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I have read a lot on the topic and see the trend is pushing to Septic tanks for new construction.
I'm looking for opinions on the wisdom of putting in a cesspool on my new property. As I understand it, cesspools are still permissible. The concern being that they wont be in the future and may even be required to be replaced..
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Cant wait to live in Puna!
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As I understand it, cesspools are still permissible.
No new permits are being issued for cesspools.
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You know that for sure?
Cant wait to live in Puna!
Cant wait to live in Puna!
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I'm in same boat, was counting in cesspool on 2 acre lot. And i still feel that gray-water (bath water and laundry with bio detergent) could be run off unfiltered to the garden and back acreage.
But the law has spoken. This site says septic starts at $20k - I hope it's wrong.
http://www.geckoseptic.com/services
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This site says septic starts at $20k - I hope it's wrong.
Yeah, more like $30K.
gray-water (bath water and laundry with bio detergent) could be run off unfiltered
Alongside a composting toilet. Just don't bother getting permits and you'll be fine.
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kalakoa ... thanks, that is sounding like an approach. I probably won't live as long as it takes the bureaucracy to catch up.
quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
Alongside a composting toilet. Just don't bother getting permits and you'll be fine.
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Recommended:
The Septic System Owner's Manual
ISBN 0-936070-40-7
Chapter 7 describes several graywater systems.
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If you put your poop in a compost heap on the surface of the ground and dump your gray-water on the surface the graywater and the run-off from the compost heap still wind up in the same place as does whatever goes into a cesspool, given a few simple precautions. It is desirable to prevent wastewater from going directly into surface streams. It is also desirable to prevent disease vectors like flies from getting into the human waste. So dump your gray water on a very porous spot so there is no puddle and cover your compost heap with adequate wood chips or grass clippings and you will be doing just as well as if you were using a cesspool, better in fact because the environment at the surface is better aerated than at the bottom of a 10 foot deep hole, and it is all about promoting the bacteria that eat the sewage. A septic tank and leach field is not better for any magic reason. Such a system uses exactly the same principals but simply does a much better job of creating aerobic real estate for the bacteria to work, and evens out the flow so the bacteria have time to work.
Don't tell anybody but at present I dump my gray water and compost my poop. There is a bit of smell when I open the pile and dump the full bucket but that goes away as soon as you cover the pile with enough grass clippings. When working properly you could stand right next to the pile and not know it was a pile of poop. Mostly it is a pile of grass clippings and wood chips anyway. As for the bucket toilet I live in the same container with it 24/7. Now maybe I have gotten used to the smell but I think not and guests never comment either.
OTOH I once witnessed a kid "taking out the garbage" at my apartment on Oahu. He approached the concrete block structure housing the dumpster from behind and when about 10' away he heaved the bag over the wall. The bag hit the dumpster and broke open, strewing garbage everywhere. The kid turned without looking and left. In his adolescent mind he probably figured that he did OK. Now picture the DOH being asked to OK piles of human poop as long as they are adequately covered, knowing that this is the standard of conduct that they must expect. I can see why they would be so unenthused about composting toilet systems, allowing only those that are automated to the point of being fail-safe. Even the high price tags for such systems, a couple thousand dollars if I recall correctly, would serve to weed out those who have no wherewithal or motive to maintain a system properly and who only want to do something for free.
ETA: If we could legislate and enforce behavior then a myriad of problems would go away but we can't so we must address the consequences of behavior. A large part of the population can not be trusted to deal with proper disposal of waste, hence the draconian rules requiring septic tanks with leach fields.
ETA: At least as far as not welcoming composting systems goes. I leave it to the experts as to whether cesspools are OK here in Hawaii instead of septic tanks and leach fields. Cesspools have been banned everywhere else that has any decent codes.
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quote:
Originally posted by sactokim
I'm in same boat, was counting in cesspool on 2 acre lot. And i still feel that gray-water (bath water and laundry with bio detergent) could be run off unfiltered to the garden and back acreage.
But the law has spoken. This site says septic starts at $20k - I hope it's wrong.
http://www.geckoseptic.com/services
That site also says you should pump the septic every year. I thought I was doing good by pumping every other year.
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