[tranquility]

Appreciated the info. I may be able to handle the possibility of a septic tank but a well seems too much for me haha. I was just look at some videos and that well system has so many freaking components aka things that could potentially go wrong

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by tranquility

… that well system has so many freaking components aka things that could potentially go wrong

Have you looked under the hood of your car?

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

Have you looked under the hood of your car?

Ya, but for many ppl, having a well is more avoidable.

However, that raises a good pt so I'm always amazed why ppl are so against EVs. Our ICEs have so many crazy parts waiting for fail, some outrageously low efficiency like 10% while EVs are 90%? Anyway, that's a whole new can of worms lol.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by tranquility

some outrageously low efficiency like 10% while EVs are 90%.

I have a well and it works as well at -30deg as it does at +90deg. Odd so does my ICE car and truck.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

I've lived with septic systems for most of my life and honestly I would not have it any other way. Here are a few things I know or have learned
The system must be properly designed, sized and constructed.
I really recommended pea stone under the tanks and connecting pipes with proper compaction to eliminate setting. Have risers on the tanks to ground level rather than letting some lazy contractor bury the lids.
The only system that is legal in most area's uses a dosing tank before the leach field. If your codes don't require that do it any way. The field will last a lot longer.
The field should have clean outs on the ends of the runs. I cut mine to ground level and I fit screw on caps. It makes mowing easier and when I need to flush the leach fields it is easy to find the clean outs.
Keep heavy equipment off the system.
Read up on what you can put down the system. I do use a garbage disposal but it is seldom used as I use a composter most of the time.
The best part of having a septic system is having a well. Have the water tested and treat as required. I do have to run a water softener. When I go to friends who are on city water, I can't stand the taste of their water. Well water makes a much better cup of coffee IMO
Last but not least know that the cost in maintaining a septic and well pale by comparison to the monthly cost of most water/sewage bills and if you are ever in a sewer assessment you will rue the day you got hooked up.

Tx for your knowledge. I just wanna see if I understand this properly since I'm a newb:
.pea stone is the best 'material' to put underneath the septic tank system to ensure that it doesn't sink (i.e. stay exactly in place)?
.what is a 'dosing tank'? I guess the diagram I posted isn't complete?
.'clean outs' means unobstructed pipes going out in the open? (ditto diagram being incomplete?)

I know it's popular in the US but us Canadians don't really use garbage disposals, it's kinda a weird concept for us. Actually, how useful is it considering many ppl have composting service from the city? Maybe it was more useful previously?

Ok, I'm confused about the bolded part....surely they aren't connected, right? Can you clarify what you meant? I understand that a house can have any combo of (city water or well) + (city sewer or septic tank)?

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by tranquility

.pea stone is the best 'material' to put underneath the septic tank system to ensure that it doesn't sink (i.e. stay exactly in place)?

Any time you dig up your yard there will be settling. The important part is having the soil compacted and generally the contractor will use pea stone because it drains well, makes leveling the tanks easy and offers good support. It's more about the connecting lines than the tanks.

Originally Posted by tranquility

.what is a 'dosing tank'? I guess the diagram I posted isn't complete?

With out a dosing tank the wastewater flows from the septic tank into the leach field by gravity. With a dosing tank the wastewater flows from the septic tank to the dosing tank by gravity but from the dosing tank into the leach field by a pump in the dosing tank that has a water level sensor. This forces the wastewater into the leach field thus forcing the entire field to be filled, thus longer leach field life. To the best of my knowledge they are mandatory in most codes? They also come with a delightful alarm that will wake the dead if the system malfunctions.

Originally Posted by tranquility

.'clean outs' means unobstructed pipes going out in the open? (ditto diagram being incomplete?)

See above diagram "Clean out plug" in a residential system there will be four of them. Common to see four PVC pipes sticking up in the yards but I trim mine so I can mow over them with no hand trimming. Not good to run over them directly with the mower as they can break the leach field at the connection.

Originally Posted by tranquility

I know it's popular in the US but us Canadians don't really use garbage disposals, it's kinda a weird concept for us. Actually, how useful is it considering many ppl have composting service from the city? Maybe it was more useful previously?

I have my own composter. The compost is great to have around and it's easy and not expensive.

Originally Posted by tranquility

Ok, I'm confused about the bolded part....surely they aren't connected, right? Can you clarify what you meant?

Not sure what you are referring to?

Originally Posted by tranquility

I understand that a house can have any combo of (city water or well) + (city sewer or septic tank)?

Maybe but I see no reason to have a sewage connection and a well. Generally the billing is related to how much water you use as they have a meter on that system.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Not sure what you are referring to?

