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Ravens Nest
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 13:48
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I am hoping to generate some discussion about whether it is "okay" to pump a septic holding tank onto the forest floor. It sounds like a major no-no, but is it really? This is our first year of being cottage owners. At our place we only use the indoor toilet for urinating. (Everything else is done in the outhouse.) The urine is flushed (with water) into a 100 gallon sealed holding tank under the cottage. Only the urine is flushed, no paper. Then at the end of the season the tank needs to be pumped out. I'm wondering if it is an environmental hazard to pump that urine and water a couple of hundred yards off into the woods. Our place is remote, heavily wooded all around us and there are no close neighbours so this would not impact anyone else in any way. The urine would be discharged a few hundred yards from the shore of the lake. In my view, I believe this would absorb pretty quickly into the ground and have little or no environmental impact, not unlike an outhouse. Does anyone have an informed opinion on this? Thanks.
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Steve961
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 15:40
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From a human health standpoint, I believe it is. From a legal standpoint, it probably depends where you are located. The following article has some good information concerning urine collection and reuse: About composting toilets
If your toilet is only used for urine, have you ever considered just plumbing it to a greywater drywell? i have a urinal in my cabin that I discharge to the same greywater drywell as my shower and sink. I think it's perfectly safe, although it's somewhat of a grey area legally in my area.
Steve
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Ravens Nest
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 15:59
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Steve, thanks for the feedback. What do you mean by "dry well"? As in a hole in the ground? When you put it this way, it is no different then the rule for the guys, which is "watering" the plants behind the woodshed a few times a day. The indoor toilet is only used by my wife, so in essence we could eliminate the holding tank and simply flush the urine into the dry well each time, rather than collecting it and having a large concentration to deal with at the end of the season.
Brad
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VTweekender
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 16:06
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If urine is diluted 8:1 with water it is safe...
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Ravens Nest
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 16:21
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VT, by this logic you could run your urinal plumbing directly to the lake. I doubt this would go over well if word got out! Seems perfectly harmless to me, but there is something unsettling about it. Thoughts?
Brad
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 16:24
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Urine is sterile. If it is just urine it should be safe but what the local bylaws say are probably different.
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Steve961
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 16:42
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Brad:
Here are a couple of links to drywell plans:
Make Your Own Gray Water Dry Well 55-Gallon Drum
How to Install a Dry Well
I built mine based off the first link above.
Steve
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Ravens Nest
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 17:27
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So other than creating a reservoir to contain volume while it drains into the ground, this is no different, environmentally, then allowing it to drain directly onto the ground. The only difference, is that in a dry-well situation, the grey water is hidden below the surface before it dissipates. Am I correct?
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Truecabin
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 17:36
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100 gallons is nothing to worry about, I'd waggle the hose around tho its an old habit but for good reasons 
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Ravens Nest
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 17:38
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Why Truecabin? Just to spread it out?
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Steve961
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 19:08
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Brad:
IMHO the best reason to have a drywell hooked up is so you'd never have to worry about emptying your tank - out of sight out of mind.
Steve
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 20:37
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water the woods with it...it will be FINE!!!!
I put urine in the woods or yard ( I live in the country) EVERYDAY..LOL
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Ravens Nest
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 20:43
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Steve I get that. My point is: What is the real environmental difference in using a drywell vs draining the gray water into the woods a hundred feet away from camp?! Drywell equals seepage begins a few feet below the surface; no drywell equals seepage begins on the surface. I don't see a any difference environmentally. In both scenarios one is dumping their grey water into the soil. As long as the "gray water" is just that, where is the harm....bi-laws aside.
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Ravens Nest
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 20:58
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in other words Steve, my pee-only outlet pipe could go directly out and onto the ground some distance away from the cabin, and pose no problems.
Comments are welcome from bush sitters!
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2013 21:45
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Urine is sterile when it is produced by a healthy body. However, on the way out of the urethra it may come in contact with bacteria on the exterior of the body. In that case those bacteria may multiply when placed in a non refrigerated storage and held for months.
My opinion is that it is better to directly pipe the urine from the toilet to the ground dispersal area; pit, hole, whatever. Also that is a smaller amount over a greater period of time.
More or less the same reasons that grey water systems that get approval do not include a storage tank for later use. Bacteria can grow and upon dispersal be more hazardous.
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Ravens Nest
Member
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# Posted: 4 Sep 2013 06:47
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Thanks for your input everyone. Cheers
Brad
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creeky
Member
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# Posted: 4 Sep 2013 09:16
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you might want to consider using a couple of bales of straw to pour the waste water onto. or a big pile of leaves. or. some other carbon mass to absorb the excess nutrients.
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