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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat

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    Septics, wells and water tables

    Would be interested to hear others experiences with wells and septics.

    I remember reading here that a septic must be 50m from a well. Ours is pretty close to that, but the neighbour's are about 6m apart.

    What are others experiences? What did is the set up at your place? The neighbours, inlaws etc. Ever heard of ppl getting sick or other problems?

    Due to heavy rains our water table is less than a meter below ground level. This means the septics could easily overflow.

    We are considering using worms, the system is simple, just a shallow concrete ring. The worms eat the crap, reducing volume by about 95%.

  2. #2
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    Marmite the Dog's Avatar
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    A timely thread this.

    Say, for example, we had 100 tw of land and it had both a septic tank and a well on it - would I get cholera?

  3. #3

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    Pretty sure UK regs is 100meters away for cess pits from water resources, ok they are being on the safe side and a lot depends on soil conditions etc, so yes, you will probably die marmite

  4. #4
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    Marmite the Dog's Avatar
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    Excellent news!

    I don;t suppose it matters too much as the well water is not for drinking.

  5. #5

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    If it's just for showers you may aswell just scoop the water out of the toilet bowl then, probably only needs to be flushed once per day, apart from guiness and curry nights

  6. #6
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    The depth of the well must come into it as well
    or are we only talking about shallow wells here ?

  7. #7
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    "You can't judge the depth of the well by the length of the handle on the pump!"
    "Shit runs downhill"
    "Payday is on Friday"

    And THAT ^ is all I know about the plumbing.

  8. #8
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    Guess it depends on where you live, our toilet flush into a concrete hole beside the house. Septic Sam the toilet man comes and pumps it out when it's full. If I give him a few extra Baht he will pump it out on my rubber trees. Jim

  9. #9
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    ^
    You got a cesspit then not a septic tank

  10. #10
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    Marmite the Dog's Avatar
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    Ahh, we're going to have a cesspit. I guess it's OK then?

  11. #11
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    James, is the concrete hole sealed? If it isn't how far is it from the well?

    Pumping on top of soil is not a good idea. Some pathogens can breed there.

  12. #12
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    Water is not the best medium for disposing of turds, it increase contamination and allows pathogens to live/breed.

    Worm farms are now accepted in many countries. I'm going to make one using a large concrete ring partly buried.

    The sewer pipe enters at the bottom, the worms eat the turds, while the water flows down and is partly taken up by trees. Only toilet wast enter the system, grey water goes elsewhere. I will put it near mangoes as they have deep roots. There will also be a heap of burnt rice husk at the bottom to trap nutrients on the way down.

    With this system you can flush toilet paper, as well as throwing garden scraps and manures.
    Last edited by Smithson; 31-07-2011 at 05:24 AM.

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Smithson
    the worms eat the turds
    What do you do with the worms?

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Smithson
    the worms eat the turds
    What do you do with the worms?
    Leave them alone to do their job. They reduce volume by 95%.

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Smithson
    I remember reading here that a septic must be 50m from a well.
    I pointed this out to the builder when my house was being built and the he was putting the well within two meters of the septic tank. He looked at me as though I had two heads. I had him put the bore hole at the other side of my lot. Still not far enough away as the lot is small.

    He then proceeded to put my next door neighbor's bore hole next to my septic tank, just on the other side of the garden wall. The neighbors shower in my poo for certain.

    I had my water tested for pathogens. The local university that tested the water would not tell me what pathogens they found, only it had too many and I shouldn't drink the water.

    No one in this village gives a damn about getting sick from shit. This village had the opportunity to have city water two times and turned it down both times because the villagers didn't want to pay a water bill.

    One of my neighbors even has his raw sewage going right into the irrigation canal. The tessaban looks the other way.

    Cheap and nasty is what these villagers prefer, besides, they believe in spirits and bad luck, not germs.

    You should/smell the local fresh market.
    Last edited by misskit; 31-07-2011 at 07:40 AM.

  16. #16
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog View Post
    a lot depends on soil conditions etc
    Ground water flow also

  17. #17
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
    Ahh, we're going to have a cesspit. I guess it's OK then?
    A cesspit is just a holding tank for all your poo.
    It gets emptied by a pump truck and all your poo is taken away.
    No dirty water is seeped into the ground on your property.

    Just make sure you position the cesspit where a truck can get to it easily.

  18. #18
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    There are compposting toilets, these are dry. After doing poo you throw a handful of saw dust on top, which helps the whole thing heat up, killing the nasties.

    After composting for 12 months, it can be used safely as fertilizer, probably best not to put it on carrots though.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thetyim View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
    Ahh, we're going to have a cesspit. I guess it's OK then?
    A cesspit is just a holding tank for all your poo.
    It gets emptied by a pump truck and all your poo is taken away.
    No dirty water is seeped into the ground on your property.

    Just make sure you position the cesspit where a truck can get to it easily.
    But even with a cess-pit you still have wee- wee run off, don't you?

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Smithson View Post
    James, is the concrete hole sealed? If it isn't how far is it from the well?

    Pumping on top of soil is not a good idea. Some pathogens can breed there.
    Just standard here, a hole is dug and a concrete ring put in, they put a concrete lid on. This is a border village and the huts are side by side and everyone does it this way. As for the well, it's on the other side of the house, but the next doors toilet is close. Well is 30 meters deep, but we don't drink the water. Drinking water is collect from a river. The Government tests it on a regular basis.
    As for pumping it out on the ground, never had a problem, after all they are rubber trees, no one is going to eat the stuff. Maybe we will all get sick, but been here 9 years, so far so good. Jim

  21. #21
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    James, yes they do similar things here, it's not safe. Spreading sewage on top of the soil can provide a breeding for pathogens, there's worse places to do it than a rubber plantation, but it's worth being aware of the dangers.

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Smithson View Post
    James, yes they do similar things here, it's not safe. Spreading sewage on top of the soil can provide a breeding for pathogens, there's worse places to do it than a rubber plantation, but it's worth being aware of the dangers.
    I will have a look into it, but we only spread the stuff in the dry season, no run off. Jim

  23. #23
    Tonguin for a beer
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    I just bought one of those black plastic sewage tanks. It has some funny round things loose in the upper part, how do they work? Is it ok for paper? They are very common and do have a run off.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bung
    Is it ok for paper?
    Better not.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bung View Post
    I just bought one of those black plastic sewage tanks. It has some funny round things loose in the upper part, how do they work? Is it ok for paper? They are very common and do have a run off.
    Where does the run off go?

    The systems below are legal in rural Australia, septic tank conversion are possible, but I don't know how it's done.


    Worm farm under the deck. It never needs emptying. During house construction we loaded cubic meters of cardboards to it. They vanished.

    No smell whatsoever, EPA approved. Totally standard plumbing including the flush toilet.

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