Simple DIY 3 barrel septic system

This is a septic system I made for a small shop. Follow me for more cool DIY ideas and videos!

[kthomas]

My great grandfather just used to dig a hole and squat…his system still works today.

[deanadwood]

I've dug up and replaced a few of these systems. It will somewhat work for a short period if you don't flush paper. You have 200 gallons of storage here and most states require 5 times that. The first barrel will fill with thick sludge and eventually that sludge will pour directly to the next one and so forth. The effluent in the leech pit will be very similar to the effluent exiting the first barrel. I say this because I've seen it. The leech barrel and pit eventually gets thick sludge in it. Also, the majority of leach field water is supposed to go up as evaporation not down as most people think. Thats why leach fields are spread out to cover alot of surface area at a similar depth. This system creates a seepage pit in one spot with little evaporation because it cant breath below 18". This type of a system puts untreated effluent under the root level and directly into the water table. I'm not trying to downplay your diy work here but I just want everyone to understand why this system is not EPA or Health Department approved and could include a hefty fine.

[pumptruck]

I do this stuff for a living, I'd just have one of those barrels as a settling tank and put at least a 750gallon tank in there before it that has some retention time that is more serviceable.

that first little barrel tank is going to clog up on you quite fast.

that leach would work better than people think but extend that leach barrel into the middle of the stone.

elbows for outlet baffles are fine but I would recommend drilling holes on the top so they can breath or they will siphon, bottom of the outlet baffles should land halfway down too.

as everyone said already, not code, not something id be posting.

[hawk]

I wouldn't have shown anyone this.

[UncleDonDon]

Dude, you've done the hard part by digging. Just buy a tank and run some leech lines.

[ocsrc]

Pretty good
I remember back in the day you just dig a hole and put in a 55 gallon drum upside down with rock on the bottom and run the 4-in PVC into the tank and that was it

No permits you used to be able to just buy a lot for 50 bucks an acre and pay a couple kids to cut the trees down and pay a farmer to come in with a tractor and pull out the stumps and dig a well and dig a hole for the septic and level the land and then you'd put down Stone and get a concrete mixer and pour a floor and get concrete block delivered and build the basement and then build the single story house on top of the block foundation

No permits whatsoever as a matter of fact we didn't even have a town building we had no services at all there was no water no sewer no Department of public works nothing and it was all farmland huge farms that were family owned for hundreds of years that ranged from 1, 000 acres to 4, 000 acres and in an area the size of Manhattan there was only about 400 people

It was great

The roads were dirt and you didn't have to lock your doors and everybody helped everybody out and we had farm fresh produce and fresh chickens and eggs and beef and pork and we had local streams where we caught trout

There were a couple taverns that had been here since the 1600s that served farm fresh food and they would have fresh caught fish on Fridays

I miss the old days so much

You literally could stand in the middle of the road from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. and there was not a single car and now even at 3:00 a.m. there's four lanes across of traffic on that same road bumper to bumper

I hate it

[jeffreycoulter]

Very good. That's adequate for one person. 150 gallons. EPA says you need 125 gallons per person per day. Minimum of 7 day storage. Preference is for 28 day storage. So for ideal situations use 10 days or 1250 gallons of storage. Since you didn't do that, assume incomplete digestion of wastes. Place a biofilter on the final outlet pipe to keep solids from entering the drain pipe to you "cesspool" 50 gallon tank. The filter will make your system last the longest. Also assuming your doing this without permits, minimizing the wastewater loading by keeping it down to 25 gallons a day will help. Good job.

[sorry...nowbased]

Bruh... don't do this. Take it from a licensed sewer layer, that volume isn't even close to what is necessary for even a single person. Not to mention that pit is going to become a Cholera pond. Gotttdamnnnn, take this down.

[UncleDonDon]

Don't worry, folks. It's only for draining the used oil from his quickie lube business.

[FLV.USA.CONSTITITION.ND.]

It works, I have seen many put in and I put one in on my property and it's been perfect for almost 20 years, and depending on what part of the country you live in, , , , yes it's legal!

[ocsrc]

This is how people built their own septic back in the 50s 60s and early 70s before the county made permits and inspections were required

[RogueOntheRoad]

I have one of these for a sump in the ground. Unless you fill it with water and seal the lid then pour cement around the barrel to strengthen the barrel wall the tank can collapse when it is empty. This case is when weather is very wet. Do not underestimate the weight of soil pressing in on the sides of the barrel.
New thought I plan to try. Wrap the tank with stiff wire fencing then spray foam two to three inches of poly sprayfoam. I'm hoping the sprayfoam will stick to the fencing and being bumpy on the outside will hold the tank in the ground when the tank is empty and the ground is saturated with rain water.

[michaelrobinson]

I did this on a 1500 sqft home and only connected the toilet. It lasted 2 years before I had to do it the right way but it survived long enough for me to rent out the house to make money to do it legit

[eshelmen]

Give it a few years and you've got another episode of the Poop Lady from Hoarders...

[jensenhomestead]

Came for the comments .. DID NOT DISAPPOINT!

[laurenpoythress]

Folks are so quick to throw their negativity out there and try to put this man down. Well I will tell all of y'all God don't like ugly. What ever happened to constructive criticism?maybe give him a few tips kindly. And let him make what he will of it. My husband happenes to be a master plumber and if you are looking for a temporary cheap quick solution, there's nothing wrong with this at all. Actually, I applaud the creativity bc we are currently facing an issue with having our own water on. Seems where I live, if you happen to be lucky enough to have bought your property on the side of the road the water line is running $80, but since that's just not the case here so it's $900 if ur on the wrong side. So for people like us struggling to get by and with a baby on the way might I add, this is a great idea.

[joeabad]

A TEE fitting works better than an elbow as it provides a vent in each bend..

[danbedard]

When you found the guy that will do it way cheaper than the other guys....this is literally a shit storm waiting to happen

[SCOTTA]

First ....Always dig a level ditch with gravel instead of a deep pit. Subsoils ( the first 18-24" is what absorbs your water) . A deep pit only holds water (like a pond).

[randyrhyne]

3 barrel systems have been working fine for years. If people only knew. I like the added leech field. Most folks just run perforated pipe for a leech field about 3 feet deep and 3 lines off last barrel.