Cleaning sewer drains of a low-rise private house is a delicate and difficult matter. The main problem is the size of the free area around the building.
And even if you find a suitable place for the system, it is far from certain that your neighbors will like it. The task can be made easier by following some recommended steps.
Step #1
First you need to determine exactly how many people will permanently live in the house. It is generally accepted that on average, a family of four people (two adults and two children) consumes up to 10 cubic meters of water per month.
It is clear that each person is individual and the error in calculating the volume of sewage for the whole family is inevitable. It doesn't matter - equipment developers have their own standards.
Each domestic wastewater treatment system has a specific capacity: it is measured in m3/day (also l/s). By linking people and productivity, a starting list of possible technical solutions can be prepared.
Step #2
What's next? Of course, mother nature: she imposes a number of very strong restrictions, the most important of which is the material for the manufacture of the storage tank of the treatment system. The choice is quite simple: plastic, reinforced concrete or steel.
- Plastic is very light (does not require a lift for installation), does not rust, and lasts a long time with proper operation. But it withstands relatively little soil pressure (like sand) and is prone to being pushed out of the ground in the spring (it must be laid on a concrete slab).
- Reinforced concrete has the longest service life (more than half a century), does not corrode, is not pushed out by groundwater. But it is heavy (a truck crane is needed for installation) and requires a large amount of excavation work.
- Steel is stronger than plastic and lighter than reinforced concrete. But it cannot be closed with excavated soil (possible deformation), it rusts, and groundwater can force the system out.
Step #3
If the treatment plant is laid in a place where winter is one of the key seasons, then it is necessary to remember the depth of soil freezing. Although the waste liquid will be clearly warmer than air or earth, it is not infinitely resistant to frost, therefore it is recommended to provide insulation of sewer pipes in the ground with foam. Careful reading of the documentation for the equipment will help to avoid many unnecessary problems.
Step #4
The waste liquid entering the sewer is complex in composition: it includes water, solid fractions, dissolved substances (fats, salts, carbohydrates, etc.).
The sewage treatment plant, using various chemical, physical and biological methods, separates everything superfluous from the water. As a result, a drain with the required indicators is output to the outside.
The options for discharging the purified (clarified) liquid are obvious:
- roadside ditch,
- swamp,
- drainage well or filtration (absorption) field.
If everything is really bad with them, then for sure you will have to significantly revise the list of possible technical solutions.
Step #5
An essential parameter is the depth of the exit of the main sewer pipe from the house: as a rule, it is rigidly fixed by the structure. Doesn't fit? Then the problem is solved by increasing the neck. Only in some cleaning systems with a pipe can something be done without resorting to additional expenses.
Step #6
It is necessary to take into account which residence prevails - permanent or temporary. This is important because some wastewater treatment plants operate on bacterial colonies that feed on wastewater. If the "animals" remain hungry, they may hibernate or die. In this case, you will spend 2-4 weeks to bring the system back to normal working condition.
Be aware that septic tanks and some biological filtration plants can reach a relatively acceptable level of performance immediately.
Step #7
Often the biological principle of cleaning is effective only when the use of cleaning agents and other preparations that are toxic to microorganisms is limited. Therefore, it is useful to know as much as possible about undesirable substances before purchasing a particular treatment system.
Step #8
Some questions about the operation of the equipment are better to clarify in advance. For example:
- Will the unit work if the volume of wastewater exceeds the nameplate capacity by 10-20%, which is very likely in everyday practice?
- What happens in the event of an uneven supply of wastewater?
- How long does it take for a sewage treatment system to reach its intended performance level after a downtime?
- How effective and safe is the dirty liquid removal scheme?
Step #9
Another factor is the power supply: as a rule, you have to install additional equipment, for example: a drainage or fecal pump with a grinder.
There can be many reasons:
- site topography,
- principle of operation of the cleaning system,
- power outages.
Step #10
The sewage treatment system, of course, must be maintained - this means new costs (time and money).
A difficult question arises: do you need consumables - what kind, how often and in what volume? Individual nodes sometimes fail: what is necessary to change, what is desirable; what is the easiest way to solve the problem? And the last: the frequency of sediment removal - what?
Undoubtedly, the design of the installation must provide convenient and safe access for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. The more complex the equipment, the less reliable it is.
