Thread: Japanese House

Originally Posted by Nawty

Still don't get it.

You seem to have a lot of experience with shit OM ??

Like I probably said in the introduction to this tread, I spent nine years on the subject of the owner built house, this involved research on compost toilets, septic tanks amongst other self-sufficiency subjects. I was associated during six of those with a good friend who obsessed on shit and how to limit polution. Francois became later a judge-like commissioner of Hydro Quebec, responsible for environmental consequences of actions by this electricity producer and bearing on the decisions, the Commission was and still is its decision-making body.
We are responsible, each one of us, for our health, and our sicknesses, for all our decisions and actions, and yes, also for our shit! This happens everyday.
Francois is going to laugh when I send him this, I teased him so much then

The hole is not at the bottom here but it will do the job.

Photobucket is in maintenance, will post more later.

Originally Posted by Old Monkey

The bottom opening is based on the principle that dirty water is heavier and will tend to deposit in the first compartment

so, then the dirty water will migrate to the second partition

Originally Posted by Old Monkey

The hole is not at the bottom here but it will do the job.

that is much better!!

Originally Posted by Nawty

Cheers.

We will probably/possibly be building a house that is surrounded by a pond and then this surrounded by rice paddy....so while I have some understanding of shite....I am no expert....so I do want to make sure I get it right in this environment as I do not want to 1. kill the fish in the pond. 2. Stink up the pond by the house. 3. create a disease risk for my kids. 4. pollute the rice fields.

The water table will of course be high here, so needs specific attention to detail.

Thanks for your explantations. still not entirely clear and sure, but shall do some more reading.

You are 100% right!
The idea is that shit pollutes the water it comes in contact with. And only shit! Urine even is bacteria-free. So first, limit the amount of water that comes in contact, by using less water to flush, there are toilets with fewer litres, then, separate the urine, or at least, "when it's yellow, let it mellow", and do not let other waters touch shit, treat separatly. Another alternative would be to let NO water touch shit, like in a dry compost toilet, nothing comes out!.
The septic tank system works, but you must make sure, 100% certain that no water escape from the system before it has gone tru
1, an anaerobic treatment, by bacteria without air, so a full tank of liquid, no room for air, never empty, or half full,
then 2, an aerobic treatment, by bacteria with oxygen installed on multiple surfaces, like on less than 1" rocks on an impermeable surface and a drain pipe under to let the treated and no more infected water out. On top of this bed of rocks, a percolating pipe, level with the top of the tank, and level the whole way, to distribute the excess water coming from the tank. To make triply sure, you could let this water feed a small reed spot right besides the pond.
I want to see Francois's face when he reads this, I used to introduce him in conferences as our "master in shit"... Now it's me... Karma, I suppose!
I used to laugh at my friends who were getting married, they were the butt of numerous jokes. Now, what can I say?

Originally Posted by Old Monkey

I used to laugh at my friends who were getting married, they were the butt of numerous jokes. Now, what can I say?

som nam na?

or sorry

Weaving bamboo as concrete reinforcement, the top of the septic tank, cement posts, thin plywood, bamboo and cement.

This vent should and will be "coiffed" with an inversed "U" to let the methane gaz produed go out, but not air.

Finishing the cover, the epuration field dissappeared in nature.

Starting again on the swimming pool, I bring books with pictures, so they understand better what they will be doing.

The landfill from the septic tank reestablished the level at the site of the outlet bottom pipe.
Then, stairs to the shallow kids zone.

They're 5 metres long. Thinking of a teak wood finish, or granit, if I find in Chiang Mai.

And the work for today : anchoring the first level in front of the house.
Preparing steel.

Cement and posts tied to the bottom cage, then anchors.


We had bad experience when a retaining wall was not anchored properly a few years back, these peple know what they're doing.

Originally Posted by DrAndy

Originally Posted by Old Monkey

This vent should and will be "coiffed" with an inversed "U" to let the methane gaz produed go out, but not air.

you put water in the U?

oh no, it is inverted

so the air is kept out by the pressure of the methane? why do you need an inverted U?

Rain, for control of what could fall in.

An excellent and informative thread. Thank you.