Maybe but I see no reason to have a sewage connection and a well. Generally the billing is related to how much water you use as they have a meter on that system.

I was referring to your earlier post saying: "The best part of having a septic system is having a well.", so I'm just confused how those 2 relate?

I suppose if one has money, they can do whatever and make sure the systems they install w be virtually infallible. I wonder since some ppl already have this kind of self-sufficiency w the septic and the well, how many go further and have power generators and solar panels?


This is very intriguing stuff, but I guess I'm still a city dude and would rather just rely on their sewers and water and be done w it. However, thanks to some info itt I would be open to septics. The well seems daunting for me personally though, so many more things I have to be on top of. If I had to rank my personal preference from best to worst, it would be as follows. How about you guys?

1. city sewer/city water
2. septic/city water
3. city sewer/well
4. septic/well

[BMWCCA1]

Originally Posted by tranquility

If I had to rank my personal preference from best to worst, it would be as follows. How about you guys?

1. city sewer/city water
2. septic/city water
3. city sewer/well
4. septic/well

City water tastes like the chlorinated recycled sewage that it is.
I've been on Virginia well water for nearly 50-years.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by BMWCCA1

City water tastes like the chlorinated recycled sewage that it is.
I've been on Virginia well water for nearly 50-years.

I guess I'd have to get you to ship some well water for me to sample. I dunno any better.

[dscabra]

I've been on a septic system for 16 years. I've had the first tank pumped out three times and the second tank pumped out once. Most of what you remove when pumping the first tank is the huge brick of paper that is floating on the top of the liquid in the tank.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by dscabra

I've been on a septic system for 16 years. I've had the first tank pumped out three times and the second tank pumped out once. Most of what you remove when pumping the first tank is the huge brick of paper that is floating on the top of the liquid in the tank.

What paper though, I thought that tp dissolves?

[dscabra]

Originally Posted by tranquility

What paper though, I thought that tp dissolves?

That hasn't been my experience. Each time I've had the tank pumped, there was a 6-8" layer of paper in the tank.

[BMWCCA1]

Originally Posted by tranquility

I guess I'd have to get you to ship some well water for me to sample. I dunno any better.

It tastes like . . . water!

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by BMWCCA1

It tastes like . . . water!

I've had my water tested several times over the past 20 years and have no problems at all. Do they test for every possible harmful component? Doubtful. But I'd wager that public water systems don't either.

[Maynard]

Water quality, and taste is a very regional thing. Wells have much more variability and vulnerability - they draw water from underground aquifers (pools of underground water); If somebody decides to dump toxic waste where it will leach into the aquifer then your water just got polluted; if your neighbor decides to go crazy with a drill and busts up your aquifer then you might run dry. City water is also subject to serious pollution issues, but it has been cleaned, filtered, and decontaminated. Either can be real nasty (look up 'fracking affects local wells' or 'lead pipes leach into drinking water'). City water is much more reliable, and you know pretty much what you are getting region-wide. You'll want to look into this specific to your area, as any combo of personal experience will be true someplace (some have undrinkable well water and nice tap, others have toxic sludge coming from the city and pure well water). Clean aquifers are getting more rare - even back in the 90's there was a superfund site located w/i the borders of every major aquifer in Ohio; that was before fracking.

In NY State they go to great lengths to protect aquifers (prohibit fracking and are stricter with ground polluters), mainly b/c NY City draws all their water from upstate - you can easily find them bragging it up as some of the best on earth, and justified in that. Cleveland, on the other hand, drew their tap water from a port located about a half mile out into Lake Erie (the one that caught fire, where mud from the bottom is classifired as toxic waste when they dredge it). Personally I drink distilled water every place I've lived since then.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Llarry

I've had my water tested several times over the past 20 years and have no problems at all. Do they test for every possible harmful component? Doubtful. But I'd wager that public water systems don't either.

I wouldn't take that bet because my DW has worked at both water testing labs and water/wastewater plants from small towns to NYC. They test frequently for the common stuff, but there is no magic Star Trek tricorder that scans for *everything* all at once. Each test requires a different lab procedure, and the bill can quickly run up into 5-figures.

Most homeowners stop with a simple absent/present bacteria test, because it is the minimum required by many health departments. When buying a home, your home inspector should run this water test for you. Mortgage lenders (like FHA?) also require specific water tests before closing, which in our area includes radon, tannins, and bacteria.....

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by dscabra

That hasn't been my experience. Each time I've had the tank pumped, there was a 6-8" layer of paper in the tank.

