septic tank

557 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by tboroson, Apr 5, 2006

snugglebug14

Discussion Starter · Mar 30, 2006

is there a way to do away with a septic tank through things like composting toilets, grey water system, other things like that? would it save money between not having to dig for a septic tank, purchase and install it and maintain it? Or is the cost of things like a grey water system so expensive it wouldn't save us anything? are grey water systems hard to install?

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Ravin

· #2 · Mar 30, 2006

From what I understand, greywater systems can be very simple--as simple as drainage from your house to water your garden. Of course, this requires not putting anything toxic/nonbiodegradable down your drains. I'd like to build someday with a greywater system and composting toilets.

The biggest issue, usually, with septic tanks is that building codes will require them. (Check with your municipality or, if outside city limits, your county for local codes).

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salmontree

· #3 · Mar 31, 2006

Read this book... It's like a liberation handbook for people who want to do away with the septic system.. I can't recommend it enough.
http://weblife.org/humanure/default.html

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tboroson

· #4 · Apr 5, 2006

I am going to look up that book

My one thought is, ok, composting toilets do away with a lot of "black water". But, washing machine water can also be black water, because of washing things like poopy diapers. As well as shower water when a kid has the runs and needs to wash poop off the backs of their legs. There can be a lot of sources of black water that really aren't avoidable. I wonder, do grey water systems accomodate some small amount of black water from such sources? Or does one normally bypass the grey water system when washing something like that?

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