scottishjohn Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 as the title yes we know what to do with the septic tank/treatment plant etc but how is the rest of the bathwater etc usually handled in an off grid situation huge soak aways ? -- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 3 minutes ago, scottishjohn said: as the title yes we know what to do with the septic tank/treatment plant etc but how is the rest of the bathwater etc usually handled in an off grid situation huge soak aways ? -- Grey water must not go directly down a soakaway, as it will often have a fairly high biological oxygen demand (BOD), especially if it contains detergent or soap residue. It's normal for grey water to be treated by the treatment plant. It helps treatment, by providing increased volume and nutrients to keep the aerobic bacteria happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 As above by Jeremy, all but rainwater into a treatment plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 (edited) that makes life easy then just soakaways for rainwater ,which in my case will probably be sent to a tank for her gardening requirements+ soakaway for the overflow it just got me thinking as now new houses on grid here have to have rainwater etc in different system than the sewage and 2 sewers down the road outside would not have suprised me if that now would be carried over to off grid - Edited October 8, 2019 by scottishjohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 4 minutes ago, scottishjohn said: that makes life easy then just soakaways for rainwater ,which in my case will probably be sent to a tank for her gardening requirements+ soakaway for the overflow it just got me thinking as now new houses on grid here have to have rainwater etc in different system than the sewage and 2 sewers down the road outside would not have suprised me if that now would be carried over to off grid - Same here. In general there seems to have been a move away from combined sewers, that can accept surface water as well as foul drainage, to systems where only foul drainage can discharge to a sewer. Certainly the main sewers around here are pretty much all foul-only, with surface water having to be dealt with by soakaways etc. Not easy to get a soakaway to work on our clay soil, mind, which is one reason why I had to install a pretty large attenuation tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 (edited) 6 minutes ago, JSHarris said: Same here. In general there seems to have been a move away from combined sewers, that can accept surface water as well as foul drainage, to systems where only foul drainage can discharge to a sewer. Certainly the main sewers around here are pretty much all foul-only, with surface water having to be dealt with by soakaways etc. Not easy to get a soakaway to work on our clay soil, mind, which is one reason why I had to install a pretty large attenuation tank. worst scenario --or maybe a good one for me will be to pipe to go direct down the 140m(200psi) drop to the quarry pond---=HMMM --hydro ? will have to look and see how much you can generate with a small bore turbine for that height? --that will be well down the list of projects i think Edited October 8, 2019 by scottishjohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Combined sewers are very prone to sewerage treatment plants being over run during heavy rain and effluent being allowed into rivers and the sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 8 minutes ago, JSHarris said: Not easy to get a soakaway to work on our clay soil, mind, And me, when the BCO told me to dig a soakaway I said “you mean a pond!” I then pointed out we are on heavy yellow clay and any hole I dig will simply fill with ground water and it will stay there. So he asked me what i proposed and I said pipe it into the ditch where it will end up anyway. The subject was never raised again even during the sign off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 from a quick talk with border hydro it appears if i can get 2l persec flow rate@a140m head i could get 3.0kw X 50% power loss=1.5kw and i am pretty sure i can get alot more than that with the little burn that is flowing there at top of hill--so maybe need to check flow rate over next few months and hydro could be part of build from the start, cost approx2-2.5k--so very good in comparison to solar--as most water will be in winter when power loads are higher i can see me going hunting to find more small issues to direct same direction .LOL all sounds too good to be true --time will tell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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