Small septic or tie into existing?

[Piper2022]

I friend of mine has a hunting camp with a full septic. We are building a small single bed guest cabin 400ft from the camp up on a small hill. The septic was designed for one additional bedroom in case the existing camp was expanded. I am helping with the site work with my tractor and we would like to tie into the existing system but the distance scares me. The elevation helps us and allows for about a 1/4" per foot pitch down the entire way to the existing septic. A plumber friend of ours says it will work fine just make sure clean outs are installed every 75 to meet code and use 4". I dont like the idea of flowing solid waste that far, but its either that or install a separate septic.

Do you guys see any issue with running that far?

 

[powerpace]

You should be fine. My house septic tank is currently forty feet away and down ten feet. The drain field is two-hundred feet downhill with a drop of forty feet. Only liquid is discharged from the septic tank.
When we developed the property we had a septic tank that serviced the barn and living quarters. It uses the same drainage field as the house. The effluent is pumped about one-hundred feet and up five feet. When the house was built the Department of Environment Quality said that we didn't have to have a seperate septic tank for the house. We could let the flushed solids flow about three hundred feet away and down about forty-five feet.
We opted for a seperate tank.
The solids are mainly water anyway they will not be a problem. The actual solid will be toilet paper but if the septic tank has a seperate setteling tank you should have no problems. Your rate of flow for the time you will occupy the cabin will be very low. Probably more gray water from your shower and sink than your toilet.

 

[Fawken]

Put a small one in.

 

[wyeguy]

I'd be worried about it not being used enough to allow the solids to get moved all the way down. If there was enough liquid moving regularly the solids wouldn't build up and would get pushed down. I wonder if the solids would build up and block the pipe and cause problems.

Just like you never want to leave a camper valve open to flow constantly into a septic or sewer. You want to have the liquid available flush the solids out and move them were you wanting to go.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Build your own and be self sufficient. I know you said "friend" but friendships have a way of falling apart. Lets say you connect to his system and all of a sudden he starts gettin septic problem, guess who's fault it will be. EVEN if it's not your fault. No sorry too may things can go wrong "sharing". I shared a well with a neighbor. Simple agreement, I would pay for any electricity above and beyond what his historic bills were. Then the trouble started, he installed a trailer with a renter from "our" well, then he complained I was using too much water, and on and on and on. I spent the 25K to drill my own well, just to get rid of him. Then Karma kicked in. "his" well went down and he had to play nice to get "free" water from me till his well was fixed and could his driller use my water.

Things that seem simple go south quickly when friends, family, or neighbors are involved.

 

[mjncad]

Expanding on Cat_Driver's comments. Is the new guest cabin on your buddy's land or your land? If the cabin is on your land and owned by you, then build you're own system. Too many non-technical things can go wrong that could involve evil lawyers to straighten out.

 

[CurlyDave]

I think Cat_Driver has the right idea. A separate septic system is a much better idea, even if it would be "cheaper" to use the existing septic. 400' of line has to cost something. Apply it to an independent septic and you will be miles ahead. You will not be introducing something that will strain your friendship.

BTW, where will you get water? And, who owns the property where the new cabin will go.

 

[dave1949]

I would worry that in the winter, even late deer season, the water in the waste pipe could freeze over a length of 400'. If well installed, (no dips, settling, etc.) I could see it working in the summer okay, although it will be more potential problems than a separate septic.

As said, 400' of 4" pvc isn't cheap, and you will have this 400' long thing to work around forever. I would want to get an estimate of the cost of a separate septic and field to know what I am comparing.

Out houses and composting toilets are another option. Here, you could get a permit for either, don't know about Poland.

 

[tcreeley]

I think the freezing could be a problem as well over the 400' line. 1000 gallon tank can be used, minus the leach field if you just pump it out on a regular basis, but I would do the whole thing. Somethings you can get away with, this is not a place to take shortcuts!
The tricky part is to keep the solid flowing with the liquid. Over 400 feet I imagine that the liquid is going to out run the sold and leave it stranded in small amounts overtime- plugging it. The guy who installed ours pointed out how short runs always work best.
Goodluck.

 

[radioman]

If you do decide to go against others advice to build separate septic system, then at least buy RV or safe for septic toilet paper only. This way it will fall apart in water when flushing. Charmin toilet paper is nice and soft, but can be a nightmare since it doesnt like to break down. This would be your best bet to to make it work and last. Since you say its a hunting cabin, I wouldnt worry much about how much more it costs since its not like you use it everyday all year.

