Drains where should it go

[rustically]

Having lived in pattaya,am now building in the country --in town our toilets go into the usual concrete rings and everything disappears--shower /cleaning and other water just drains into a roadside drain
Now with the new house we cannot just run our dirty/soapy water into a roadside ditch so do we drain it into the same concrete rings arrangement and if so how much bigger should they be --the subsoil appears to be shale so how fast will it disappear
as anyone will see I am a virgin when it comes to building and advice will be much appreciated

[dirtydog]

Depends how much water you use, water table height etc etc, ask what your builder recommends and then stick in an extra one for luck, the rings are less than 200baht each so its' not a major expense.

[rustically]

Thanks d/d
water table is not a problem on a hillside --so its just a matter of a bigger hole ?--presumable wider rings ?

[8ball]

the subsoil appears to be shale so how fast will it disappear

It will disappear fast thru shale

always make ur septic tanks bigger than wot u r told u'll need

betta safe than sorry

[8ball]

so its just a matter of a bigger hole ?--presumable wider rings ?

Indeed so

[rustically]

great to have advice, to some it seems common sense ,but as we all know sense is not always common

[dirtydog]

Here you go, you want 2 lots of these, one for grey water and one for your toilets.
Cess Pits

This you may find useful for reference during your house build.
Building a house in Thailand

[rustically]

D/d thanks for the coplete info
the 4 inch connectors are meant to connect the dirty and the grey water rings? so all the ring stacks end up connected?

[dirtydog]

Nope they have to be separate otherwise the smell of your poo comes up through the floor drains.

[Thetyim]

We have three bathrooms and four tanks.
A separate cesspit for each toilet and a large tank for all the grey water.
That way no smell creeps back up the shower drain which is a common fault in LOS

[rustically]

thanks to all again
I think this is the last question but do the bases of the rings need to be sealed to prevents seepage sideways or does the infill tend to do the sealing--I realise that the bottom must be open
finally I think --Tiny Tim how big is a "large tank for the grey water "

[pickel]

That way no smell creeps back up the shower drain which is a common fault in LOS

At the mouth of the drain you can install a trap. It works by having a small cup under it that holds a small amount of water so the smell can not penetrate it, but water will still flow down the drain. They are available at most hardware stores and are only about 120 baht.

[dirtydog]

The rings are just laid on top of each other.

[Thetyim]

At the mouth of the drain you can install a trap.

Yes, we have those installed in all the showers but I find the design woefully inadequate.
A small amount of hair or debris and they stop working

[pickel]

^
Yes, they do require more frequent cleaning but they worked for me. What other options are there in Thailand?

[Thetyim]

Tiny Tim how big is a "large tank for the grey water "

Depends on how many people you expect to live in the house and how well the land drains.
Ask your builder, he should have a better estimate than me but err on the big side, if it turns out later to be too small then you will be cursing.

[Thetyim]

What other options are there in Thailand?

Install an extractor fan that blows into the bathroom

[Johnny Longprong]

Think big. You could live for a long time and doo lots of poos and wees in that ground. Consider a large citrus garden in the soak area. Make sure your septic tank is large enough to handle all the waste you can throw at it plus some. Expect to have to go in and clean the sludge out of it periodically. There are some excellent biological agents that you can stick in it to make it work more efficiently.
Make sure the women don't clog it up with fanny rags.

[graym]

I've noticed that the Thais (my Missus for one) are fond of using the throne as a food waste disposal chute. I was wondering if this is detrimental to a septic tanks efficiency as I assume that undigested food will decompose slower than the processed product (read shite). So could this cause a build up of waste and possibly cause the whole system to overflow?

[DrAndy]

Expect to have to go in and clean the sludge out of it periodically

not if it is a proper septic tank and it is working properly

I've noticed that the Thais (my Missus for one) are fond of using the throne as a food waste disposal chute

no real problem for food, but no hair, no plastic, no anything not biodegradable, and don't use chemicals to clean the toilet bowl

then no problems

[fridgemagnet]

I have not yet seen a septic tank in Thailand. As a contractor in West Cork (wilderness countryside) in Ireland, I designed & constructed many septic tanks. What they have here are cesspits. A well designed cesspit can work well, but it is necessarily a small scale device. For a house with a family, you need a septic tank. They are not complicated things - 2 chambers and a soakaway area. Shower wastes are easy - do in 4" with a trap & grating. Can't block - it's too big to clog, and you can get your hand down to recover rings, or remove hair.
Thai builders are a joke, you have to stand over them, or they will do whatever seems easiest to them.
The advice not to use chemical cleaners for the toilet is GOLDEN, they alter the Ph, and kill off the bacteria that do the work of eating smells.

[Norton]

I have not yet seen a septic tank in Thailand.

Plenty around. I have one. Raw sewage in from toilets, liquid sewage out into 3 meter deep concrete lined overflow where liquid percolates into ground.

[DrAndy]

Plenty around. I have one

I have two, so there

great big fat black plastic things

do a good job

I still direct the outflow from those to a set of rings as soakaway, via a small tank trap, which works well unless it is raining heavily for a long time

[Norton]

I have two, so there

Well done. Number needed directly proportional to amount of shit produced by owner.

[Jesus Jones]

So what's the situation as for as the shits concerned in a Bangkok housing area. Is it drained of somewhere or what?