[Midnight]

My wife and I are building a small off-grid cabin. We will be using a new composting toilet, so there is no "flushing" per-se. We have a well, and will have running water. I bought a 200 gallon Norwesco pump/septic tank, and this will run to a simple leaching field. We plan on using this for gray-water/septic. Shower, sinks, washing machine, and the urine outflow from the composting toiler (it has a urine separator) will all go to this septic, then to the leaching field.

Now for my question...

When I bury the tank, do I really need 6" of pea-gravel in the bottom of the pit, or can I just level & compact the dirt, place/plumb the tank. and then back-fill?

 

[One Shot]

I was told that it served to provide a solid surface for the weight of the septic.

 

[paraquack]

Pea gravels help to level out the tank to prevent it from cracking. When my first house's septic tank was installed I couldn't believe the effort the installers
went thru to get it leveled. Went 26 years with no problems. I added a cake of yeast mixed in water every 3 months but that was a tank where everything went into it.

 

[Chipper]

Depends on the type of soil/dirt or rock your setting the tank on. If it's soft sugar sand don't worry about it. Shale, field stone or bed rock then worry about it. Dig the hole and find out.

Warning from experience. Make sure to bury the tank and pipes deep enough so it doesn't freeze. Idiots that installed our first septic of the house we bought. Forgot it gets cold in WI and the frost goes deep. Darn septic froze every year.

 

[inceptor]

Darn septic froze every year.

That happened to me every year I was in CO. I had no idea what a Hotsy was until they used to thaw my system.

 

[bigwheel]

Instead of pea gravel a person might try a fired clay product called Turface. Wonderful stuff that also makes a great hydroponic growing media for medicinal herbs etc. Game Saver is hard to beat according to a couple of old hippies I used to know.

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