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If people live in the country all year round or stay from early spring to late autumn, in addition to an outdoor toilet, it is desirable to install a water closet in the house. The toilet is connected to the sewer system, and the drains are collected in a storage tank. The inconvenience of using the system is the frequent cleaning of the cesspool, because a large amount of water is drained along with feces. An installed septic tank for a toilet in the country will save the owner from pumping sewage and bad smell in the yard.
Options for septic tanks to give
According to its functionality, a septic tank can be called a toilet without bad smells and pumping. Independently in the country, you can organize different options for such structures.
Homemade overflow septic tank
The name already suggests that something will overflow inside the septic tank. And it is. An overflow septic tank is an advanced wastewater treatment system. It consists of several chambers, the number and volume of which are calculated according to the number of people living in the country. All sewer branches coming from the toilet bowl and water points are connected to the septic tank.
The septic tank works on the principle of multi-stage cleaning. Sewage through the sewer pipe enters the first chamber – the sump. Waste is split into liquid and solid fractions. The sludge settles at the bottom of the first chamber, and the water enters the next chamber through the overflow pipe, where it is additionally cleaned. For septic tanks with three chambers, the process is repeated. That is, the liquid from the second chamber through the overflow pipe enters the third tank. No matter how many chambers the septic tank has, the purified liquid from the last tank is drained through the drainage pipes to the filtration field, where the last stage of cleaning and absorption into the soil takes place.
A country septic tank can be bought ready-made or assembled from improvised materials. Any containers are suitable, reinforced concrete rings, and also the chambers can be made monolithic of concrete. The main requirements for tanks are 100% tightness.
Dry closet instead of septic tank
If it is not possible to install a septic tank, but you want to make a toilet in the country without bad smells and frequent pumping, you can pay attention to the dry closet. The principle of decomposition of sewage occurs similarly only in one container.
The dry closet consists of a separate cabin. Usually it is made of lightweight materials, such as plastic or corrugated board. The booth is easy to move from place to place, and can be installed on a temporary or permanent basis. The role of the storage capacity is played by a plastic tank with a volume of up to 250 liters. A disinfectant is injected into the tank to help recycle the waste.
The dry closet in the country will work even in winter at low temperatures. Advanced models are equipped with an autonomous drain tank. Its internal mechanism mechanism independently mixes the disinfectant liquid with water at each drain.
A dry closet installed in the country will play the role of a mini-septic tank. The only inconvenience is its more frequent maintenance.
Dry mini septic tank
With a very rare visit to the dacha, it is unreasonable to build a large septic tank. A good option for organizing an outdoor toilet would be to install a powder closet. Waste, as in a real septic tank, will be processed into organic fertilizer. The output will be compost for the garden. Powder closet is a toilet seat with storage. It can be installed in an outdoor booth in the country or inside the house.
After visiting the toilet, the waste is sprinkled with peat. In the process, they are processed into compost. In homemade powder-closets, the powder is carried out manually with a scoop. Shop structures are equipped with an additional peat tank with a spreading mechanism.
Construction of a septic tank for a toilet in the country
You can build a septic tank for a toilet with your own hands in the country from ready-made containers, reinforced concrete rings or concrete. Now we will consider the basic requirements for the design, as well as options for building from different materials.
Requirements for a septic tank
A septic tank is a complex structure, and its performance depends on compliance with the requirements:
- Single-chamber mini-septic tanks are unable to qualitatively process waste. Only multi-stage wastewater treatment, which takes place in at least two chambers, is effective. The best option for giving with frequent visits is a three-chamber septic tank.
- It is important to ensure that the sump and processing chambers are completely sealed. If the cottage is located on loose soil, it is allowed to make the last chamber leaky. For this, a drainage bottom is paved from sand and gravel. Part of the purified water through the filter pad will be absorbed into the soil.
When using a septic tank in the country in winter, you need to take care of good insulation of the chambers. Otherwise, liquid drains will freeze during severe frosts.
Installation location
Despite the fact that the septic tank is a sealed system for collecting and processing sewage, there are sanitary rules for it that determine the installation location:
- a septic tank is located no closer than 3 m from sheds and other outbuildings;
- maintain a distance of 2 m from the road and the neighboring boundary;
- a septic tank should not be brought closer than 5 m to the house, but it is not recommended to remove it further than 15 m due to the increase in the cost of building a sewer pipeline;
- from any source of water, the septic tank is removed by 15 m.
Compliance with sanitary standards will save the future owner of the cottage from the occurrence of unforeseen problems.
Camera installation depth
Before choosing a container for a septic tank, you need to find out the depth of groundwater. If the summer cottage is located on a non-flooded area, and the groundwater layers are somewhere deep in the ground, it is reasonable to choose a vertical installation of the cameras. A container of small diameter, but large in length, is buried deep in the ground. At the same time, the volume of the chamber is not lost, and space in the summer cottage is saved.
