Comments on: Water and Septic Systems Can Be Tricky in a Little House

By: Susan McReynolds

Susan McReynolds — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:26:20 +0000

Thanks Arlo! You are a wikipedia of Tiny House living!

By: Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell

Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:32:54 +0000

Thank you, everyone, for chiming in. It’s these kind of discussions that might help the vast array of readers on Kent’s blog!

By: Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell

Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:31:21 +0000

Thanks for those suggestions, Alice.

By: Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell

Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:29:31 +0000

You’re right, Matt, everyone needs to consider the true cost.
Wells are tough to estimate because you never know just where the water will be. Our neighbors found water at a very shallow depth so we had a range. I say $5,000 over budget, because it was $5,000 over the lowest end of what we expected. I guess I could just as easily say we were $5,000 under because it didn’t hit the ceiling of the worst case. The good news is that we got rid of that ugly tank in our yard and we will never (hopefully) have to spend another dime on water again. As well, that huge diesel truck carrying water is expending more energy and pollution coming way out here.

By: Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell

Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:25:39 +0000

Thank you, Arlos, for your post. Very informative.

By: Pete

Pete — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:26:19 +0000

My experience 19 years ago: Had a property in the country, near Lake Oroville, Ca. We had an artesian spring, filling a below ground tank, with a pump, that supplied house water. We had a 5000 gallon above ground tank, that filled from “Irrigation Ditch” water that was not potable, or necessarily reliable. So we drilled a well…which only put out 2.5 gallons per minute. Hardly enough to pump to the house. But it was enough to install a submersible, solar pump arrangement, which could pump all day long into the big tank. Eventually, after one no-rainfall year, the ditch ran dry, and we were happy that our “half-price” well was operational. Just before moving to the city, our septic-tank erupted and we had to replace the dang thing!

Good luck in your endeavors

By: Arlos

Arlos — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:54:09 +0000

Dry composting toilets like Sun Mar are great. The optional power vent requires such low energy consumption that a small solar panel and an inverter with a computer back up battery would most likely be all you need.

By: Susan McReynolds

Susan McReynolds — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:29:48 +0000

At our tiny place we have the extra concern of being in a natural bio-aquifer…we don’t want to discharge any pollutants into the surroundings, but the outhouse hole probably does exactly that every spring thaw. I have heard about poo composter systems but they require kilowatts which we don’t have…there is obviously plenty of water for us to tap into but we want to do so responsibly. We are considering a well but it will be a big expense…I agree consider your water source/septic when you buy your land.

By: Arlos

Arlos — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:35:26 +0000

Grey water comprises about 35% of the total water generated by an average household and is ideal for gardening. With a little more effort it can be cleaned enough for recharging a toilet even further reducing potable water consumption.
We are going to try and exhibit at next years West Coast Green in San Francisco with our combined aerobic digester/ methane digester and collection system/ algea micro farm (to assist cleaning waste water and sequester CO2 from gas burning appliances) before then I hope we can complete a transportable version of this for above ground installations that is ideal for the small house community.
Bigger is not sustainable! After nearly 40 years in the building trades I’ve seen the failure of the entire system during several recessions that only forces people to work harder to pay down debt that they never should have been forced to. This is not how we were meant to live but I digress here. Learn to live simply!!!

By: Mo Skba

Mo Skba — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:30:36 +0000

Great advice so far. Arlos is spot on.

These days it is easier than ever to get information. Many states have Well reports/logs posted online that can be searched by location, number, owner…

The USDA has an excellent soil map that not only describes area soils and rates their suitability for things like septic, roads, basements, agriculture, flooding…

Using these sources will help you determine if that “deal” you are getting is really a good one.