I need a question about water drainage

[Superfly]

OK I live in an area where our water is really expensive. Earlier this year we had a well dug for irrigation, because when we irrigate, our water bill runs $200 a month. I also want to run my well water on my washer, but if I allow my waste water to run into the sewer, I'll still be charged a huge amount. For some reason, here, if we pay $1 a gallon, we pay $3 a gallon for sewer. Every where else I've ever lived, if it was $1 a gallon for water, it was .50 cents a gallon for sewer. Anyway -- so we were going to get a quote to have someone dig a trench all the way to the woods in our back yard, so the water could drain there. But then we found out that, not only would that be expensive, because it's at least 125 feet to our back woods - we also have to go down 1/4" every ten feet, so gravity would drain the water. So that's expensive and cost prohibitive.

Somebody at the hardware store suggested taking about a 10 gallon galvanized garbage can and drilling holes in it, then putting about 3 or 4 inches of gravel in the bottom, and burying it with the drain hose inside. Basically, it would be hooking up the washer's drain hose to the "mini septic tank" and having it all buried. It would look better and save us a lot on our water bill, because the water would be coming from the well.

Any ideas on this? Anyone ever done it? If I wanted a 10 gallon can, would that be large enough, and would it drain fast enough? How far down would we have to bury the can?

 

[Fisher]

You are basically creating a homemade septic field for your washer. That would not work in my area because they do not actually measure your water out. They base it off your water in (and sewage out costs more than water in).

 

[Superfly]

You are basically creating a homemade septic field for your washer. That would not work in my area because they do not actually measure your water out. They base it off your water in (and sewage out costs more than water in).

Our water in and septic out both are measured. But if we used the well for water in, and our own septic field for water out, we could bypass the water department entirely. That's what we are trying to do.

 

[AlabamaPaul]

OK I live in an area where our water is really expensive. Earlier this year we had a well dug for irrigation, because when we irrigate, our water bill runs $200 a month. I also want to run my well water on my washer, but if I allow my waste water to run into the sewer, I'll still be charged a huge amount. For some reason, here, if we pay $1 a gallon, we pay $3 a gallon for sewer. Every where else I've ever lived, if it was $1 a gallon for water, it was .50 cents a gallon for sewer. Anyway -- so we were going to get a quote to have someone dig a trench all the way to the woods in our back yard, so the water could drain there. But then we found out that, not only would that be expensive, because it's at least 125 feet to our back woods - we also have to go down 1/4" every ten feet, so gravity would drain the water. So that's expensive and cost prohibitive.

Somebody at the hardware store suggested taking about a 10 gallon galvanized garbage can and drilling holes in it, then putting about 3 or 4 inches of gravel in the bottom, and burying it with the drain hose inside. Basically, it would be hooking up the washer's drain hose to the "mini septic tank" and having it all buried. It would look better and save us a lot on our water bill, because the water would be coming from the well.

Any ideas on this? Anyone ever done it? If I wanted a 10 gallon can, would that be large enough, and would it drain fast enough? How far down would we have to bury the can?

I've never heard of a meter on the discharge end of water usage. In my experience it is usually base on water consumption. If there is some sort of meter in your area, a proper septic field may be able to be installed to handle washing (toilets and showers too) and should be relatively inexpensive compared to digging the well...

 

[Superfly]

I've never heard of a meter on the discharge end of water usage. In my experience it is usually base on water consumption. If there is some sort of meter in your area, a proper septic field may be able to be installed to handle washing (toilets and showers too) and should be relatively inexpensive compared to digging the well...

Our water department is terrible here. Awful. We pay an average of about $100 a month for a family of 4, with no irrigation. That's twice to three times what I've ever paid, in my life. Bastards.

Edited to add: We can't do anything too large. They can't find out about it. They've decided that houses in subdivisions can't attach their houses to wells. People outside subdivisions can, but we can't. I don't see how that's fair.

 

[AlabamaPaul]

Our water department is terrible here. Awful. We pay an average of about $100 a month for a family of 4, with no irrigation. That's twice to three times what I've ever paid, in my life. Bastards.

Edited to add: We can't do anything too large. They can't find out about it. They've decided that houses in subdivisions can't attach their houses to wells. People outside subdivisions can, but we can't. I don't see how that's fair.

You're not attaching the house, just the washing machine... :mrgreen:

 

[Superfly]

:lol: I like the way you think.

 

[Fisher]

Is it legal to have well and septic? In my city it is not unless you were grandfathered in, and if you were to do it you would either be busted for a zoning violation and/or have your certificate of occupancy revoked for not being hooked up to water. If your water or electric gets disconnected in my hood, within ten days, the city is on your ass to vacate the premises and if it goes for 30, the house has to be completely reinspected to get the utilities turned back on.

 

[AlabamaPaul]

:lol: I like the way you think.

Since you're at the coast, I'm not too sure you would want to wash your clothes with well water though. Toilets and possibly showers should be okay...

 

[Superfly]

It's legal to have well but not legal to have it hooked up to your house. We aren't on septic, though - we are on sewer. We only want to hook up the washer - not everything else.

Edited to add: It's only illegal because the douchebags who run the water department have decided that subdivisions can't hook up to their house, but everyone else can.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

It's legal to have well but not legal to have it hooked up to your house. We aren't on septic, though - we are on sewer. We only want to hook up the washer - not everything else.

Edited to add: It's only illegal because the douchebags who run the water department have decided that subdivisions can't hook up to their house, but everyone else can.

People do it around here all the time - there's a more proper way to build a leech tank . . .but it's the same idea. What goes out with wash water is basically just chemical, dirtied water. . . .not solid wastes (like for septic) - so there's only the need to let it 'leech' out into the ground around the tank. Some people also bury lengths of septic leech pipe for this purpose (it's 5" PVC pipe that has a series of holes pre-drilled) . . . they fill with water and that slowly soaks into the ground.

