MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
Here's a picture of our new system as it approaches completion. 1500 gallon dual-chamber tank; 1500 square foot field. It should outlast us, and probably whoever the next owners of place.
The installer had to dig down through about ten feet of clay to hit a layer of sand, then haul in sand to refill. So far he's hauled in about 600 tons of sand, and he'll need more for the final fill. We were lucky that he didn't hit water before finding the sand layer; otherwise we would be looking at an engineered $y$tem. Once he's done, we'll have to figure out where to put the 600+ tons of clay he removed.
The old system, built in 1973, was "put on clay", according to the installer. Meaning there was no way for sewage to percolate out of the field. And they had installed black plasic over the bed, which meant there wasn't much evaporation going on. Plus it was originally surrounded by trees! The result was that we've almost always had seepage in the 26 years we've lived here. It will be a big relief to get this done.
The installer had to dig down through about ten feet of clay to hit a layer of sand, then haul in sand to refill. So far he's hauled in about 600 tons of sand, and he'll need more for the final fill. We were lucky that he didn't hit water before finding the sand layer; otherwise we would be looking at an engineered $y$tem. Once he's done, we'll have to figure out where to put the 600+ tons of clay he removed.
The old system, built in 1973, was "put on clay", according to the installer. Meaning there was no way for sewage to percolate out of the field. And they had installed black plasic over the bed, which meant there wasn't much evaporation going on. Plus it was originally surrounded by trees! The result was that we've almost always had seepage in the 26 years we've lived here. It will be a big relief to get this done.