Featured Member:
Ward Young Architects
Gold Members:
Truckee Donner Public Utility District
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General Wastewater Info
Onsite Wastewater Treatment & Reuse
Our mission is to provide information on the technologies available for managing wastewater so that people can make informed decisions when selecting, operating and maintaining their onsite wastewater treatment system.
Onsite Wastewater Treatment & Reuse |
Solviva: Sustainable Solar-Dynamic Bio-Benign Design
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While designing my new home it became clear to me that I did not want a standard septic system. I had learned about the large amount of nitrogen that is contained in human waste, and that standard septic systems do not process this nitrogen but instead release most of it into the groundwater. And I knew that the nitrogen does not biodegrade or diminish in the groundwater, but instead travels unabated with the groundwater to the nearest lagoon, pond or harbor, no matter how far away. Once there, the first plants that react to the nitrogen enrichment are the algae, which consequently multiply explosively, thereby causing devastation to our ecosystems.
tandard on-site septic systems are constructed in accordance with the current laws of man, but these laws are in serious violation of the laws of Nature. In Nature all waste products - leaves, manure, dead animals - fall to Earth's surface. They are then rapidly absorbed and processed by the different decomposers who live in the top few inches of the skin of our planet, including earthworms and pill bugs and myriads of microscopic organisms. I am not advocating that we dispose of our wastewater on the surface, because this exposes pathogens which could lead to disease. But we can, and must, dispose of the wastewater within the top 12 inches of the surface, thus making it possible for the nutrients to be processed by living plants. I knew I did not want to waste the precious nutrients contained in the wastewater. I instead wanted to use them to enrich the surrounding trees, shrubs and flowers.
Solviva: Sustainable Solar-Dynamic Bio-Benign Design |
Leach field sewage disposal systems for the do-it-yourselfer
The wastewater your home produces is referred to as effluent and consists of blackwater (toilet waste) and greywater (kitchen, shower, sink, and laundry waste). Effluent flows directly from your house into a "watertight", underground, two compartment septic tank where solid waste settles into a sludge layer on the bottom and fats float to the top. Between these two scum layers is a zone of clarified liquid effluent which is internally piped to the second compartment of the septic tank for additional settling. As effluent fills the first compartment, clarified liquids are forced to leave the second compartment of the sewage tank and flow out to the leach field or leach pit. The typical leach field is a series of trenches where effluent is "purified" as it slowly percolates through the soil. A leach pit is a hole filled with rock for disposing of wastewater.
Leach field sewage disposal systems for the do-it-yourselfer |
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