How to make a septic tank from a barrel with your own hands: step by step instruction

In the conditions of a city apartment, the sewerage and water supply are the norm. As for the country site, there are no such conditions, but the person still wants comfort. Outside the city, there is not always an opportunity to use centralized cleaning systems, which is why many property owners outside the city build a septic tank on their own.

The solution of the problem

To do this, you can use one of a variety of technologies, but most often the sewer is arranged using barrels, which are convenient to install and just get. A septic tank for a private house is best purchased in the factory assembly. But if it is a dacha, then there will be enough barreled sewage, which involves a soil or mechanical after-treatment.

Selecting a location for a septic tank

If you decide to install a septic from the barrel with your own hands, it is important to choose the right place. The system should be removed from wells, drinking wells and reservoirs for a minimum of 30 m. The distance from the beds should be 10 m, from underground pipelines - 5 m. Start work on the arrangement of such sewage should be, deviating from the foundation of 5 m.

As for green plantations by type of trees and bushes, the distance to them should be 3 m. It is important to observe a minimal step to the sources of drinking water, this will eliminate their contamination and reduce the likelihood of infection.

Before starting work, it is important to remember that wastewater will enter the system in a small amount, because usually the owners of suburban real estate live in such houses not permanently, can visit the site on weekends or attend raids. However, it is important to comply with the building and sanitary standards.

When arranging a septic tank from a barrel with your own hands, you should not place it close to the foundation, because in this case the water will begin to destroy the base. Sanitary standards are prescribed for a reason, if neglected, it can lead to health problems and legal responsibility. When choosing a place for a septic tank, consider:

• Composition and properties of the soil;
• The relief of the site;
• Depth of occurrence of groundwater;
• Climatic conditions;
• The need to equip the access road for the sewage machine.

What is important to consider?

Before starting work it is important to study the composition of the soil. As for sand, it easily passes moisture, while clay soil should be supplemented with a sand cushion. It is important to pay attention to the features of the terrain of the site. The pipe must fit under a certain slope from the house to the receiving barrels, then the drains will move by gravity.

If the septic from the barrel with your own hands you will equip, it is important to take into account also the climatic conditions. Experts recommend to study how much the temperature of the air drops in the winter, because it allows you to know what the level of freezing of the soil. If the septic tank is planned to be pumped out, it is important to ensure that there are ways for the access of the sewage machine.

The simplest system for a suburban area consists of two iron barrels and an external pipeline. Pipes can be made of plastic, and their diameter can be 110 mm. If the diameter is less, the system will not be able to cope with the peak volume of impurities. A septic from barrels can be installed only when the groundwater is buried at a level of 4 m.

The slope of the sewage pipeline should be 0.03, which will allow for self-sufficiency. Vertically, the value should be 3 cm for each running meter. If the pipes are supposed to be laid above the freezing level of the soil, they should be insulated with moisture-resistant thermal insulation.

Sewerage system

Quite often, recently, consumers arrange a septic tank from barrels with their own hands. You too can follow their experience. At the first stage it is important to choose the material of the containers, it can be plastic or iron. The first option will be easier to install, in addition, it is resistant to corrosion, but swelling the soil can lead to deformation of the structure.

Russian cottagers are more common iron barrels, whose capacity is 200 liters. This container after firing becomes ideal for a sewage sump. The capacity is low-cost and durable, and also has a low weight, which allows you to do the work yourself. As one of the main disadvantages of iron is its predisposition to corrosion. But the walls of the product can always be treated with an anti-rust composition according to the type of bitumen mastic.

How to avoid mistakes?

To ensure that the container lasts longer, it should be covered with bitumen and paint and varnish. If you decide to install a septic tank with your own hands from a barrel for a cottage toilet, it is important to consider the choice of material in terms of the need to fill the foundation. The plastic is light enough, so it is necessary to fix it on a cushion of concrete, otherwise the product may float when flooded.

With iron, such problems do not arise. According to the sanitary norms and regulations, the volume of the septic tank must contain drains in the amount of 3 daily rates. This is true for the flow of water in an amount of 5 m ³ per day, which is important for the country sewerage. However, it is important to remember that these data are indicated for cleanable sedimentation tanks.

Technology of arrangement

If you are thinking about the question of how to make a septic tank from barrels with your own hands, then at the first stage it is necessary to carry out excavation work. They presuppose the preparation of trenches for laying pipes that will go from the house. For reinforced concrete drums, it is also necessary to excavate a pit. On top of the tank, they sprinkle with soil. The pit should be deep enough, on the sides should be left a gap, the width of which is 0.25 m.

