In the private sector or a summer cottage village where there is no centralized sewage system, it is necessary to equip your own septic tank to collect wastewater. This can be done in several ways. One of them is to dig a hole in a convenient place so that the car can freely drive up and pump out waste, fill the walls with concrete, and equip a hatch. Pipes through which sewer waste flows are installed during the construction phase of the house.
Sewerage types
On the site, it is possible to install a sewage system of two types - a cesspool made of concrete rings with a sealed bottom and a double cleaning system. In the first case, the cesspool must be periodically cleaned with a flusher, lowering the hose to the bottom. The advantage of such a system is a quick and easy installation that you can do yourself. Such a design is cheap: you need to buy rings and order a technique that will help lower them into the pit.
Minus - the owners will depend on whether the car arrives on time to pump out the waste water, and they will have to pay regularly - about once a month. With permanent residence, it is better to overpay during the construction phase, but pay less attention to the septic tank during operation. The two-stage cleaning system is:
- Sump where waste is collected directly from the house. For several days, the liquid is in the first tank, where it is exposed to bacteria that function without air access - anaerobic. Large particles settle to the bottom.
- After the first sedimentation tank, the liquid enters the second, where it is affected by microorganisms that need oxygen for life - aerobic ones. There, the liquid is completely cleared of pathogenic flora and then goes into the ground through the perforated bottom. Additionally, a filter cushion is made of rubble, sand and soil.
This method will cost more, but there will be fewer problems with the sewage system. Once every 2 years, you need to add an activator to the first well and allow bacteria to process waste, which is then used as fertilizer on the site.
For a two-stage cleaning, you will have to equip two septic tanks, located alternately one after the other. Consequently, it will take more building materials and time. It is better to do such work at the stage of building a house, having previously calculated the number of residents and water consumption per day.
Absorption drainage well
You can make a joint drain, but it quickly fills up and requires pumping. If the liquid is not removed in time, the outflow of water from the house will be difficult.
The drainage well is not made very large. The diameter of the concrete rings does not exceed 1.5 m, and the installation depth is 2 m. For summer residents, this is a good help on the farm, since the rainwater is clean and soft, the plants absorb it with pleasure.
Specification of concrete rings
To equip a septic tank, you need to buy ready-made rings and install them in a pit.The material for sewage must withstand moisture for a long time and not be destroyed. These properties are possessed by plastic and reinforced concrete rings. You can use both.
For the construction of a septic tank, various sizes of reinforced concrete sewer rings are used - from 1 to 2 meters in diameter. The thickness of the walls is from 8 to 10 cm. It depends on how much time the residents plan to spend in a country house. If it is constant, then the water consumption and the amount of wastewater will be greater. For a summer cottage, rings with a diameter of 1 m and a height of 90 cm are suitable.
Several types of reinforced concrete rings are produced:
- with a closed bottom - for installation as the first structural element;
- filtration - without a sealed bottom: a special embankment acts as a filter;
- elements with or without a lock;
- a ring with an opening for a hatch to cover the top of the septic tank.
The height of each part is calculated based on the design documentation. In case of a lack of parts, you can buy additional rings that have a small height - up to 30 cm.
Lock connection
It is important that all locking rings are purchased from the same manufacturer. If the diameter of the lock does not match, because the manufacturers do not adhere to standard sizes, it will be impossible to achieve a sealed joint.
Straight rings
Straight reinforced concrete rings are installed one on top of the other and, after installation, are additionally sealed. On the inside - with concrete plaster, on the outside - with bitumen-based putty to prevent the penetration of waste water into the environment. The joint is also concreted.
To hold the structure, iron brackets are used, which fix the rings and prevent them from moving relative to each other.
Advantages and disadvantages of sewage from concrete rings
Concrete rings are a durable material that will last for many years without the need for repairs. It is important to install and seal them correctly. The construction of concrete rings turns out to be smooth, which is difficult to achieve if you lay out a septic tank from stone or brick. In addition, time is saved, as the plaster and its final drying take more than a week. The concrete structure can be carefully sealed to prevent untreated waste water from entering the soil. This effect cannot be achieved if the sewer tank is made of rubber tires.
Iron rods inside the concrete give strength, so that it is not exposed to low and high temperatures, therefore, it lasts longer.
Cons of concrete construction:
- The material has a rough surface, so the angle of inclination of the pipes will have to be increased to reduce the risk of clogging of drains.
- Manual installation will not work, since each ring weighs about 400 kg. We need a technician with a crane to smoothly lower the concrete rings into the pit.
