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Originally Posted by tranquility
How long does the power have to be out for that to be a prb? I didn't know electricity affects it to potentially cause a mess.  |
Where I live, I have a well and septic. If the electricity goes out, no well, no pump, etc. There's no problem as long as you don't keep flushing the toilets, which would add to the tank but it wouldn't fill after only a few days. Since the power typically goes out when in bad storms, ground water from the rain if bad enough (Nor'easter type rain) could overwhelm the effluent tank w/o electricity to run the pump to pump it out. Unless your system is 100% gravity based.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tranquility
Wow, I thought there's no way for septic tanks to work for massive communities like condos...woah! What was the size of that sucker?
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Next time you drive past a farm you should see a huge circular cement circle. That is the the farm's septic for all of the animals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tranquility
What's a leaching field...is that where all the waste goes directly underneath? Can you use that land for anything, e.g. grow veggies, or it's useless save for that function?
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The picture you included is basically how it works. The waste exits the house, into the first holding tank to let the solids settle. This is what needs to be pumped. The waste water rises until it floats over the divider into the second tank. A pump pumps the water into the leaching field/sand mound through perforated PVC pipes and leaches/filters downward through the sand into the earth until it hits the water table. Sounds like M_Six has a slightly different system.
Things you need to think of.
1) The more waste the quicker the solids build up and need to be pumped. So most folks don't use a garbage disposal. Not a big deal if you really want one you can.
2) You don't want to flush things that do not decompose and/or float b/c they will go over the tank wall and clog the pump or worse PVC pipes, e.g. baby wipes and femine products.
3) Dilute the system with tons of water reducing or killing the bacteria. Washing machines, bleach. Really not an issue for a normal household. Probably would have to drain a swimming pool amount of water through the system to cause an issue. If you're really worried about it you can buy products like those posted above and flush them down the toilet every now and then. I've not had any issue.
You cannot use the leach field/sand mound land. Roots could clog the pipes. Keep trees and bushes away.