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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 28 Jun 2016 10:48am
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http://www.bobvila.com/sections/tv-shows/projects/29-cabin-in-the-woods/episodes/342- foundation-framing-and-septic-system/videos/1147955700001-innovative-septic-system-in stallation
I've design a standard septic system per WV code. Problem is it really takes up space. The drain/leech field takes 30'x30' (level ground) assuming my soil perks well. In mountains, level space is a premium.
WV code 64-47-6, 6.20 does mention Alternative Septic solutions maybe considered.
In the video above, Bob Vila shows an innovative approach to drain field design used in marginal space applications.
Has anyone had experience with getting alternative septic solutions approved for permit?
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2016 03:40pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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I used chambers instead of pipe and gravel, though the chambers have been in use for quite a while now so are probably not really alternative any more.
One advantage the chambers offer is that you can put them into long skinny trenches rather than a swimming pool sized hole in the ground as with a gravel bed. This makes them more versatile in terms of fitting them into difficult terrain or limited space. And they don't need gravel which in some places is very expensive due to transportation costs.
The pit system (or whatever it's called) in the video looks interesting. Seems to require a smaller hole, but maybe not. Drain fields are all about putting the effluent from the tank onto a given area of native soil to absorb, whether you do so with pipe and gravel, chambers, or otherwise. It's about floor area. That method wouldn't reduce that required area, I guess. But I'm no septic engineer.
In the video they state that older pit type systems polluted ground water and so they began using the basic tank and drainfield system. He says they do so because they saw that it needed more or different treatment. I think this is a bit of a misunderstanding, if what the health inspector I talked to is correct. He said that a septic tank really doesn't treat the water, not much biodegradation takes place in the tank, though some. The purpose of the tank is really just to settle out the solids, and send only clear water to the drainfield, according to him. That clear water isn't clean, of course, but it is free of most of the solids which are damaging to the biodegradation process that occurs in the drainfield as the water soaks into the earth. So anyway the tank and drainfield systems don't provide additional treatment, they just provide an environment more conducive to proper treatment at the point where water meets earth. Perhaps I'm splitting hairs.
I looked into the plastic tanks and opted for the concrete one. The plastic ones can be damaged by gradual earth movement even if you fill them first. They don't cost much less than a concrete. But concrete requires a special truck with a boom crane to place it, so plastic are very useful where such a truck can't get in. Just barely got the truck into my place as it was. Concrete is longer lasting, and my highest priority in making this septic system was not having to fix it later.
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sparky30_06
Member
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2016 04:22pm
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the idea of the leach field is to keep it near the surface so I can dry out. Once the waste water dies out the bacteria dies. In a pit system that is deep it never dries out down deep. Then when it rains the bacteria gets washed further down into the soil and can get into the shallow ground water. that is why if you ever have to dump a black water tank do it on a sunny hillside. the quicker it dries and bakes by the soon the sooner the bad bacteria dies. look at a dried pile of crap from a horse or cow. it turns to powder and blows away.
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2016 05:25pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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Sparky that might be one approach to a drain field, used in some areas depending on conditions, but that's not the approach in use in my area, again according to the health inspector that approved my system. He said that the purpose of a drain field is to put the water into the earth so it will percolate down and into the water table. He said that all the necessary biodegradation takes place in the first few feet of soil in the 'bio-mat', which are bacteria that eat the nasties. The water should be drinkable 6 feet below the bottom of the drainfield.
But, I'm somewhere with clay/silt/sand soil that perks slowly and the water table is 300 feet down. I don't know, but perhaps in areas with sandy soil and a high water table the goal is, as you say, to evaporate the water so that it does not go into the water table. But that contradicts the most important idea behind septics, as I understand it, which is keep it all underground, let nothing to the surface, because the bacteria will follow.
At the same time, he said that the drainfield needs to be close enough to the surface that oxygen can get in there to sustain a healthy biodegradation.
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rky60
Member
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2016 10:00pm
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I'm currently doing a self install of the Eljen GSF system. It reduced the footprint of a standard sand mound on my site by 40%. And can be stepped on a sloped site. The county SEO actually suggested it due to the limited space I had left (where I knew it perc'd at) after I built the cabin and driveway first, which I know is backwards. But an elevated sand mound I think would have been 55' to 60' long, almost 20' wide, halfway in to my driveway and several feet tall at center, a monster to say the least!
http://www.eljen.com/files/Design%20Manuals-%20PDF/WV%20Manual%208-14.pdf
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phippz
Member
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# Posted: 16 Jul 2017 04:58pm
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hi rky620, what is the approx cost of the eljen system.
thanks
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