- Depending on the type of soil on the site, a well of the second type - a filtering well - cannot always be mounted, since the liquid cannot quickly be absorbed into the ground. If the main soil type on the site is clay or loam, the liquid will stagnate. On sandy and sandy loam soils - this is the best method of organizing a sewer system in a private house.
You can check the soil as follows: dig a hole and fill it with water. If the liquid is absorbed in 18 - 20 seconds, it means that the main component of the soil is sand. If the minute - sandy loam or loamy soil. More than 2 minutes - clay.
Before starting work, it is necessary to carry out calculations, from which it will be seen at what depth the groundwater is located.It is also important to determine the lowest point of the site and the distance to fruit trees and beds, as well as to a drinking well.
Designing and carrying out the necessary calculations
If there is a well with drinking water on the site, a septic tank with a perforated bottom must be located 50 m from the well. This will reduce the risk of waterborne infections and gastrointestinal diseases.
The distance from the house to the septic tank should be at least 10 meters.
The absorption capacity of sand per day is 80 liters, sandy loam soil mixture is 40 liters, loam is capable of absorbing only 25 liters of liquid, and clay only 5. Based on these indicators, filtration wells are allowed to be installed only on sand or sandy loam. In other cases, only a sealed septic tank. The average daily amount of wastewater should not exceed 1 cubic meter.
Design a sewerage system at the request of the owner of the site. This can be a separate system: liquid from the toilet enters one tank, and wastewater from a washing machine, kitchen, bathroom goes into another. For the equipment of such a multi-level system, it is necessary to have a sufficiently large area of the site, since on a small sewer hatches will be encountered at every step and spoil the appearance.
Several tanks are installed in a private house where several household appliances are planned to operate, for example, a dishwasher and a washing machine. If there are several bathrooms, the water consumption will increase, and the septic tank will fill up faster.
Installation steps
After designing the sewage system, they begin to lay it. At the first stage, one or more holes are dug, depending on the type. The distance from the pit walls to the concrete rings must be at least 30 cm so that the rings can be installed without problems.
Before installing the rings, it is necessary to make holes for pipes in them - inlet and outlet. This makes the inlet larger. The ventilation pipe is installed in the second air intake tank, as bacteria that need oxygen are functioning in it. The pipe is brought in from below at an angle, and its upper part rises above the site by 0.5 - 1 m.
If the bottom is sealed, then a sand pillow is poured under it. Leave space for the ventilation pipe. Then the rings are stacked on top of each other and sealed with plaster on the inside and bitumen on the outside. After that, the pipes are brought in. It is desirable that the line has a water seal. This will prevent wastewater from flowing back into the house. For this, the pipes are connected with a bend. If rings without a lock are used, then a plastic gasket can be inserted inside the well so that the waterproofing works without leakage.
If the construction of a house is carried out in parallel with the arrangement of the sewage system, then the next moment is the laying of pipes in the house and their output to the street.
The procedure for installing sewer pipes:
- A trench is being dug at the exit of the plastic pipe from the house. Its depth depends on how far the sump is. The angle of inclination must be observed to prevent blockages.
- The pipes are connected and sealed. Before laying, it is necessary to fix the line at the desired angle and add soil so that the pipe fits snugly. Some craftsmen specially water the soil with water to make it compact, and only then lay the plastic.
- The entry point is sealed. The inlet must be higher than the outlet.
The trench is covered with soil and tamped. The sewer well is covered with a concrete cover with a hatch cutout. This completes the installation, the pit is covered with soil mixed with sand. The hatch should always rise above the level of the site so that excessive precipitation does not provoke the septic tank to flood.
Prices for reinforced concrete rings for sewage
- from wall thickness - the thicker, the more expensive;
- from the height of the concrete product;
- from the diameter.
The quality of the concrete itself plays a role in pricing, as well as the presence of a metal base in the form of iron rods of different diameters.
The cost of parts with a dead bottom is higher, since the consumption of raw materials during production is higher. But for a septic tank, one such ring is enough. To the cost of concrete rings, add the price of a cover with a cutout for the hatch, on which a plastic cover is also installed.
If it is necessary to equip a second well with lower drain holes, it will cost more than the first. There is no need to risk the product by trying to punch holes at the bottom yourself. This is fraught with the destruction of the bottom.
In order to comply with all the standards for sewage, it is necessary to consult with several authorities, as well as with a construction company that is engaged in arranging a sewage system in a private house. After that, evaluate your strength and experience. The best option is to invite a team of specialists who will quickly and efficiently perform the work.
