Alternative Septic System
We are currently working on the installation of a alternative septic system
in our "weekend project" (our barn, soon to be office).
In Massachusetts, a building's use is restricted by the amount of sewage that
is produced and the ability of the surrounding land to absorb the septic waste through a
leaching field. A single family home's septic sytem must be designed to handle 110 gallons
per day per bedroom, and an office has to be able to handle 75 gallons per day per 1000
square feet of area. In our case, we have a 3 bedroom system that legally handles our
3 bedroom house, but our intention to add office space would theoretically overload the system.
The solution for our barn office is to work with the MA Department of Environmental
Protection and the Berlin Board of Health to install a composting toilet and a greywater
leaching system. The composting toilet (Phoenix Model #R-200) is an accepted technology
in Massachusetts and appears to have no regulatory issues with its installation. The
greywater leaching system on the other hand does have regulatory issues and will have
to be approved as an innovative alternative technology that will be subjected to a pilot program.
Composting toilet is a stand alone product with its own piping and venting. The washing
machine (Staber HXW2304, approx. 12 gallon per load), bath sink (1.5 gal/min), kitchen sink
(4 gal/full basin), shower (20 gal/10 min.), all drain through conventional plumbing
to a grey water control tank, and then to the infiltration bed, where the plants
treat
the grey water.
Infiltration pipes distribute the grey water through a mulch basin and beds where it
percolates into the root system of the plants.
First, two inches of foam is placed on the compacted earth. Then 8 x 8 welded wire fabric
(rebar mat) is placed over it. We then attach Pex radiant heat tubing to warm the floor
of the greenhouse. Supplemental heat will be supplied to the greenhouse using a commercial
grade steel finned baseboard, recycled from a job in Newton.
Both mulch beds and basins are constructed so that varying plant sizes can be used to
optimize the system.
The final layer is the finished floor. A patio and walkway are built using Ryerson steel
landscape edging to separate the planting beds from the hard area.
A typical mulch basin detail for an ornamental tree.
Thank you for visiting our "Alternative Septic System" page
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please
contact us:
Warren Design Build
268 West Street
Berlin, MA 01503
Tel:/Fax (978) 838-0022
Email:carl@warrendesign.com