By equipping the septic tank from the barrels in the dacha with your own hands, you must decide whether you will use the system in the winter. If this is the case, then work on thermal insulation should be carried out. Containers in this case must be located below the freezing line of the soil, or else the water will freeze. This approach requires additional deepening of the excavation, you may need an excavator.

Methods of work

The next step is to drill holes in the barrels. In the first container, one of them must be placed on top, it is intended for the pipe coming from the house. The second hole must be on the side, it is output and is used to overflow into the next tank.

In the second capacity, the hole is placed on the side, and the second is from the bottom. To be precise, the second barrel must be stripped to ensure that it can drain into the ground. This will make the septic from the barrel with your own hands without pumping. Arrange the inlet opening above the output by 20 cm, otherwise the water can go back. In order to exclude welding work, it is necessary to cut a hole and install rubber seals, they introduce plastic pipes, and the joints are treated with a sealant.

Recommendations for work

At the bottom of the prepared pit, it is necessary to pour a pillow of sand and gravel, its thickness can vary from 10 to 30 cm. The preparation is compacted well, barrels are installed on it and connected by a bridge. They can be layered with a heater, which sometimes acts as expanded clay or styrofoam.

Before connecting the sewer pipes, the drums should be covered on the sides with soil. The soil is poured into layers of 20 cm and compacted. At the next stage a pipe is connected, which goes from the country house. It is inserted into the first container using a tee, its free end will be used for ventilation. At the final stage, everything should be covered with soil.

Features of the device septic tank from metal barrels

If you will be septic tank of iron barrels with your own hands, it is important to make concrete bottoming. The second container should be located slightly lower than the first. It is better to use barrels for 200 liters or more. It is recommended to insulate the septic tank from all sides, do not neglect this process, laying the material only on the bottom of the pit. After completion of the backfilling with the soil, the system should be covered with a roofing material, lids made of iron or wood, the latter of which are needed to provide access to the tanks when pumping out drains.

Increase in volume

If you want to increase the volume of the structure, you can install several barrels on each other and weld them together. Additional iron bridges can be mounted for reliable fastening of products among themselves. The formed joints must be well waterproofed, for this, hot bitumen is usually used. No matter how qualitatively the septic tank was constructed by hand from the barrel of fuel, in 4 years the tanks will have to be changed, because they will start to rust and rot under the influence of aggressive drains.

Peculiarities of foundation preparation for installation of plastic barrels

Quite often the owners of suburban real estate are settling a septic tank from plastic barrels with their own hands. Photos of such systems you can consider in the article. Preparing the pit for the installation of tanks, you must be guided by parameters that will be greater than the geometric dimensions of the compartments used. On the perimeter of the pit, the step between the sides and barrels should be 0.25 m. The bottom must be well padded, covered with sand and poured with concrete, and if necessary, formwork should be used.

In the resulting base, it is possible to install embedded metal elements that will help fix the barrels. Make them necessary with loops. When making a septic tank from plastic barrels with your own hands, you must additionally fix the tanks to the base with special straps, which are also called bandages. They make it possible to achieve a one hundred percent guarantee that the barrels will not float in the event of a flood.

When making holes in plastic containers, you should retreat from the cover of the first tank of 0.2 m. This will install the pipe from the residential building. On the opposite side of the chamber, another hole is to be made, which is displaced downwards by 0.1 m. In the first container, another opening for the ventilation riser is required.

If you decide to make a septic tank from plastic barrels with your own hands, it is recommended to supplement the first compartment with a removable cover, because it will accumulate a huge amount of solid waste, which from time to time will have to be cleaned. If you do not plan to build filtration fields, holes are made in the second barrel, which are located at an angle of 45 ° with respect to each other. These holes are needed for drainage pipes.

Conclusion

A septic tank made from plastic barrels (200 liters) manufactured, may assume the presence of filtration fields instead of a filtration well. To install drainage pipes, it is necessary to prepare trenches that have a slope of 2 cm per meter. At the bottom of the trench geotextile is laid, its slices are placed on the sides of the ditch. Further, the backfilling is carried out with rubble, on the layer of which drainage pipes are placed. The trench is covered with gravel, and geotextiles are placed on top again. At the final stage, the ditch is filled with earth, on this one can assume that the filtration fields are ready.

During operation, the first compartment will be filled with silt and solid waste. For cleaning, you should use the services of a sewage machine. The volume of silt for the summer will increase by 80 liters, however, if the villa is visited on a regular basis, the system may overflow long before the end of the season. These features of operation, of course, must be taken into account even before the design of the system.