percolation area - spec & details

Builderfromhell

RKQ wrote: »

I'd have to agree with Jimbo78 and Uncle Tom!
Use proper pipe - drill your own holes if necessary, do not cut slits!

Precast concrete Distribution boxes are extremely common and easy to get. Well worth getting one as they are watertight. Building a distribution box on site would be alot more time consuming and probably more expensive. (One would fit in the back of a standard hatch back car)

Its not a difficult job to install a septic tank & percolation area in full compliance with the recommendations in the EPA manual.
It can be a nightmare if done incorrectly.

Do yourself a favour and do it right. Its so important to get it right for your health, your families health and your neighbours health.

With respect RKQ, installing a Septic tank and percoaltion area is not easy. I have installed many and each had it's own difficulties. I am in no doubt that this DIY installation will be a disaster and any money saved will be lost several times over in rectifying the problem.
I have seen percolation areas installed with wrong type of stone, with pipes sloping back to septic tank, with pre-drilled holes the wrong way round.
And that's only what I've seen from visiting sites.
The country is full of mal-functioning septic tank and percolation areas causing serious polution. Polluting ground or surface water is a legal offence and if neighbours complain Council will take action.

RKQ

With respect builderfromhell Its not a difficult job to install a septic tank & percolation area in full compliance with the recommendations in the EPA manual. (I too have done a number)

I think you may be misreading my post or not fully understanding my point. To clarify I am asking the OP to install the tank & percolation area to EPA Manual - do not scrimp on materials or "try" to re-invent the wheel by trying to build a Distribution box.

I agree that a DIY installation will be a disaster and any money saved will be lost several times over in rectifying the problem.

I advise the OP to retain a professional and highly experienced Groundworks Contractor. Also find a more competent Building Supplier than stocks standard percolation pipe and if necessary purchase a precast Septic tank & precast distribution box off a manufacturer that is fully familiar with EPA guidelines and the previous S.R.6:1991 recommendations.

The EPA manual clearly states the type and size of stone, the type and length of percolation pipe, pipe centres and all minimum distances. I advised the OP that Its not a difficult job to install a septic tank & percolation area in full compliance with the recommendations in the EPA.

As the Client it is very simple for the OP to retain the proper professionals and purchase the proper materials for the job. Its not a difficult job to install a septic tank & percolation area in full compliance with the recommendations in the EPA manual.

Poor Uncle Tom

I was called to inspect a septic tank and percolation area close to twenty years ago. The builder was an old lad, very slow but very detailed and proud of his work. Manholes built by hand, beautiful smooth benching, cover tracks grouted in just so, nice falls, tee sections on pipes in tank, distribution box benched and ready, pebble stones under pipes, percolation pipes laid and vent pipes individually from the ends of each. Enough stone, straw and soil left to the side to finish the job off. Only one problem - holes in the percolation pipes were facing upward.

I resisted the urge to lol, but I told him quietly why the pipes should face downwards. He was embarrassed and explained that he had only ever put in the clay pipe percolation beds. He was/is still a very good builder and finishs a job to a very good standard, but the moral I guess is that no job is as easy as we think it will be and it's always good to get someone to give you a hand, all the better if they've done a similar job before.

sandt

Thanks for all your replies lads.

i will try and source a dist. box from somwhere!
have stone ordered (25-30mm clean broken stone) for trenches.
will prob just drill the pipes i have as im having no luck sourcing 'percolation pipes'.

couple of things to check with you guys:

do the pipes along the top & bottom (if interconnected) of the percolation have to be drilled or is it just the 'main runs'?

someone told me to be sure and connect a pipe from the bottom of the percolation area or below it to a local storm drain as it will pond eventually and the water has to get away somehow
he said the water should be clean by that stage having been filtered through the stone. im not sure about this because is the whole point of a percolation area to keep contaminated water OUT of local watercourses:eek:


thanks........

RKQ

sandt wrote: »

someone told me to be sure and connect a pipe from the bottom of the percolation area or below it to a local storm drain as it will pond eventually and the water has to get away somehow

Seems to me like you have met a real possey! Was "somebody" wearing a big hat, check shirt and spurrs on his snake-skin boots?

You seem to have got alot of bad advice from "someone", your Building supplier & septic tank manufacturer.

OP your fears of polution are correct. Please construct percolation area in full compliance with EPA manual.... I really think its time you sought professional advice.

(Who is providing the drawdown of stage payments & cert of compliance? You need to discuss this issue fully with your Certifier)

Penn

Whenever a client says "A friend of mine told me to..." I'm always tempted to interrupt them and say "Whatever your friend said, do the opposite"

If your percolation area is built to the correct standards and well maintained, it should never pond. Besides, the stones in the trench are only the first step in the cleaning process, a lot of the treatment of the wastewater is done by the soil before it reaches the watertable.

Seriously OP, never mind what anyone else says, take our advice and construct it in accordance with the EPA manual.

And its only the main 20m pipes which require holes, not the run connecting them to the distribution box

sandt

thanks lads i will keep as close as i can to the epa standards.

just one final thing!!

is it ok to use builders polythene (1200guage) as the geo textile material?
again this is what local co-op are suggesting.

thanks again.....

Supertech

No. Polythene particularly the heavier guage you mention will cause ponding in the area of the percolation bed. Use Terram, or an alternative geotextile membrane.

RKQ

I agree, a geotextile is a synthetic permeable textile material used with soil. Polythene is not permeable and is lightly to rot, crack and split over time.

Jimbo

Agreed.
The geotextile membrane is there to stop silt/sand etc flowing down and blocking the holes in your pipes- it has to allow water through.


Be wary of any advice you get from a supplier.

engineer24/7

Hi,
Stumbled across youe thread, seems to me that you are going about all this the wrong way!! you need to get a certificate of compliance for your completed house and I cant understand how you will get this if you have not consulted a professional during the construction of the PA, How can anyone sign off on it once its buried underground and how can they know it has been constructed in accordance with the regs and Planning permission, seek pro help before you close it up!