Aerobic Septic System Reliability

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Continuing from my earlier water softener thread: Water Softener Discharge

So ... now it appears I am going to have to have a septic system, if I am going to have a dishwasher, washing machine, etc. And the soil here is 6" of topsoil followed by hard sandstone, pretty much all the way down until you get you get to Australia :) So that apparently means a simple, conventional septic system will not do. I'll have to have an aerobic system. And since they'll have to pretty much use a tactical nuke to get through this stupid rock, we're looking at $12k. And the added bonus of yet another electro-mechanical gizmo that requires consumables, and maintenance and can will break down.

And there's more! It turns out that the softener discharge will in fact hurt a septic system, at the very least an aerobic one:
Water softener discharges do harm septic systems -- And the problem is easy to solve
Aerobic Do's & Don'ts

So I have to do BOTH the trench and the septic. But I had planned to divert that water anyway, so .. meh.

The whole point of homesteading is seeking simplicity. Now I gotta keep buying and replacing stuff! Chlorine tablets! Filters! Pumps! Aerators! Oh yeah, and don't forget the county-mandated 3x/year service contract! :mad:

Anyway ... so what am I in for with this infernal, expensive, complicated aerobic septic gadget? Will the stupid thing at least run for 3 years without collapsing into a smoking ruin?
 
In most states that I am aware of, owners of aerobic treatment systems (ATUs) are required to have a contract with an ATU service provider. In other words, the power to be do not want homeowners maintaining their ATUs, they want professional trainer personnel doing that. When a homeowner has a service contract with a professional, the ATU will last many years.
 
Have you considered a personal self contained water treatment plant?
 
Continuing from my earlier water softener thread: Water Softener Discharge

So ... now it appears I am going to have to have a septic system, if I am going to have a dishwasher, washing machine, etc. And the soil here is 6" of topsoil followed by hard sandstone, pretty much all the way down until you get you get to Australia :) So that apparently means a simple, conventional septic system will not do. I'll have to have an aerobic system.

Anyway ... so what am I in for with this infernal, expensive, complicated aerobic septic gadget? Will the stupid thing at least run for 3 years without collapsing into a smoking ruin?
Sounds like you are in a similar boat that we are. The ground down here is flat and stays saturated almost year-round. Field lines won't work. If you had a septic tank and field lines (like we had in Alabama that worked great) down here you would just have a perpetual marsh in your back yard.
They use "retention ponds" down here with a sprayer in the middle.
Even the rich-folks that live in the high-dollar yuppie neighborhoods never even know that the ornamental fountain in the middle of the 'picturesque' pond they drive by going into the subdivision is their sewer effluence (not raw sewage).
The good news is, when it is blazing sun and 95°, the water in the pond vanishes fast!
The pump to the sprayer only has to run if the water level is above a certain level.
I can post a picture of one of them if you want. Each one probably handles the output of 20 houses.
They are not very deep either. Kids go wading in them. (ewww!)
I don't think one to handle the output of a single home would need to be very big at all.
 

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