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I've checked on the i-net with unsatisfactory results. Where do I find info on building a dry well?
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Why are you wanting to build one? Are you wanting to divert water around your house or in a certain area in your yard? There are a few different ways depending on the problem. Here's a link that'll show you how to install a drywell. If the earth in your yard is clay a drywell won't work well though, the clay soaks it up like a sponge and when it's full then your drywell stays full too.
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This ol' house we have has a cistern converted to a septic tank for the black water, and is located on the south side of the house. On the north side is an "oversized" drywell that's used for the kitchen sink, laundry and first floor shower and bathroom sink. Not knowing anything about a drywell, I want to understand what it is and how it differs from a septic sytem. The condition, size and locations of these were presented in approximations. After living here for almost three years, I'm still learning about this place...thanks for the site. Most informative and helps me understand a bit more.Comment
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Basically it is exactly what the name implies, it is a dug well in the same manner as seeking water. When making a dug water well they would continue digging down until they hit the aquafer where the well would produce a usuable water supply. A dry well was dug in the same fashion but stopped short of the aquafer leaving a bare dirt floor. The walls are then lined with stone, brick, concrete or other suitable material.
In this fashion as the graywater is discharged into the well it will eventually soaks into the soil through the base of the drywell. The problem here is that in many regions the water table can change dramatically from season to season or year to year and they began finding instances where the residences had shallow water wells the base of a deep drywell would sometimes be in the aquafer. In this manner the stagnated graywater leached into the aquafer and created a public health hazard. As a result the septic discharge regulations were changed to require the use of septic tanks with a watertight bottom and a dedicated leach field which must have enough burial to insure the effluent discharge will not come to the surface but must still be well above the water table. In fact, in some low lying areas where the water table is close to the surface we are actually required to install septic tanks and leachfields above average grade.
The first time I ever encountered constructing an above grade septic system was in 1999 in Milton, Fla.
A resident lived in a mobile home and had a small metal storage shed in the back yard. In the shed he had an old washing machine that he occassionally used to wash out shop rags. As is typical of many homeonwers he ignored the sanitation codes and ran the drain line from the washing machine through a hole in the shed wall and discharged it on the ground. What would it matter if he dumped 8 or 10 gallon of water on his grass a couple times a week?
A nosey neighbor riding her bicycle on the street spotted the discharge hose and filed a complaint with the health Dept. which then set the ball in motion.
The health dept. came out and wrote a citation for discharging effluent waste on the surface which cost him a $500 fine. They then ordered him to connect the washer to the septic system. The homeowner argued that he really didn't need the washer so he would get rid of it. The health dept then argued that there was no way to insure he wouldn't get another so he would have to install a proper drain line for the shed.
When he applied for a permit to install the drain line the Zoning Commission said his home was within one mile of the Pensacola Bay Rim therefore he would have to upgrade his entire septic system to the new above grade regulation. They then issued him a permit with the condition that the new septic system must be in place within 90 days or they would rescind the certificate of occupancy on his home and he would have to move out.
Including the material to build the barricade, the 5 tractor trailer loads of sand, new septic tank and leachfield, sod and the sewage lift station it cost nearly $31,000.
To add insult to injury, when all was said and done the wall of the barricade was within ten inches of the shed door so he could not even get into the shed to run his washing machine, not to mention that the barricade now took up his entire back lawn and the regulations prohibit walking on top of the system except to cut the grass.
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Well! That's a sorry story! I've dug a five foot deep hole out where the flagpole garden now sits, which is pretty close to where I was shwon the 'about' area of this well. The reason for digging there was to remove the burntrash! It was an area used for many years to get rid of whatever. Found a half burnt front of a dining room cabinet. Partially melted 5 gallon buckets. Stuff like that. As deep as my digger would go, (about 5 or 6 feet) there was nothing but dry sand. Oh yeah. And for about four of those feet, broken glass and metal kitchen pots and pans!Comment
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You might have an archeological dig there ! Ha ha ha !Comment
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With my luck about the time I turned up one of those old kitchen pots and declared its historical value some expert would say it is pewter, then the EPA would declare the pewter contains lead so now we must declare this a hazardous waste site.Comment
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mrcaptbob has a "love canal" situation - I can legally abate 2 feet of asbestos but the cost of the containment will [kill] you!Comment
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Well, I'll tell ho bad it is (was)....We had to purchase a metal detector!!! I've found PILES of nails. At one point there was about 5#'s of random sized nails, screws, lags....right at the surface of the ground in back of the house! ANother lot of nails was right in the wheel path through the corral gate. That wsa interesting because the pack of nails was still together. I think it wsa from one of those early 1800's airnailers. While digging back by where the old chicken coops were, we found dishware shards. Enough there to make an 8 place setting! I keep tellin;' my wife that's what's left after Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of wsahing the dishes, they just tossed it all. That could explain the bird bones. And that stuff goes down as much as four feet! Did I hit an outhouse pit? I've managed to cut back on using the mower deck as windup spindles for barbed wire and fencing. The stuff was layin' ALL OVER. Not to mention the lat tires....Boy, did THIS subject get off topic!!! ok. I'm done.
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