01-21-2017, 05:15 AM
The septic tank catches the solids so that they don't clog the tiny pores in the leach field. In most cases here in Hawaii with cesspools the rock is so porous that the pores are really large cracks and the solids break down fast enough that things don't clog.
A proper septic tank is designed so that it catches both floating and sinking solids. If you simply have a barrel that's open on top the floating stuff will get through and the barrel might as well not be there. There are also size considerations. A barrel is so small that it can't function as a regular septic tank.
As for the aina there is really nothing you can do to a cesspool to make it perform like a leach field. Some people think that here in Hawaii the fractured and highly aerated nature of the soil and rock is such that cesspools are good enough. The DOH is still pushing hard to eliminate and phase out cesspools though. I don't feel that bad about using a cesspool since so few people rely on wells here, but they are not really the best way to treat waste.
A proper septic tank is designed so that it catches both floating and sinking solids. If you simply have a barrel that's open on top the floating stuff will get through and the barrel might as well not be there. There are also size considerations. A barrel is so small that it can't function as a regular septic tank.
As for the aina there is really nothing you can do to a cesspool to make it perform like a leach field. Some people think that here in Hawaii the fractured and highly aerated nature of the soil and rock is such that cesspools are good enough. The DOH is still pushing hard to eliminate and phase out cesspools though. I don't feel that bad about using a cesspool since so few people rely on wells here, but they are not really the best way to treat waste.