The presence of autonomous sewage on a suburban area makes living in a house comfortable, comparable to a stay in a comfortable apartment. At the same time, it is important to take care of the final receiver of fecal / domestic wastewater, for example, to make a reliable cesspool in the country with your own hands. The functionality of the collector depends on how correctly it is designed and mounted.
Types and arrangement of cesspools for summer cottages
The following may act as the final fecal receiver:
- Cesspool leaky pit. It is a reservoir formed directly in the ground. It is assumed that the effluents will fall into it and then periodically pumped out. However, there are several problems. Firstly, such a receiver causes irreparable harm to the environment. Leakage into the ground drains into groundwater, seriously undermining the ecological situation in the region. Therefore, the law of the Russian Federation on criminal liability for the construction of such wells was adopted. Secondly, the earth bottom becomes silted over time, which leads to the rapid filling of the pit. It has to be pumped out more often.
- Sealed cesspool. It is also formed in the ground, but pre-concreted on all sides or laid out with brick. Sometimes any volumetric reservoir (barrels, polymer cubes, etc.) is used as a sealed receiver.
- Septic tank overflow - a complete treatment system. It works on the principle of gradual wastewater treatment. Consists of two or three cameras. The former are sealed, the latter with a draining bottom. Fecal water enters the first receiver, settles, due to which large debris settles to the bottom, light - floats to the surface. The clarified water is poured into the second chamber and settles according to the same principle. Then, even more purified water goes into the third chamber, where it is already drained into the soil.
The effluents clarified in a septic tank are safe for soil, since the percentage of their purification is from 85%.
Regulatory requirements
The requirements of SanPiN and SNiP apply to the installation of the sink receiver.
- The pit is located at the lowest point of the site so that fecal waters move by gravity to it.
- The receiver is removed at least 5 meters from the house, but the further the better.
- From the sources of drinking water (domestic and neighboring), the pit is mounted at a distance of 25 meters or more.
- The tank volume according to SNiP is calculated at the rate of 200 liters of water per family member per day. On average, for three people, you can mount a pit for 3-4 m3.
- It is advisable to leave a place for access to the receiver of sewage equipment.
When constructing a pit with a drainage bottom, it is important that the groundwater level in the area is located at least 1 meter below the level of the receiver base. Otherwise, according to sanitary standards, it is prohibited to arrange such a pit for the toilet and other plumbing facilities.
Design and implementation of necessary calculations
To build a pit correctly, you need to calculate everything accurately. First of all, the volume of the future reservoir is calculated. It is removed by the average recommended indicators of 1.5-2 m3 per family member.
It is necessary to calculate the parameters / size of the receiver (depth and width). Depth depends on the groundwater level. The higher they are, the smaller and wider they make a pit. 30 cm are added to the obtained depth on a sand cushion and concrete pouring or for a drainage bottom device.
Here you need to calculate the number of bricks for laying walls.The height of the walls is divided by the height of one brick plus 6 mm (the height of the masonry seam). Thus, the number of rows of masonry is obtained. Next, you need to find out how many blocks are in the same row. To do this, its length is divided by the width of the brick. The result is the total number of blocks for masonry.
The neck of the tank must be raised 20-30 cm above ground level to prevent its flooding by flood waters.
Tools and materials required for work
To arrange a cesspool without pumping out in the country, you need to prepare the following tools and materials:
- brick for laying the walls of the drain receiver (can be replaced with a plastic cube / barrel without a bottom, concrete rings);
- river sand;
- coarse gravel;
- booth, broken brick or large river stone;
- a shovel;
- pegs and control cord;
- roulette wheel;
- cement and sand for solution preparation;
- concrete mixer or pallet;
- manhole cover.
You also need to stock up on the stairs, bucket, pickaxe and trowel.
Self-installation of a cesspool in the country
The first stage of work is soil preparation. They dig a pit equal to the volume of the future pit. Allocate up to 30-40 cm on the drainage bed. Pre-mark with the help of pegs, a control cord, tape measure.
A trench 15 cm wide and 15 cm deep is dug around the bottom perimeter. This will be the foundation for the walls of the receiver. Thin formwork is placed in it. A solution is prepared from crushed stone, sand and cement in a ratio of 6: 4: 1. The finished composition is poured into the formwork and waiting for it to dry.
Brickwork is made on the frozen foundation, leaving a hole for the input of the sewer pipe. Finished walls can be additionally plastered with masonry mortar.
Arrange a drainage bottom. First, a layer of river sand is poured with a thickness of 10 cm. Fine gravel is laid on top. The top layer of drainage is broken brick or river stone.
The top of the receiver is covered with concrete slabs or metal sheets. Leave a hole for the hatch. The edges of plates, sheets should protrude 30 cm beyond the perimeter of the receiver. From above, everything is covered with turf, soil or just a roofing material.
It is advisable to insulate the pit hatch so that the cold does not freeze the drains in winter, and in summer no stench oozes from the receiver. It is possible to reduce the level of pumped waste if, in the warm season, special bacteria are loaded into the pit for processing fecal waters.
Common construction mistakes
Frequent errors when installing a pit for domestic wastewater:
- Wrong tank volume. If it is too small, you will often have to pump out water, spend the family budget.
- Wrong entry of the sewer pipe (bottom or middle of the pit). It is always located in the upper quarter of the receiver.
- The location of the cesspool at the top of the site. Drains cannot be reached here by gravity.
- Lack of reinforced receiver walls. As a result, the soil may crumble, and dirty water seep into the underground streams.
If you take into account these typical mistakes and do everything correctly, a good tank can be pumped out only once every six months, and even less often with bacteria. The sludge that will form under their influence can then be used as compost.