Even if I only put human waste and tp down there, that's another concern then. Whoa.

Originally Posted by BMWCCA1

It tastes like . . . water!

Haha, I'm sure you're more experienced than me so I'll take your word for it.

I guess it's regional like the below poster said. Honestly, we never had any issue at all and the water never tasted weird in the slight (knock wood) and it tasted like...water...to the best of my knowledge haha (just from comparing w all kinds of bottled water). Maybe Canadian water is somehow better since our country has huge freshwater supplies? I dunno.

Originally Posted by Maynard

Water quality, and taste is a very regional thing. Wells have much more variability and vulnerability - they draw water from underground aquifers (pools of underground water); If somebody decides to dump toxic waste where it will leach into the aquifer then your water just got polluted; if your neighbor decides to go crazy with a drill and busts up your aquifer then you might run dry. City water is also subject to serious pollution issues, but it has been cleaned, filtered, and decontaminated. Either can be real nasty (look up 'fracking affects local wells' or 'lead pipes leach into drinking water'). City water is much more reliable, and you know pretty much what you are getting region-wide. You'll want to look into this specific to your area, as any combo of personal experience will be true someplace (some have undrinkable well water and nice tap, others have toxic sludge coming from the city and pure well water). Clean aquifers are getting more rare - even back in the 90's there was a superfund site located w/i the borders of every major aquifer in Ohio; that was before fracking.

In NY State they go to great lengths to protect aquifers (prohibit fracking and are stricter with ground polluters), mainly b/c NY City draws all their water from upstate - you can easily find them bragging it up as some of the best on earth, and justified in that. Cleveland, on the other hand, drew their tap water from a port located about a half mile out into Lake Erie (the one that caught fire, where mud from the bottom is classifired as toxic waste when they dredge it). Personally I drink distilled water every place I've lived since then.

Originally Posted by vreihen16

I wouldn't take that bet because my DW has worked at both water testing labs and water/wastewater plants from small towns to NYC. They test frequently for the common stuff, but there is no magic Star Trek tricorder that scans for *everything* all at once. Each test requires a different lab procedure, and the bill can quickly run up into 5-figures.

Most homeowners stop with a simple absent/present bacteria test, because it is the minimum required by many health departments. When buying a home, your home inspector should run this water test for you. Mortgage lenders (like FHA?) also require specific water tests before closing, which in our area includes radon, tannins, and bacteria.....

Those are GREAT points, guys. I'm loving this thread as it's been so educational for me.

It would suck balls if I wanted to spend good money on a nice plot and build a sweet house and then run into those well issues. As a newb, the concept is cool, drilling so deep into the earth to reach a huge pool of water, but it seems like there are many crazy variables to maintain supply/reliably consistent access+pressure and quality, w the onus of water testing being on me...I really wonder whose quality is better: city vs some dude w a well, esp considering an above poster mentioned those tests aren't cheap? I'm nowhere near being one of those doomsday preppers LOL, I dunno if I'm up to the task of doing all that and I'd probably wanna jump into the rabbit-hole of being self-sufficient in electricity too.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by tranquility

What paper though, I thought that tp dissolves?

Some does better than others. Lots of info and “testing” on YouTube and via the google.

[Watching The World Burn]

We are on septic and well, have been for 9 years at least. It isn't the issue that you think it is, sure there is more to think about than just hooking up to the city, but I'm ok with using whatever water I want without paying for it...which I would have to do if I hooked up to the city sewer and water. I know the cost is not a concern to you though, but in the long run you might start to complain, so don't entirely discount this.

Plus, the taste is honestly night and day difference, well water tastes much better. Get a reverse osmosis system installed and it will be some of the cleaner water you drink (healthier than all that chlorine the city puts in too).

We got a generator for reasons other than worries about the septic because unless your power is out for days, it isn't going to be an issue, but it is still nice having a generator that powers the whole house including the water system. Not needed if you aren't in an area where the power goes down frequently, but the generator is just convenience more than anything else.

Honestly, I get the tank pumped every 3-5 years, and I change the filters on the reverse osmosis every year (and probably replace the UV bulb about 3 times a year, but the filters and bulb are easy). If I drive my truck on the lawn I'll go around the leeching field but that was only when I was building a zipline structure, now there is nothing I need to worry about that is heavy going on the yard.

[spazzyfry123]

This might be the most engaging thread in OT in years.

Y'all know your sh*t!

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

Y'all know your sh*t!

I'd rather know my sh*t than be full of sh*t.

[kscarrol]

^ They are not mutually exclusive….