Eliminate Leach Field or Well?

[redcayenne]

I'm trying to remodel a 1903 cabin in King County Washington. My lot is in a Critical Area, on a lakefront, and .8 acres. Apparently that is too small to put both a well and a septic system on the property and keep everything 100' away from each other, the road, the lake, the house and the wells/drainfields/structures of our neighbors. Currently there is a cesspool between the cabin and the lake that is nearly 100 years old about 50 feet from the lake and the house. You would think it's probably draining into the lake by now, but the county seems to want us to stay with this rather than put in a new system that requires variances from the 100 feet setbacks.

I was wondering if anyone had heard of a septic system that is totally closed and has absolutely NO drainfield or leach field of any kind. Basically, everything is held in a tank and gets pumped out to a truck or something.

The other possiblity is to go with no well, and do a raincatch for our bathing and washing, with bottled water for drinking and cooking. How much rainwater would that take? How much could we get in the Seattle area? How could we store it?

Any thoughts out there?

[Redwood]

A holding tank would tend to be pretty expensive when it comes to servicing.

You may be better off inquiring about a cistern for your water supply.