Casa de Tortugas - Stories
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The septic system has been installed
Living off-grid means we need to get rid of our "dirty" water.
Our water supply comes from the rain. The waste water needs to go into a septic system. In easy to access areas where heavy equipment can be used, large double tanks are used to process the water. Here in our remote location, a single large tank would be too hard to manage. Instead we are using a double tank system. This serves the exact same function. The material goes through the two tanks and is treated by bacteria. It then flows into a filtering pit. The bacteria is neutralized at the filter pit before the clean water is sent out into the jungle. Finally the water slowly filters through the ground and returns to the water supply.
It was quite a bit of work for the guys to dig the trench and holes. The amount of work they put in is staggering and greatly appreciated.
To get things started, some jungle had to be cleared...
A trench of about 200 feet in length was dug by hand stretching from the house back into the jungle.
At the same time, the pits were being dug. We need one for each tank and one as a filter pit. It is hard to grasp the scale from the pictures, but the tanks are 5 feet across and 4 feet tall each. A post hole digger was used to bore holes where possible to reduce the trenching time.
Finally the tanks and pipe could be installed and the holes and trench could be covered. The tanks each have a concrete slab on top to prevent ground water pressure from pushing up on the tanks. This is less critical once the system is in use, but right after being installed, the ground is soft and the tanks are empty so they could float up.
Now we are ready for the rest of the plumbing.
| Building the bodega Published 24-Mar-2024 | The Solar / Picnic Area Published 29-Feb-2024 |
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