic permit is issued. The area must be able to absorb and disperse the liquid. No driving of vehicles over the leach area. Some plants and trees have roots that will cause problems after a while.
Sometimes holding tanks are used because the soil or location is not suitable. Near us, there is a lake with cabins around it. Many have holding tanks as the water table does not permit septic leaching.
You might get into some sort of confrontation with local or state government if your area is one that enforces sanitation regs. Septic is usually one of the first rules to be enforced. That may vary with location but is worthy of some thought.
-izzy
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Brettny
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2023 05:06pm
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Quoting: paulz So I was thinking maybe drill a hole in the side of the tank, somewhere above halfway up, and run that to a leach field. But I can’t do the diverter wall inside, although the top couple feet I’ve pumped out before were just liquid. Maybe at some point the more solid matter would rise up to the leach hole, and I could pump it then
They make a fitting specifically for this use. It also has a filter and pulls from more the middle of the tank.
https://www.amazon.com/Septic-Tank-Pipe-Filter-Inch/dp/B00WY0BMQU/ref=asc_df_B00WY0BM QU/?tag=smacab-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241927321837&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12242848507 615820166&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9058761&hvtargi d=pla-662886336710&psc=1&mcid=af13509f84b138c4b92d6fb3c194ccc4&gclid=CjwKCAiA1fqrBhA1 EiwAMU5m_7bsYRdMk-iVSCy0iIySOaiDLrCLLgcqIALaE3u4P7dHRJc3SQpErRoCl7AQAvD_BwE
I'm not going to speak to codes because in some areas you can do a pit outhouse and some areas they will want a full blown septic with a engineered stamp.
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paulz
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2023 05:59pm
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Quoting: ICC You might get into some sort of confrontation with local or state government if your area is one that enforces sanitation regs. Septic is usually one of the first rules to be enforced. That may vary with location but is worthy of some thought.
Yeah, no reason to get in trouble over this. No enforcement going on I’ve ever heard of but all it takes is one complaint..
Quoting: Brettny They make a fitting specifically for this use. It also has a filter and pulls from more the middle of the tank
I don’t see a description, does that go in the tank pointed downward? So the real gist of it is you can remove the filter without getting your hands in the liquid?
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Brettny
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2023 07:14pm
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Yes and the outlet is near the top of the tank yet it's coming from the middle of the tank.
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