Tag Archives: Septic

The Video

This is probably the shortest video I have made so far.  I didn’t need to be on site for most of this work, and only caught a bit of it on video.

The Story

After digging the trench and placing the septic tanks, we had some delay while the health department decided how we had to deal with our unofficial garbage dump and steep sandy terrain.  Basically, the Roe Brothers dealt with most of that, so I didn’t catch all the details.  It seems like there was a switch of health inspectors to deal with and the second guy didn’t like the way we implemented the first guys plan (or something like that).  There may also have been an additional inspection, but we were already way over budget, so the Roe brothers ate the cost of that one (several hundred dollars per inspection).

We were also waiting for gravel to be delivered.  My soft sand and large gravel order meant that only a certain kind of truck could manage the delivery without getting stuck.  Only a few gravel yards in the area had the right kind of truck and all were broken down or otherwise indisposed.  There was also a power outage in the area (due to a crazy storm) that prevented some of the gravel yards from loading up their trucks, so orders were backing up.

But eventually, after weeks of delay, 60 yards of gravel arrived and the Roe Brothers were able to finish the septic system.

Basically, the effluent will flow out of the 2^nd septic tank and into a PVC Manifold that separates it into 7 parallel pipes… These pipes have little holes that will let it leech out, basically spreading it wide enough for nature to absorb it by natural processes.  On the other end, the 7 pipes are reconnected by a manifold (for some reason)…

Later, the pipes and gravel were all covered over by dirt, which Dick Roe had to sculpt for proper surface flow around the septic field.  That area should end up pretty fertile.

The 70 year old garbage dump magically disappeared, presumably its “antiques” (mostly old bottles) were reburied near by, but I forgot to ask where.

Then Sherri (with a little help from the boys) seeded tens of thousands of square feet with a rye/blue grass mixture and raked it all under.

In the end, we went about 8% over budget on the septic field.  I also had not properly factored in all the costs associated with back-filling the long trench and around the house, which added a couple thousand dollars extra and put us about 30% over budget on the total septic system.

Next: we get going on the main floor footings.