Derek Johnson on mon 9 aug 99
We are in the process of converting an older building to a studio and
have some questions on clay water disposal. The current plan is to dig
a 15 foot deep dry well/gray water well, but I'm not sure how quickly
it will plug up/fill up/become a pain or if there is better solution.
We have 5 acres, so space isn't a problem, but live on the west coast
of British Columbia, so 5-6 months of really wet weather(and ground)
is.
Any thoughts or better ideas? Thanks
Derek and Melany
Lost in the wilds of Powell River
Tom Wirt on mon 9 aug 99
Subject: Disposing of clay water(septic system)
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> We are in the process of converting an older building to a studio and
> have some questions on clay water disposal. The current plan is to dig
> a 15 foot deep dry well/gray water well, but I'm not sure how quickly
> it will plug up/fill up/become a pain or if there is better solution.
We've used a (much smaller) dry well for 5 years no and it shows no signs of
plugging up. The key is to have a settling sink so it's mostly water that
goes into the dry well.
Our dry well is only a couple of feet deep, 3 feet wide and 6 feet long. It
was dug by a couple of scoops from a backhoe. The though is that if it ever
does plug up from clay, another scoop gets it going again.
The sink is made from 2 cheap plastic sinks and a wooden frame to hold them
(It's also on wheels so it can be moved around to clean under. Water is
attached via garden hoses and the drain is a piece of large diameter plastic
tube. The tube goes through a hole in the wall and into the drywell. Up
here we have to have it wrapped with gutter heating tape to keep it from
freezing in the depths of winter.
The frame is built so the top sink sits like it would in a counter, framed
by 2x4's on their sides. 2x4/2x6 legs go down to a similar 2 x 6 platform
that holds the second sink. The drain from the first is simply a tube that
deposits inflow at the bottom of the settling tank. Then I took a thru-wall
fitting at the top of the settling sink and attached the plastic drain tube
to that.
I made the whole thing with a Skill saw and a power screwdriver in a couple
of hours. Works great...less filling.
The same sink setup was used for a couple of years in my house prior to
building the studio. It drained into a basement sump pump and in the 2
years showed no signs of clogging the sump.
Tom Wirt
John Rodgers on tue 10 aug 99
Rather than digging a big hole, I would suggest you set up your drain ares
to be slightly elevated, then connect several buckets in series. Cut two
round holes in the top of the bucket on opposite sides, insert a 2 to 2-1/2
in dia. plastic pipeon to the holes thereby connecting the buckets. Then
seal around them with RTV. This acts like settling tanks. if you make the
first bucket easily removable, as it fills with waste/clay/whatever it can
be simply swapped out and disposed of. The graywater, once it reaches the
end of several bucket is a row, will be quite free of any but the very
finiest of particles, the latter of which probably will be kept in motion by
the principle of brownian movement. Once in the ground it should be no
problem. This water could conceivably be allowed to run into an evaporating
pond of some sort on the surface. The solids from the evaporation pond and
the buckets could be simply buried or even fired to a solid mass before
disposal.
Surplused bathtubs from demolished buildings also work if you need a larger
graywater processing system.
I strongly urge that the process of the above-ground handling of the solids
being carried by water be your method of choice. Gives you positive control
of what goes into the ground. Eliminates hazardous contaminates getting into
the ground water.
John Rodgers in New Mexico.
Derek Johnson wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> We are in the process of converting an older building to a studio and
> have some questions on clay water disposal. The current plan is to dig
> a 15 foot deep dry well/gray water well, but I'm not sure how quickly
> it will plug up/fill up/become a pain or if there is better solution.
> We have 5 acres, so space isn't a problem, but live on the west coast
> of British Columbia, so 5-6 months of really wet weather(and ground)
> is.
>
> Any thoughts or better ideas? Thanks
>
> Derek and Melany
> Lost in the wilds of Powell River
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