DIY septic tank and drain field?

[N80]

I built a log cabin from a kit 20+ years ago on a piece of property I own. We go down there just about every weekend. It is very basic. About 900 sq ft. One bathroom, two small bedrooms and a great room with kitchen and dining area. The soil there is terrible and we barely got approved for a permit because the perk test was dismal. We got approved for one bedroom/bathroom and the inspector winked and said the second bedroom was an 'office'. We have had no problems with the septic system even when three of us lived there for 4 months while our house was renovated.

We are thinking about building an addition. Basically a large master bedroom and bath with some storage and utility space.

I want to do this with absolutely zero involvement from the county. It is one of the poorest most backward counties in one of the poorest states in the nation and the permitting process has become virtually impossible due to incompetent, unhelpful and probably corrupt county bureaucrats and agencies. Most of the locals (farmers) do what they have to do without county involvement of else it doesn't get done. And to be clear, I'm not talking evading taxes etc.

The bathroom on the addition, which will be attached by a dogtrot, will be on the opposite end of the septic tank of the existing cabin. So it would be a long run to a possibly maxed out septic tank/field.

So to finally get to my question: Can an average Joe put in a small drain field and small septic tank? I have access to a large JD backhoe and a competent operator. It would only be servicing one bathroom. Washing machine and maybe even shower would be gray waste.

Just in the exploring stages but any help much appreciated.

If this is not something an individual can do I can probably find someone to do it without permits etc. but would like to save money if possible.

 

[Eagle1]

DO yes, read up on the details. Legally maybe not, here if you own property of more than 20ac (I think, I know it used to be 5ac) you just do what ever and as long as it does not affect another's land you good to go. No permitting required in our poor backwoods county.

 

[grsthegreat]

Ya, depends on your county or state. Here, if you get caught putting in an illegal septic field, its huge fines. My neighbor is going thru this on his place that a previous owner did…. County caught up with the new owner. Major problem going on right now. There even going after contractor that put it in like 6 years ago.

 

[jaxs]

Take a look at this for another solution.
//www.saniflo.com/us/blog/what-is-a-macerating-pump-system-and-how-does-it-work-n244

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I did my own at my cabin in Canada. Home of the over regulated / slowest bureaucracy / bloated regulations in the world. As a homeowner its my right as long as I did it legal with permits and inspection. I passed with flying colours. I used a pressurized system though from plans that were given to me from a local parts supplier who gave me the plans for free in return for me buying my tank, infiltrators, pipes, etc... from him. Pump I bought from TSC though. The tank/infiltrator supplier had binders full of pre-approved plans so he just copied one of these and I just duplicated what an engineer had designed for someone else in similiar situation.

 

[paulsharvey]

Can you, of coarse, the theory is very simple, it flows down hill. Should you, that's not a decision for us. I would just ask, any plans on selling? If not, I doubt anyone will ever know.

 

[N80]

Thanks guys. Good thoughts. Have done some research regarding poly tanks and the connectable leach field chambers which would take some of the finesse and hassle out of it. Again, this would be a very small system. One toilet essentially.

As for the wisdom of doing it without permits and such, I don't know. What I do know is that any system that drives upstanding law-abiding folks to consider circumventing the law is a broken system. And the system in this county is badly broken. Huge amounts of corruption and mismanagement. Epic incompetence. And in many cases just sheer petulance. They do not want to help you and seem to enjoy making your life harder......which is why it remains a poor, backward disaster of a county.

Sorry about the rant. I'll talk to some of my neighbors and see what they say. Every time I complain to them about hassles with the county they roll their eyes and ask me why I'm dealing with them.

And for the record, this is a sizeable piece of property. The system would be nowhere near any neighbors and 200 yards from the nearest flowing water. The point being, nothing I did here could impact anyone else even if I did it wrong.

 

[4570Man]

What kind of system did they install last time? Septic systems can be pretty basic gravel beds or pretty elaborate setups. If you ever plan to sell the place I’d think twice about the plan because you will have problems without haven’t a permanent on file. If you never plan on selling then I guess it’s not a big deal.

 

[paulsharvey]

I helped a friend years ago, install a diy system, using about 5 ft of 30" ABS pipe, bricked up to create caps, and used the mesh-foam peanut, pre-made drain lines. It was a pretty clay-silt rich soil, and he did have issues with a washing machine, but if he kept capacity and perk in mind, and watched his water use; it worked. Think he had $150 in it, vs close to $15,000 for a true system, with permitting, perk tests, and professional install.

 

[paulsharvey]

One of the fairly cheap ways to help any duy redo, is import clean sand, over excavate the leak field, and back fill with good perking soils.