Thank you, I'm always afraid to put too much, I'm such an obsessed maniac, I feel i'll bore people.
Today, we went South with the roof contractor to buy the steel, tiles and materials. He's local, seems competent, 21 years experience, 250tbh per square metre.
We hit our noses on closed doors in Mae Rim. Closed! Funny, I'd never seen this place closed.
Proceeded to Chiang Mai's Global and purchased insulation for under the roof, and polythene for the regeneration zone of the pool. Premier is still waiting to quote prices, I wonder why. This is no way to do business. Not the way I'm doing business anyway!

Sidewalk around the house, certain sides are easier than others. South side needed digging into hard rock.


East sidewalk was the first, closer to the mixer

West sidewalk will be almost done, will have to wait for the North sidewalk, the hardest.

Noth sidewalk is more complex, will have to be anchored very solidly, the law of gravity is heavy there...
First dig a trench to fix a strong base,

,
then forms for a vertical wall, the horizontal of the sidewalk will first be vertical.

Lots of support for the wall's forms

Posts are set at 4 m intervals

Then horizontal posts are attached
These are welded to the steel of the house footing!


Then the vertical steel becomes horizontal

Some squares are formed

And we're ready to pour

You have made me very jealous, that view you have is fabulous.

Is the reason that garvity at your place is heavy because you're high on the hill? I thought it decreased as you got futher from the centre of the earth but then again with that view maybe you are in the centre of the earth.

In an earlier post you praised the guys in respect to their ability to build a retaining wall and then when I seen the first couple of pictures I was worried until the one where they have tied the columns back to the house slab, bloody marvellous.

I will look forward to, at sometime in the future seeing a finished house I am sure it will also be bloody marvellous.

Originally Posted by ootai

Is the reason that garvity at your place is heavy because you're high on the hill?

his hill is very high in ferrous oxides, so his gravity is much higher than elsewhere

During that time, work goes on in the natural swimming pond.
Different water plants will need different depths of water. Reeds need to have only their feet wet, lotus can take more than a metre of water. There will be no soil for them, they will have to pick up their food from the passing water in the substrate. Furthermore, I still have no answer from Premier about geotextile prices, so I will have 10"-12" of rocks covering the polythene sheet, so that it will not be exposed to the sun rays.
I'm planning, for the filter zone, to pour some concrete, around 5 cm-2" with light reinforcement, and rendered with pure cement, very smooth, then covered with the sheet, so that water will not touch cement. I want to avoid the contact with the phosphorus that promotes algae growth.
Lisus are very good with landscaping, the weather is very hot, they are dressed like for winter, the rock is relativly hard, I sweat, just watching.
I'm happy to notice that this zone is in the shade all morning, till 10:30. The rubber trees will keep growing, there will be more shade.
I will have to think of a way to shade more, high temperature promotes algae growth...

Originally Posted by ootai

You have made me very jealous, that view you have is fabulous.

Is the reason that garvity at your place is heavy because you're high on the hill? I thought it decreased as you got futher from the centre of the earth but then again with that view maybe you are in the centre of the earth.

In an earlier post you praised the guys in respect to their ability to build a retaining wall and then when I seen the first couple of pictures I was worried until the one where they have tied the columns back to the house slab, bloody marvellous.

I will look forward to, at sometime in the future seeing a finished house I am sure it will also be bloody marvellous.

Your question about garvity is funny, but yes, it is because i'm high on the hill! If we did not take precautions like this, there would be a greater chance that pressure from the landfill would push everything down, especially during the rainy season, with the added weight of the water...
3 years ago, we had a retaining 4 foot high 20 feet long (which is the correct english, foot, or feet?) wall capsize! It took two men the best part of a week to take it apart, it was very solid! It stayed in one part, even after it capsized! It simply was not anchored properly, the rain was strong...

Sorry about the finger in front of the objective!

The small hevea (rubber tree) will be removed with precautions.

The tree is gone to its new home.

At the end of the day.

At sunset. You can see by the shade of the photographer!

I'm sorry but I have confused myself. Are you building a pond or swimming pool? Or both? Reason is that it seem you've terraced the pool/pond sides for different kinds of plants at differing water depths. Looking at the house (foundation) and location of the pool/pond, I have to say you're on your way to creating a beautiful spot.