Cesspools are banned? Cost of a septic system?

[randomq]

I wonder if the ACLU will help me with a class action lawsuit against Hawaii County and their policy of making it illegal for poor people to go to the bathroom.

[Obie]

quote:

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Originally posted by randomq

I wonder if the ACLU will help me with a class action lawsuit against Hawaii County and their policy of making it illegal for poor people to go to the bathroom.

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It's the State Health Dept not Hawaii County!

They protect us from people like you !!!

[kalakoa]

illegal for poor people to go to the bathroom

It's totally legal to take a dump in a bucket and go pour it out somewhere in the yard.

Dig a hole, suddenly it's a problem.

[Tink]

Hence the old cowboy saying, "never drink creek water downstream of the herd".

Community begins with Aloha

[7Shadows]

Aloha everyone! Atlas called me back after I left a message with them yesterday and they told me the price to drop in a 3-4 bedroom septic system was around $8000.00 They were also nice enough to email me a list of local licensed installers and suggested I get quotes from at least 3 before making a decision. They design and engineer your system for about $625.00 then an installer puts it in the ground around $7500.

They were very helpful with my questions and a pleasure to talk with over the phone so thank you for suggesting them

[tweez]

Hi 7 - thanks for the follow-up! I will be calling them shortly as well.

[randomq]

Obie, what did you mean by "people like me"?

Properly composted waste doesn't hurt the environment and is as affordable as a few buckets and sawdust and plastic sheet. A 'septic' system in rock frequently flooded by rain, that's just wishful thinking.

[MarkP]

If you give the bacteria time and space to consume the waste products then the water getting to the water table is not a problem. A properly functioning septic tank and leach field does a good job and is all you need. In some cases you must build up a mound of the properly sized sand and gravel above the surrounding grade to get the proper conditions of percolation and aeration required by the bacteria, plus distance from the water table if needed, but it is surprising how few feet of aerated soil is required to treat normal sewage when designed right. The problem with cesspools is not that they return water to the soil. It is that they seem almost designed to speed the wastewater past the aerobic zone without treatment.

So yes a sawdust toilet and a compost heap does a pretty good job mostly because it does not create wastewater. If rain leached through the heap and ran along the surface that would be a problem. Covering the heap is not a bad idea but I don't normally and I often dig into the heap and find dry spots. When it is cooking right heaps of the size that most of us build are self-aerating. One consequence of this is that the movement of air through them coming in cold and leaving warm drys them out. The steepness of the pile also tends to create a thatched roof effect.

[terracore]

quote:

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Originally posted by 7Shadows

Aloha everyone! Atlas called me back after I left a message with them yesterday and they told me the price to drop in a 3-4 bedroom septic system was around $8000.00 They were also nice enough to email me a list of local licensed installers and suggested I get quotes from at least 3 before making a decision. They design and engineer your system for about $625.00 then an installer puts it in the ground around $7500.

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Does the $7500 include the cost of the tank?

[leilanidude]

quote:

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Originally posted by randomq

I wonder if the ACLU will help me with a class action lawsuit against Hawaii County and their policy of making it illegal for poor people to go to the bathroom.

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Poor people shouldn't be building/owning a house they cannot afford to maintain in the first place.