LSB Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 I'm wondering if there is an overview on installing off mains sewage treatment. We have the location on our plans, but nothing else. No water course, just ultimate run off into our field. TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Can you put in a pond or reed bed to take stp and rainwater. Mine goes to this, I added rainwater as well to keep it diluted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 In case of any temporary problem I think I would have a soakaway before a pond., even if the ground technically can't take it. Or a 'pre-pond' extra pond with reeds and lilies. 10 years ago they were saying you could, but shouldn’t, drink the outfall. That was silly but indicates that it's almost clean. But if somebody left a bath running, the same amount would go into the pond, perhaps not very clean 1 hour ago, LSB said: an overview on installing off mains sewage treatment. Yes. Use a recognised digester system, using air turbulence rather than the mechanical ones. Then to a soakaway or recognised watercourse. In Scotland the outfall rules are stricter. There's lots of previous on the subject. Use Google "buildhub sewage digester" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 The real simple basics are drainage from the house leads to the treatment plant. Topography will dictate where best to sit it so drains can all run downhill to the TP and end up with it at a sensible depth. Outflow from the TP will have to flow somewhere, if land drainage it will be a buried soakaway of perforated pipe on stone, the size of which is determined by a percolation test and a standard formula based on the number of occupants and the percolation rate. Building regs set the minimum distances from buildings, boundaries, roads and watercourses to the TP and soakaway. they are different in different countries, i.e. Scotland different to England. I don't think anywhere allows you do drain "on" to your field. If the soakaway is on land higher than the TP then a pumped outflow will be needed, some models of TP are available with a pumping system build in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Here's a reading list for you.... If you follow the links in the posts you will get an overview of what's needed https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/search/?q=SUDS&quick=1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 1 hour ago, saveasteading said: In case of any temporary problem I think I would have a soakaway before a pond., even if the ground technically can't take it. Or a 'pre-pond' extra pond with reeds and lilies. The pond in my picture is exactly that, a pre pond, before it gets to the pond/lake. I did this just for the chance that someone puts something nasty in the drains it will be evident first in the small pond before it gets to the larger one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSB Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 2 hours ago, Russell griffiths said: Can you put in a pond or reed bed to take stp and rainwater. Mine goes to this, I added rainwater as well to keep it diluted. we can't feasibly have a pond or reed bed as house is at the top of a slope, so digging something out would be pretty impossible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSB Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 1 hour ago, ProDave said: The real simple basics are drainage from the house leads to the treatment plant. Topography will dictate where best to sit it so drains can all run downhill to the TP and end up with it at a sensible depth. Outflow from the TP will have to flow somewhere, if land drainage it will be a buried soakaway of perforated pipe on stone, the size of which is determined by a percolation test and a standard formula based on the number of occupants and the percolation rate. Building regs set the minimum distances from buildings, boundaries, roads and watercourses to the TP and soakaway. they are different in different countries, i.e. Scotland different to England. I don't think anywhere allows you do drain "on" to your field. If the soakaway is on land higher than the TP then a pumped outflow will be needed, some models of TP are available with a pumping system build in. soakways will be lower, when I said 'drain to field' I meant after the soakaway. I feel a drawing coming on 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSB Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 (edited) This is the layout, real basic from the house to the road is 120m and is about 5m in height. this is also the driveway, but the 'field' is about 15m wide so space for both without driving over TP. There are other sheds at the moment beside this driveway which are used for the horses so can't be knocked down. So, no problem with drains and angle of pipes or digging soakaways, but no where to put pond The road to our driveway is about 25m which is a shared driveway with our current house. Edited February 15 by LSB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 The amount of water coming out of the digester isn't huge. You flush a 5 litre toilet and that dribbles out simultaneously. How is the ground for porosity? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvin Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 We’re on a slope too. What we did is take the pipework down the contour of the field to the treatment plant then back out to the soakaway as it allowed the right fall without the need for steps in the pipework. How much space do you have? Soakaways can be quite big. Despite us having a fair bit of space there was really only a few places we could realistically build the soakaway given the rules about distance from watercourse, roads, house etc Fortunately it also happened to be the best place to put it after we did the percolation test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 1 hour ago, LSB said: soakways will be lower, when I said 'drain to field' I meant after the soakaway. I feel a drawing coming on 🙂 There should be no "after the soakaway" (except in special cases of a partial soakaway) The idea is the soakaway is made big enough that it can absorb all the water you are likely to feed into it. If it fails to do that then it needs to be bigger. I am not familliar with the English regs but in Scotland a soakaway can't be within 5 metres of a boundary, so with your 15M wide field that would limit you to a 10M wide soakaway, made as long as required to give the calculated area. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSB Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 1 hour ago, saveasteading said: The amount of water coming out of the digester isn't huge. You flush a 5 litre toilet and that dribbles out simultaneously. How is the ground for porosity? ground is a mixture of sand & loan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSB Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 48 minutes ago, Kelvin said: We’re on a slope too. What we did is take the pipework down the contour of the field to the treatment plant then back out to the soakaway as it allowed the right fall without the need for steps in the pipework. How much space do you have? Soakaways can be quite big. Despite us having a fair bit of space there was really only a few places we could realistically build the soakaway given the rules about distance from watercourse, roads, house etc Fortunately it also happened to be the best place to put it after we did the percolation test. between the planned parking and the sheds is about 50m by 15m wide. this needs to have the TP and the soakaways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSB Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 30 minutes ago, ProDave said: There should be no "after the soakaway" (except in special cases of a partial soakaway) The idea is the soakaway is made big enough that it can absorb all the water you are likely to feed into it. If it fails to do that then it needs to be bigger. I am not familliar with the English regs but in Scotland a soakaway can't be within 5 metres of a boundary, so with your 15M wide field that would limit you to a 10M wide soakaway, made as long as required to give the calculated area. Surely if fluid goes into the soakaway it's got to go somewhere ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvin Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 7 minutes ago, LSB said: Surely if fluid goes into the soakaway it's got to go somewhere ? It does, it soaks away into the ground. Despite having a freely running burn nearby I can’t run a pipe out of the soakaway into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSB Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 3 minutes ago, Kelvin said: It does, it soaks away into the ground. Despite having a freely running burn nearby I can’t run a pipe out of the soakaway into it. we have no burns, ditches, rhynes or streams on our side of the road. beside our fields over the road there is a ditch, but nothing ever runs over the road so I guess any water just 'soaks away' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 It's an easy thing to test. Officially you dig 1m deep but for a quick check, do it at ground level. Dig a 300 x 300 x300 hole below the topsoil. Pour water in. Does it go away and how quickly? Then we can discuss doing it more formally, but it's just a bigger hole and a watch to hand. Sand and loam is good. You are going to be in luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvin Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 30 minutes ago, LSB said: we have no burns, ditches, rhynes or streams on our side of the road. beside our fields over the road there is a ditch, but nothing ever runs over the road so I guess any water just 'soaks away' It does the question is how quickly/slowly. That’s what you need to determine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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