Posted: 4/22/2013 8:31:07 PM EDT
| I will be installing a new septic system this spring and have been researching the "new" bio diffuser sysems. These are being used in place of the old pipe and gravel leach fields. The price isnt an issue, longevity and least amount of maintenance as possible is the motivation. There isnt alot of detailed info to be had on the internet and the county inspector is old school. He has no problem with me using the system but he is going to require me to design this system the same as a pipe and gravel field. I have found some information stating you dont need as large a drain field as a pipe and gravel drain field. Is there anyone here who is in the plumbing industry and may have inside information on these system or can tell me what I should know before I spend much more time trying to sell this idea to the inspector. |
I assume you mean leaching chambers
We use them in some of the systems we install. Their main benefits are quick installation, and smaller footprints of the drain field. Here in WI, each model, from each manufacturer has a different amount "credit" (for the lack of better terms), for the open (louvered) side space. So one chamber, having an open bottom space of 15 sq ft, may be the equivalent of 30+ sq ft of infiltrative soil area. Nothing wrong with over-sizing the drain field though, especially with chambers, just means a longer life. Personally though, Id rather have 2 properly sized beds, and a diverter valve, to allow alternating uses. |
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I put one in for our cabin in rural Texas. It fully meets code and required slightly more than 1/3 the surface area as a gravel field, which reduced the number of Oaks I had to cut down for a drain field. There turned out to be less cost difference than I expected, when compared to a gravel field. Only issue I ran into was being able to purchase it directly. While TX law allows me to install my own system, and have it inspected, the majority of the companies that are distributors for the products will tell you it can only be sold to licensed installers. I had to drive two hours to a plant where they were manufactured, in order to buy it. The guy at the will-call desk said they were awar of that problem, but could not control those distributors. He guessed that a third of the will call busniness was home owners coming to them for the same reason I was.
Installaiton was really smooth and a lot less labor than shoveling and spreading gravel. |