Re: OT,Leech Beds???????

Posted by Billy NY on July 04, 2005 at 10:05:47 from (152.163.101.7):

In Reply to: OT,Leech Beds??????? posted by SJ on July 04, 2005 at 06:30:29:

Do a search for septic system design, and or any like variant, you'll find plenty of information on systems I'm sure. I recall looking early this spring, as I had a clog right before the tank and was trying to figure out what was up.

I've spent many years in the earthwork field as an operator and early on in that line of work, I was employed by a small to medium site contractor who used to do new septic systems as well as other site work. Aside from setting the tank, it did not take long before I was doing 2 systems per day, by myself, used to load up the tandem dump with #2 stone, hook the tag trailer with the hoe on and off I go. Depending on the site location, the additional stone I needed was usually nearby, make a few runs to the quarry afte unhooking, we used to stock all the small components like pipe, and distribution boxes etc., so I'd load that on too. All I needed was the plan for the system and to have the hole ready for the pre-cast outfit to set the tank and the rest was seemingly easy. Not bragging, but those days were a little long, but recall many where I did 2 per day, which made the company decent money, and of course I was treated well for my hard work.

You can tie in a new leach field from the distribution box, might even add a new D-Box, you can set each lateral to take an even amount of discharge by setting the plastic leveling devices that come with the box. I'd pump out the steel tank though, but for the cost of a concrete one, I'd prefer to just replace that too, if it was in poor condtion or the size was not to my liking, that is me though, does not mean it is necessary, I'm a little big on overkill sometimes LOL !

Aside from any munincipal or health dept. requirements that mandate minimum size of the system, over building here is never a waste of money and pipe, stone etc. it is cheap when you consider the increase in service life and the future expansion it will allow you.

My preference is to double the size requirement, from the tank capacity to the leach field size,if posssible, my present residence is double capacity and has given almost 30 years of service with no trouble.

The problem a leach field faces is when the tank is not pumped when needed, the fine particles get into the stone bed and clog it up, which renders the field useless, it can be rested and re-used, or replaced, but in any event you still have a problem. Read up on how a septic system functions, bacteria plays a key role in this, at this place, only toilet discharge goes to the tank, all other discharge goes to a drywell, effectively eliminating soap water and household chemicals from the system so it does not kill the bacteria. At this place, the tank had never been pumped until 2002, it was set in 1978, but it was much larger than required, we had a weird series of events late that winter '01-'02 and the ground became saturated and the frost line would not allow any percolation, so it backed up, pumped it and it was fine, now I do it every 3 years, I found a chart on this on the internet not to long ago.

Your basic lateral profile is about 12" of clean crushed #2 stone bedding, + or - , it's been awhile, then run your perforated pipe, holes to the side, on 1/8" / foot pitch min., you can use an optical level to set your grade or use an accurate 4'-0" hand level on top of each length of pipe to insure pitch, then bury in crushed #2 stone, we placed red rosin paper over that then backfilled with 2'-0" of good material, no large stones etc. You want to excavate your lateral trench on pitch, allow for a healthy bed of stone at least 1'-0", then your 4" pipe, stone cover, and top off with what you excavated or something suitable that won't crush the pipe. I used to backfill with a dozer and go across each lateral, not parallel, a dozer has much less ground pressure than a rubber tire hoe like you have so you may want to use the hoe from a vantage point that will keep you from driving over the new laterals with a full bucket, that is why it's good to plan out your moves from digging to backfilling. When I had a dozer I could leave the entire field open for the inspector to see, then work my way across to backfill, other times where there was not inspection and a dozer was not present, I'd do one line at a time and back fill it with the hoe, that is if I couild reuse the material I took out. Really not a hard task, do your research, get an approved plan and or design if need be, plan out your job, check your material list, call the 800 number "before you dig" and have a go at it, I've done a few systems with buddies on a saturday, enjoyed a cold one afterwards, usually more fun than work !

PS, I always thought the red rosin paper on top of the stone covering the pipe was a joke as it would seemingly rot away soon after, but I guess its to keep the cover material from choking the stone up while backfilling only, and I assume if you used something like plastic, it would stop evaporation from happening or similar by making a barrier and screwing up the works somehow, I never figured that one out, but was and probably still is, the accepted practice to use this paper over the stone covered pipe before covering.

Best of luck !

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