Mound Septic System

Prework:  Make a driveway for those big trucks.

They had to add a culvert and rocks to make this driveway so as not to crush our regular one.  

We now have a lovely road through our grass.

Step one:  Make room.

68 - 3 = 65 trees left in my yard

Yes, it was hard to see them go.  They were birch trees, which I love.

Step two:  Shred up the lawn with the claw.

Step three:  Dump 30 inches of sand in "mound" shape

(Usually mounds are 12 inches of sand, but we got the mother of all mounds because we are in a 

4 bedroom home and have terrible soil.)

Step four:  Put tanks into sand mound.

Here you can see the white pipes coming from the tanks.  They put a fabric-type covering over the tanks (barely visible).  Dirt/grass will cover the sand until the pipes are flush with the earth.

Step five:  Dig by the house to replace pipes that go into the home.

Dude, that's my clematis!!

Out with the old.

Our old pipes were cracked and deteriorating--
which helps explain seepage and stink in the basement over the last two years.

Two trenches, as we have two pipes that come out of the house.

Step six:  Cover the sand mound with dirt.

Every time I thought they were done spreading dirt, they came with a new truck load.  

The mound is truly enormous now.

Step seven:  Install new pipes and cover with rocks and sand.

This was also done in the basement.  It looks so nice and new!

View of the dirt/sand/mess from my bedroom window above.
Oh, see the pile of sand on the upper left?  An old septic tank was under there--they crunched it up by smashing it with a digger thing.  (The technical term.)  It was crazy.  Loud.  Destructive.

Step eight:  Dig 15 x 8 foot hole for tanks by house.  

Yep, more tanks.

These ones aparently have an "odor" that is worse the first year.  Should get better in time.

One tank holds the solids (yay) and is pumped every 3 years.  Another holds liquids and pumps contents out to the mound every time it reaches 250 gallons.

Wish I had a picture before they filled in with gravel.  The cement block the tanks are in is actually about 6-8 feet high.  So the hole was very deep!  The cement block is divided into 3 sections, coordinating/connected with each tank above.

 

More digging, more mess.

Step nine:  Connect tanks by house to tanks in mound.

Cover pipes.

(Step nine and a half:  Act silly with your neighbor friend.)

See the trench (or really the dirt piles from the trench digging).

It goes around our beautiful ash tree.

Sigh.

Step ten:  Fill in the holes.  Pretend it never happened.

Step eleven:  Landscape--even out the ground, add top soil and grass seed.  This will all happen after the holiday weekend.  

You are all welcome to come use our toilets (showers, washer, sinks) anytime!

P.S.  Free sledding in the winter!

P.P.S.  Free slip 'n' sliding in the summer!