Offgrid homes need septic systems and permits can be costly. So we put in an unpermitted leach field to cut the cost.

This is part 2 of the septic system. Part 1  covered the leach field. This work was done in January of 2015. If you missed Part 1, you can see it at this link. https://healthyhomesteadingadventures.com/we-put-in-an-unpermitted-septic-tank/

For those of you worried about this, I have since gotten my septic system permitted and will show you what I had to do to get it permitted in an upcoming post.

County Permit Standards for a Leach Field

Even if you decide to temporarily not permit your leach field, you should find out the permit standards and follow them so you won’t have so much hassle later. Permit standards for leach fields will vary for the state that you live in. Also, you can check your county’s resource management website. Here is a link to the Shasta County website on this subject that you can see for an example. Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems  Actually, it is even better to go into the county resource management office. They are very helpful and will give you lists of the requirements and handouts with the rules or standards.

 The Leach Field is the Secondary Treatment

A plot plan is needed to show the location of your leach field. You can see our initial plot plan in Part 1. The county considers the septic tank as the primary treatment and the leach field as the secondary treatment of the waste. It needs to consist of 200 feet of leach line, 2 feet wide, with 12 inches of gravel below the distribution pipes. The maximum leach line trench depth is to be 36 inches. You may substitute 160 feet of EQ 36 infiltrator pipe. There are other special conditions required in our case, but I won’t be including them here.

Equipment Needed to Dig the Leach Field

If you have a large tractor with a backhoe, that would be great for digging the line to the leach field and the leach field trenches. The other option is to rent an excavator. I don’t know if my husband at the time had ever used one before, but he loves the big guy toys, and with some instructions, he was able to figure it out and got quite good at using it. If you don’t feel confident in doing this job yourself, then you can hire an expert to come out and put your leach field in for you.

Watch the Video

Now you can watch the video and see how we put in our unpermitted leach field.  My ex-husband attempted to do everything right. The only thing he did wrong was to have the leach lines sloping down too much. They don’t want all the waste water ending up at one end. Have fun watching the video and slide show. I will include the pictures in this post for those who can’t watch the video. If you can, please click to watch on YouTube so you can like and comment there. It helps the YouTube algorithm so the video will be shared. Thank you.

Beginning to dig with the Excavator

In the next few pictures, you will see the beginning and progress of digging the trench for the pipeline to the leach field. A leach field does not have to be so far away from the home. As it turned out, the county had done percolation tests there and it was their approved site. This pipeline should be put in for gravity flow so that a sump pump is not needed. My husband, at the time, did not know this.

Moving the Septic Tank Dirt

This project was done in January of 2015. The septic tank hole was dug in the spring of 2014,  and the dirt was placed on the side of the road where the pipeline to the leach field needed to go. But, there was a reason that my husband did that. The trench for the water line wasn’t filled in yet, so there was no choice. Before digging the trench for the pipeline to the leach field, my son, Isaiah, got to use the tractor to move the dirt to the other side of the driveway.

Reaching the Leach Field Site

Once the leach field site was reached, a horizontal trench was dug off of which three verticle lines would be dug.

First Trench Started in the Leach Field

The Second Trench is Almost Completed

Working on the Third Verticle Trench

Infiltrators Added to the Leach Field Trenches

The work of adding the infiltrators was done when I was at work, so you will see them in the trenches in the following pictures. Once they were added, it was time to cover them with sifted dirt and then the unsifted dirt could be pushed in over them with the tractor.

Gary used the tractor to put the dirt in the sifter, and Isaiah used a hoe to cause the dirt to fall through leaving the rocks behind in the sifter.

One trench in the leach field is completely filled in.

How to Move the Sifter

If you are a strong teenager that loves body building, the next pictures show how Isaiah moved the sifter. However, if you lack that kind of strength, you could drag it, or stand it on end and walk it. Another option is for two people to move it into place. Actually, it is quite heavy.

Two leach field trenches are filled in, and the sewer line from the septic tank is also covered.

The Leach Field is Finished!

After so much hard work by Gary and Isaiah, the job was finally finished! This was great news! It meant that we could now have a flush toilet and hook up a washing machine. Life was soon to be a whole lot easier. Thanks for coming on this journey with me and my family.