Drainfield Media & Design

Drainfield Media & Design
Onsite sand filter system required for site with shallow water table

Interested in Drainfield Media?

Get Drainfield Media articles, news and videos right in your inbox! Sign up now.

Drainfield Media + Get Alerts

Onsite sand filter system required for site with shallow water table

Problem
A planned sand filter septic system for an Iowa farm was redesigned to save money and reduce installation time. The system would require a concrete or PVC-lined box, adding to material and labor costs. The system was designed for a four-bedroom house to handle a flow of 300 gpd, with a peak-day flow of 600 gallons. A water table of 5.5 feet limited maximum trench depth to 30 inches.

Solution
A pit was dug 100 by 12 feet for installation of 280 feet of GEO-flow pipe, a 10-inch-diameter, single-wall, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) corrugated pipe, surrounded in a polypropylene grid, both encased in geotextile fabric. The Advanced Drainage Systems pipe design creates equal distribution and enhances the biological reduction of wastewater.

Result
Three 70-foot-long runs of pipe, spaced 3 feet on center, connected to the distribution box. Sand was used as a 6-inch bed and a layer of fabric and filter sand were installed over the pipe. The system reduced the septic tank effluent to less than secondary treatment levels. 800/821-6710; www.ads-pipe.com.

Aesthetic solution needed for septic pipe cover in landscaping

Problem
A Massachusetts homeowner spent thousands of dollars on a new porch and landscaping, only to have a 3-foot-tall vent pipe next to his porch in the middle of his landscaping. Traditional vent filters only addressed the odor problem, not the aesthetics.

Solution
Kevin Orlando from All Season Septic in Stoughton, Mass., was scheduled to pump their system, and the homeowner informed him of the problem. Orlando suggested The Dirty Bird septic pipe cover. The product addresses odor problems with an included charcoal filter, and fit into the landscape as a common yard ornament, a pedestal/birdbath.

Result
The homeowner was grateful for the simple solution. Now he has a focal point instead of an eyesore. Guests don’t even know he has a vent in his yard, and Orlando can service the charcoal filter when he comes to pump the system. 866/968-9668; www.thedirtybird.com.

Unique system needed for Alabama school with downward slope

Problem
The Dekalb County, Ala., Board of Education was building a new elementary school. The drainfield design had to address both a challenging site and tight budget. The area reserved for the drainfield was on a small hill with downward slope.

Solution
Constantine Engineering selected the Multi-Pipe rockless drainfield system from Plastic Tubing Industries (PTI). The design for the 13,200-square-foot system involved five separate fields utilizing 4,400 linear feet of the MPS-13 pipe configured in stepped trenches. The drainfield was installed in two days by Westbrook Grading, assisted by PTI’s Alabama field representative Steve Pasky. 

Result
The engineer was able to meet the project demands, a contractor discovered a quick and easy way to construct a reliable drainfeld system, and the new school has almost 57,000 gallons of effluent storage capacity. 800/780-5121; www.pti-pipe.com.



Discussion

Comments on this site are submitted by users and are not endorsed by nor do they reflect the views or opinions of COLE Publishing, Inc. Comments are moderated before being posted.