 

[powerpace]

A seperate septic tank and drainfield will probably run upwards of $10,000 even for a small one. That is if he can get approval.
My understanding is the cabin will be on the friends property. The drop in 400 feet will be over eight feet. The cost of trenching and 4" inch pvc will be well below the cost of a septic tank and drainfield. As far as solids and liquids seperating during travel that should be a minimal worry. The solids in flushed water are more of a suspended slurry after a short distance. Toilet paper is another story.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My shop and house are on the same septic leach field but when I was installing my septic system, the licensed septic installer said that I could run the solids from my shop to the tank at the house as I had the elevation to do it but it may cause some problems. He suggested that I put in a solids tank at the shop (500 gallon) and 1500 gallon at the house. The with 1/4"to the foot slope, I could run the clear water as far as I needed, in my case about 100 feet. So he just put in a Y in the line from the house septic to the leach field and tied in my shop to that. That is what I would do in your case also. By the way, I think it only cost me extra $500 for the price of the tank and sewer lines since he was already here with his backhoe, it may have taken him an extra hour to dig the holes. Of course the cost of the whole septic system was $6500 so I am absolutely sure he had plenty of wiggle room for a few extras in that price even though he was a couple thousand less than the next bidder.

 

[ustmd]

My house (1600 ft-2.5 baths) is close to 400 ft from the septic. We have been here 12 years--no issues.

 

[wedge40]

My septic is about 350' from the house. Been there 21 years and still ok. Just me, so not your typical user.
I dont get many "solids" heading down and every morning when I take a shower I shut the drain off in the tub to keep the water in, till I'm about 1/2 way through. I'm guessing 5-7 gals of water. I then open the drain to let a large amout of water to flow and help flush the system. I plan I putting a new system in the next year or two. One that is closer to the house.

Wedge

 

[quicksandfarmer]

My shop and house are on the same septic leach field but when I was installing my septic system, the licensed septic installer said that I could run the solids from my shop to the tank at the house as I had the elevation to do it but it may cause some problems. He suggested that I put in a solids tank at the shop (500 gallon) and 1500 gallon at the house. The with 1/4"to the foot slope, I could run the clear water as far as I needed, in my case about 100 feet. So he just put in a Y in the line from the house septic to the leach field and tied in my shop to that. That is what I would do in your case also. By the way, I think it only cost me extra $500 for the price of the tank and sewer lines since he was already here with his backhoe, it may have taken him an extra hour to dig the holes. Of course the cost of the whole septic system was $6500 so I am absolutely sure he had plenty of wiggle room for a few extras in that price even though he was a couple thousand less than the next bidder.

This is the best answer. Have your own tank, with baffles to separate the solids. As long as you pump it out before it fills nothing but clear water should ever go out that pipe. Put a filter on it to be sure. As long as you don't have a dip big enough to trap water it won't ever freeze.

Check your local regulations, in some places the fines for doing this kind of stuff yourself are hefty.

 

[Bigkrank]

When I added my second shop I ran to the first shop's septic tank, about 300+ ft with 4" pvc. no problems. The Local village put a sewer system in and it runs 11 miles gravity powered to the next towns treatment plant with only 2 lift stations so I figured I was OK and I am.

 

[BuilderML]

If you don't want to install a whole new system did you ever think about just installing a holding tank? If your not going to use it much it may be the best of both worlds. Yes you'll have to have it pumped out every so often but should do the trick. That is if it is allowed. Then again what they don't know won't hurt'em.

 

[Gary Fowler]

If you don't want to install a whole new system did you ever think about just installing a holding tank? If your not going to use it much it may be the best of both worlds. Yes you'll have to have it pumped out every so often but should do the trick. That is if it is allowed. Then again what they don't know won't hurt'em.

That is basically the same thing that I said was done at my shop except the holding tank is a septic tank and the clear effluent is piping into the house leach field. If you are permitted for the amount of bedrooms that you will be putting on the system, then it would be legal to tie in your clear water line to the leach field. The slope and drop then is not as critical as with sending solids along with the flush water. This should be your cheapest option. You could do all the work yourself as far as digging in the septic tank, digging and laying the trench for your drain line. Hire a plumber to make the connections if you wanted to pass county inspection or just do it on the sly as the critical point of inspection is the field lines not the holding tanks.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Just a note, when I got my sewer permit, they just wanted to know how many bedrooms I had nothing to do with the number of bathrooms. I told them I would have 4 bathrooms on the system but they said I could put as many as I wanted. The system has to be designed based on number of bedrooms. How that equates to bathroom usage is beyond me.

 

[Gary Fowler]

When I added my second shop I ran to the first shop's septic tank, about 300+ ft with 4" pvc. no problems. The Local village put a sewer system in and it runs 11 miles gravity powered to the next towns treatment plant with only 2 lift stations so I figured I was OK and I am.

My septic installer told me I would LIKELY not have a problem either, but with a separate septic tank, I would for sure never have a problem with anything stopping up the system. I figured that for the additional cost involved to install the solids tank, one stopped up sewer line and a plumber call out would eat up that cost easily. The old pay me now or pay me later saying invoked me to pay him now. I certainly had more money when I was working that I would have after I retired.