Shiloh

Quite frequently when you are a building a log home it is far enough from a city or town that you have no option for hooking up to municipal sewage. We had that “problem” and so it was necessary* to use a septic.

Since we are going to be living on the property in a travel trailer it also had to that it be one of the first parts of the puzzle put in place. Ideally it would have waited until the walls and roof where put up so that we could move freely around the house with the forklift for the logs. Even so, we have managed to place it so that it should not be too difficult.

I found after the fact that we could have put in the septic tank ourself. You can buy a tank and then just follow the regulations of your jurisdiction. For example, the septic tank must be a certain distance from the well (75′ in our case). That kind of thing. As long as you have a clear understanding of what is going on the installation itself is not super difficult with a backhoe. Next time I suspect I will do it myself.

On the appointed day my dear wife and father met the septic tank people at the property. To begin a hole has to be dug. A backhoe makes short work of this. Once this is done the tank(s) are lowered into the ground. In some jurisdictions there is a requirement for a tank for the laundry water as well as the main sewage tank. Below you see the laundry tank being lowered in beside the main tank:

Rachel got a chance to drive the backhoe. I’m jealous…

The essential idea of a septic tank is to hold solid wastes and allow the liquid waste to dissipate through what are called “leech lines”. Here are ours before being covered up:

Of course you have to have piping coming from the house to the tanks. That essentially is it. A pretty straightforward process. One which the “do it yourselfer” can handle and save some money (and get to run a backhoe which is always fun!).

* OK..maybe not stricly necessary. But for purposes of this discussion it is necessary.