With a high occurrence of groundwater, only horizontal laying of the tank is preferred, since it will not be possible to dig a deep pit. The larger the chamber, the larger its dimensions, and, therefore, in a horizontal position, the container will occupy an impressive part of the land.
Calculation of chamber volume
In complex sewer systems, the volume of septic tanks is calculated taking into account many indicators. For a country option, it is enough to follow a simple scheme. An example of the calculation can be taken from the table.
The work of a septic tank consists in a three-day processing of sewage. During this time, bacteria have time to break down waste into silt and water. The volume of the chambers is calculated taking into account all the people living in the country. Each person is allocated 200 liters of water per day. This also adds the water consumption of all household appliances and water points. All results are summed up and multiplied by 3. The approximate volume of sewage was obtained in three days. However, the chambers can not be chosen back-to-back in terms of volume. It is better to provide a small margin.
What are cameras made of?
When building a septic tank, you can go the easy way and buy a ready-made installation. In the independent manufacture of cameras, plastic containers have proven themselves well. European cubes are best suited, as they have a ready-made pallet and a protective metal grill. It is undesirable to use iron barrels for cameras due to the rapid corrosion of the metal.
Reliable chambers of a septic tank are considered to be structures made of reinforced concrete rings and monolithic concrete. However, their installation is very laborious, and in the case of reinforced concrete rings, you will need to hire lifting equipment.
Digging a pit for installing cameras
Having chosen the location of the septic tank at their summer cottage, they begin earthworks. It is better to dig manually with a shovel. This will be more difficult to do, but the pit will turn out with even walls of the required size. The dimensions of the pit depend on the dimensions of the chamber. At the same time, a margin is made for the arrangement of the bottom and side walls.
Excavations will have to be dug exactly as much as there will be chambers in the septic tank. Earth partitions are left between the pits. Their width depends on the conditions of the area, but preferably no more than 1 m. A trench is dug in the partitions for laying the overflow pipe. Another trench is being dug from the first chamber of the septic tank towards the house for laying a sewer pipeline.
The bottom of the finished pit is leveled, rammed and covered with a sand cushion 200 mm thick. Further arrangement depends on the chosen material for the manufacture of cameras.
Construction of a septic tank from reinforced concrete rings
For the manufacture of cameras, it is advisable to purchase reinforced concrete rings with locks on the ends. They do not need to be additionally stitched with staples, and a stable construction will be obtained. First, a ring with a bottom is lowered into the pit. If one could not be found, a 150 mm thick platform will first have to be concreted in the pit. After installing the first ring, all the others are placed on top of each other. The finished chamber is covered with a concrete slab.
When all chambers are made in this way, holes are punched in the rings with a perforator for connecting overflow pipes, sewers and a drain pipe. From above, through the cover, a ventilation pipe is led out of each chamber. It is connected through a tee to an overflow pipe. The finished chambers of the septic tank are sealed, covered with waterproofing mastic, insulated and backfilled with soil.
Monolithic concrete chambers
To make chambers of monolithic concrete, the bottom and walls of the pit are covered with waterproofing material. Suitable thick polyethylene or roofing material. A reinforcing mesh with a mesh size of 10×100 mm is knitted around the entire perimeter of the pit from reinforcement 100 mm thick.
The bottom is concreted first, pouring a solution 150 mm thick. After it hardens along the perimeter of the walls of the pit, formwork is built. Concrete is poured inside the resulting niches with a reinforcing mesh.
When the concrete chambers gain strength, which will be in about 1 month, they proceed to the further arrangement of the septic tank. Installation of overflow pipes, covers and all other works are the same as for chambers made of reinforced concrete rings.
Making chambers from eurocubes
Under the eurocubes, the bottom of the pits is made with steps with an offset of 200 mm relative to each other. Installation of cameras at different heights saves their usable volume. The bottom of the pit is pre-concreted, leaving protruding metal loops. Eurocubes are lowered into the pit along with pallets. To prevent plastic tanks from pushing groundwater out of the ground, they are tied with cables to the anchor loops left on the concrete bottom.
Further work consists in cutting holes in the walls of Eurocubes with an electric jigsaw for connecting pipes. The connection of air ducts, overflow pipes, drains and sewers is carried out in a similar way as for a septic tank from rings.
Outside, Eurocubes are insulated with foam, and covered with PET film on top. So that the pressure of the earth does not crush the chambers, a casing is made around the containers. You can use slate, boards or other building material. When the work is completed, backfilling of the soil is performed.
The video shows the manufacture of a septic tank:
Conclusion
A septic tank will save the owner of the cottage from many of the problems that a simple street toilet can deliver. The main thing is to add bacteria to the chambers in time, and periodically clean the sump.