 

[Superfly]

People do it around here all the time - there's a more proper way to build a leech tank . . .but it's the same idea. What goes out with wash water is basically just chemical, dirtied water. . . .not solid wastes (like for septic) - so there's only the need to let it 'leech' out into the ground around the tank. Some people also bury lengths of septic leech pipe for this purpose (it's 5" PVC pipe that has a series of holes pre-drilled) . . . they fill with water and that slowly soaks into the ground.

How long would the pipe have to be, to not have the water back up into the washer? I like that idea better. Less digging. :lol:

 

[jamesrage]

OK I live in an area where our water is really expensive. Earlier this year we had a well dug for irrigation, because when we irrigate, our water bill runs $200 a month. I also want to run my well water on my washer, but if I allow my waste water to run into the sewer, I'll still be charged a huge amount. For some reason, here, if we pay $1 a gallon, we pay $3 a gallon for sewer. Every where else I've ever lived, if it was $1 a gallon for water, it was .50 cents a gallon for sewer. Anyway -- so we were going to get a quote to have someone dig a trench all the way to the woods in our back yard, so the water could drain there. But then we found out that, not only would that be expensive, because it's at least 125 feet to our back woods - we also have to go down 1/4" every ten feet, so gravity would drain the water. So that's expensive and cost prohibitive.

Somebody at the hardware store suggested taking about a 10 gallon galvanized garbage can and drilling holes in it, then putting about 3 or 4 inches of gravel in the bottom, and burying it with the drain hose inside. Basically, it would be hooking up the washer's drain hose to the "mini septic tank" and having it all buried. It would look better and save us a lot on our water bill, because the water would be coming from the well.

Any ideas on this? Anyone ever done it? If I wanted a 10 gallon can, would that be large enough, and would it drain fast enough? How far down would we have to bury the can?

Have you ever heard of greywater recycling? I remember watching something about it on some of the home improvement shows. You could possibly kill two birds with one stone depending on what plants you have.

Greywater Action | For a sustainable water culture

Choosing plants and irrigating with greywater | Greywater Action

http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandE...Management/GreywaterReuse/GreywaterLinks.aspx

http://msucares.com/lawn/landscape/sustainable/greywater.html

 

[mike2810]

Our water in and septic out both are measured. But if we used the well for water in, and our own septic field for water out, we could bypass the water department entirely. That's what we are trying to do.

It would be advisable to see if its legal to have a septic tank/field on your property. Check with planning/zoning.

Or you could just do it and take a chance no one ever checks or cares. I would first check to see how well your soil would drain (soil perc test).
"Unlike the old days where small “perc-tests” were performed by drilling a relatively shallow hole in the soil and dumping 5 gallons of water into it, most jurisdictions require test pits be dug from 5′ to 7′ deep by a backhoe. The pits allow for a greater viewing of the soil layering and are much more telling about what is really happening underground. The pits must be dug wide enough to allow access to the base without a danger of cave-in and must be sloped to allow for a soil analyst to walk into the pit and test the soils at depth.

Will Your Soils Want Your Septic Tank? :: Be Your Own Contractor Training

 

[bubbabgone]

OK I live in an area where our water is really expensive. Earlier this year we had a well dug for irrigation, because when we irrigate, our water bill runs $200 a month. I also want to run my well water on my washer, but if I allow my waste water to run into the sewer, I'll still be charged a huge amount. For some reason, here, if we pay $1 a gallon, we pay $3 a gallon for sewer. Every where else I've ever lived, if it was $1 a gallon for water, it was .50 cents a gallon for sewer. Anyway -- so we were going to get a quote to have someone dig a trench all the way to the woods in our back yard, so the water could drain there. But then we found out that, not only would that be expensive, because it's at least 125 feet to our back woods - we also have to go down 1/4" every ten feet, so gravity would drain the water. So that's expensive and cost prohibitive.

Somebody at the hardware store suggested taking about a 10 gallon galvanized garbage can and drilling holes in it, then putting about 3 or 4 inches of gravel in the bottom, and burying it with the drain hose inside. Basically, it would be hooking up the washer's drain hose to the "mini septic tank" and having it all buried. It would look better and save us a lot on our water bill, because the water would be coming from the well.

Any ideas on this? Anyone ever done it? If I wanted a 10 gallon can, would that be large enough, and would it drain fast enough? How far down would we have to bury the can?

Are you saying you want to send your washer waste water to somewhere on your property and not the city waste system?
I really don't think a trash can with rocks will handle it.
After all, septic systems are meant to handle that stuff and more.
Yes, you have far less volume but I believe it would overwhelm your trash can solution in short order.

 

[GottaGo]

Around here, where wells and septic fields (leech fields) are the norm, and living out in the country what nobody sees, nobody knows, instead of replacing an undersized leech field, people will, will dig grey water pits. Some will use 55 gallon plastic drums (like what is used for rain barrels) and drill many holes in them, bury them in the grey water pit and run the disposal pipes from washers, showers and dishwashers to them, and use them as a mini tank. Some even use them for garden irrigation.

It sounds like you may be in an HOA, which may have covenants against septic fields, so make sure you're not violating a rule, or you may end up having to tear it all out.

 

[Superfly]

Thanks for all the info, guys. Going to read it to Hubs tomorrow and let him make the final decision on this, but I'm liking the idea of the septic leech lines thing.

 

[yobarnacle]

Composting toilets are legal in most areas. they use a heater to evaporate liquids.

Maybe some solar heat method of evaporating grey water would comply with zoning, but the installation prohibitively expensive.