The Septic System Owner's Manual. - Review - book review

Whole Earth, Summer, 2000 by Pw, Peter Aschwanden

THE SEPTIC SYSTEM OWNER'S MANUAL Lloyd Kahn, Blair Allen, and Julie Jones; illustrated by Peter Aschwanden. 2000; 163 pp. $14.95. Shelter Publications.

America has needed an introductory book on "homesite" (septic tank) systems for over twenty years. This is it, with spectacular drawings by Peter Aschwanden (who illustrated How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive; John Muir Publications, 1999). It's a broad-brush, easy, and personal invitation to homesite sewage practices.

As someone who's worked with homesite systems for thirty years, I feel pressured to reveal limits. This is not a how-to book. You cannot use it to design or to install your system. All types of homesite systems are presented, but there is not enough info to help you choose which is best for you. We learn that soil tests (and the infamous percolation test) are the heart of homesite system design, but we do not learn enough to flush out county agents and engineer/contractors, or to detect if we are getting good advice or ripped off.

--PW

"Unfortunately, regulatory agencies have tended to require higher-tech, more expensive systems in recent years. In some cases, this approach is necessary, but many times it's overkill. Granted that there will be situations where soil and/or climate require other options, yet the gravity-fed system remains the simplest and most ecological design; it is the "stick shift" of septic systems, and therefore, the heart of this book.

"What a Revoltin' Development! Be aware of an important disadvantage of all systems relying on pumps: When the electricity goes off, the effluent cannot be pumped out of the tank. Raw sewage can back up into the house if normal flushing and drainage are continued and the power is out long enough.

"A sand filter is a gravel-filled hole in the ground, lined with a watertight membrane, which purifies the septic tank effluent before it goes to the drainfield.

"Large sand filters were used extensively in community wastewater systems in the United States from the late 1800s (as early as 1868) until the 1930s. Some of these systems were quite large, with sand filters covering more than forty acres and serving communities of up to 190,000 people. Eventually, with increasing population and land values, sand filters were replaced by smaller and more mechanically complex treatment systems. Nevertheless, these community sand filters worked quite well and many produced effluent comparable to today's municipal sewage plants.

Over the past twenty years or so, increasing attention has been given to the use of sand filters for wastewater treatment--not only for small communities but also for on-site wastewater systems serving individual homes. It is estimated that there are now some 500,000 sand filters in operation in the U.S.