Another new house question (water in and septic out) ???

[pharmvet]

Thanks for the information you guys have given so far regarding my questions. Here is another. If my present house sells, It looks like Ill be moving in a trailer to live in while my new house is being built. I already have electricity to the spot. Water is soon to follow. House pad and road are complete. I was thinking that the most practical way to handle the septic was to put a large tank in the best spot to service the new house, but use it with the trailer until the house could be hooked in and save having to install 2 septic units.

1) In general, where is the best place to put a septic tank for new house project?

2) In general, where is the best place to bring water into a house?

The answers to these questions will allow me to utilize the water and septic in my new house that I use for the temporary trailer house.

thanks a million.

 

[whistlepig]

Thanks for the information you guys have given so far regarding my questions. Here is another. If my present house sells, It looks like Ill be moving in a trailer to live in while my new house is being built. I already have electricity to the spot. Water is soon to follow. House pad and road are complete. I was thinking that the most practical way to handle the septic was to put a large tank in the best spot to service the new house, but use it with the trailer until the house could be hooked in and save having to install 2 septic units.

1) In general, where is the best place to put a septic tank for new house project?

2) In general, where is the best place to bring water into a house?

The answers to these questions will allow me to utilize the water and septic in my new house that I use for the temporary trailer house.

thanks a million.

1) That would depend on were you plan to put your outbuildings, driveways, fence posts, etc. later on. The leach lines don't need this stuff over them.

2) Are you digging a well?

 

[CurlyDave]

In my area:

Well must be 100 ft from septic. I consider this too close and really like 150 ft or so better.

If you are bringing in city water, try to get the service entrance away from the living room -- you are less likely to hear water flowing in the pipes there.

A lot of times, builders will put the septic very close to the house, simply because it is cheaper. This can limit any future expansion of the house or driveway. If you have enough land, 50 or 60 feet separation from the house seems like a good idea to me. Our septic is 250 feet from the house -- downhill.

If you are living in a trailer, there is a device, called a macerator, which will grind up the contents of your holding tank and pump it quite a distance. The discharge line can be as small as a 3/4" hose. For a long-term hookup I would go most of the distance with 3/4" PVC pipe which is cheap and easy to work. This gives you the ability to site the trailer quite a distance from your new septic and still use it. I paid about $125 for a 12 V unit several years ago, although I scoured the internet to get that good a price.

Another thing to think about is to site the trailer where you might want to put an RV hookup when the house is finished. An RV hookup can be quite handy for visitors, or just storage of your own RV.

 

[thatguy]

Around here it seems that the Health Dept tell you where you will put the well and septic.. You may request a general area, but they have the final decision..

brian

 

[milkman636]

If you are planning to have a barn with water, put the well somwhere between where you are planning the house and barn. Most places that would be somwhere behind and a little off to the driveway side of the house.

Run the septic out the opposite side heading away from your house and well. That would place it out to the front and off to the side opposite of the driveway. If you have natural grade running down and away from your house site, you can get a good bit of separation between your hose and tank without having to resort to pumping. Gravity has been very well proven. A side benefit to putting your field out toward the front is that it will help keep your front lawn healthy and green through the dog days of summer. It also makes it easier to service if the pumper can drag hose from the drive across the lawn.

Like other have said, keep your drive way and other stuff away from your tank and drainfield. Nothing more than a lawnmower should be crossing your field.

 

[Bird]

We built a house in a heavily wooded area for one of my brothers. Water was provided by a water co-op, and my brother had an aerobic sewer system put in. Later, they cleared an area a little ways off for our other brother to live in his motorhome and hooked up to the first brother's water and electric service. But when they talked to the septic guy who installed the first aerobic system, he recommended a 50 gallon tank and macerator, as CurlyDave mentioned, instead of another separate system, and it was much cheaper and worked very well.

 

[Kays Supply]

One point to keep in mind down the road. It is better to fill your holding tank and then dump it when full. If you just hook the drain to the sewer it can cause big problems with paper and solids not leaving the tank. I have seen this happen on several occasions. It is a mess you don't want to deal with. It is a pain to dump the tank but you will be glad you took the trouble. The grey water can be direct connected.

 

[955Lincoln]

I'm in a similar situation and I wanted to get started on my septic before building my house. Just be cautious about elevations. Are you going to have a basement? Do you want any plumbing in the basement? Obviously the inlet to the tank will need to be lower than your lowest drain by 1/4" per foot IIRC.

My situation got a little more complicated after the septic dudes came out. I'm going to need a sand mound system which requires an electric dosing pump. Normally not a problem as it can pump (affluent) uphill but I found out about a syphon dosing system which has no moving parts or maintenance and I would rather go with that but it needs about 9' of fall to work. They also picked the most rediculous location for the drain field right next to my house and I felt crowded. I only have 150 acres though :confused2:. Anyway, it was a waste of $600 (other than the knowledge learned) and I'm going to come up with a better plan before I call them back and drop another $600.

So anyway, plan your elevations wisely and make sure you have an approved drainfield before doing anything with your house because you might not be able to build where you wanted.

 

[WM75Guy]

When we built our new house I had 2 1" water lines come in to feed the house from the meter. One feeds the 2 bathrooms in the bedrooms. The other feeds the kitchen, laundry and a bathroom. Each has a hot water heater. If I kill one side because of repairs I still have water to a bathroom and have hot water available.

 

[TRR]

If you are in Texas, the TCEQ Homepage - Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - www.tceq.texas.gov
specifies the terms and conditions on septic systems. I'm in an area where no building permits are required, don't even have to tell the county I'm going to build anything - just go and do it. However, I do have to get a septic permit, a septic site survey which includes a soils test, and an inspection.