Author Topic: Winter in Northern California  (Read 6118 times)

mikenash

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #15 on: January 07, 2019, 08:37:27 AM »
Shower water is a good candidate too - especially if one has teenage daughters - as there is so much of it.  If the shower waste comes through the wall in a 40mm or 32mm pvc pipe & elbow to a gully trap it's easy to divert, depending on elevation above a lawn or garden . . .

ajaffa1

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #16 on: January 07, 2019, 11:51:46 AM »
Hi Glort, I too live on a property with a septic tank. The very first thing I did when I moved here was to divert gray water from showers, basins and sinks away from the septic tank. That grey water now keeps the grass green.

The biggest problem with our septic system is that the soak away meets the regulations regarding the rate of fall from the tank. Consequently, in a storm event the water flowing through the paddock, will back fill the septic tank. We then get bad smells until the ground dries out and the soak away starts working again. I have seen it so bad that raw sewage is running down the hill into the creek, but this is Australia where the rules out way good practice and common sense.

Where we live is the water catchment area for Grafton and Coffs Harbour, so the council are for ever sending out inspectors to check our sewerage arrangements. They can`t get to where I live when there has been heavy rain so they have no idea how much sh1t gets washed into the rivers and gets drunk by the residents down stream. I could never understand why it was OK for cattle, pigs, chickens, kangaroos, dogs and etc to sh1t in the catchment area but human waste had to be treated. I recently had a conversation with a local Ranger who told me that the inspector is n`t interested in my septic tank, he just wants an opportunity to come on my property and have a look for any improvements I may have made which would allow the council to jack up my council tax!  Sounds about right to me, I`ve been illegally using grey water for six or seven years and the inspector has never noticed, too busy taking photos of my house and shed to inspect anything.

About 30 Km from here there is a small town called Coutts Crossing, there is a water purification plant which feeds Grafton and also a sewerage treatment plant.  After heavy rainfall events, these facilities are under many meters of water, the sewage and drinking water wash out into the local river and run out to sea. Once the flood water resides they quickly start pumping drinking water to Grafton, despite the fact that it is contaminated with the river water and the effluent from the sewage plant. As far as I am aware we have never had any outbreaks of cholera, typhoid or other water born infections.

Next time that I get a letter telling me the council would like to inspect my sewerage facilities, I might just lock the gate and tell the useless snooping b*stards to go f*ck themselves.

Rant over,
Bob

BruceM

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #17 on: January 07, 2019, 03:51:21 PM »
That sure is an interesting approach to water treatment, Bob.  Chlorine is used to cover a lot of sins, but it's hard to imagine that there isn't a serious public health cost to such incompetence.

I found one local small town water supply that had been dripping motor oil into the deep well and pump to lubricate, but the EPA inspector told them no petro oil, it causes colon cancer. They had a 50 gallon barrel feeding the drip. They switched to white mineral oil; no one told them that white mineral oil is the same.

Humans baffle me.



ajaffa1

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #18 on: January 07, 2019, 11:57:59 PM »
Hi Glort, when I was working in the UK construction industry we used to fit glass fiber septic tanks made by a company called Klargester (see photo). These were set in the ground and then surrounded with concrete, the trick was to fill them with water BEFORE back filling with concrete. I saw one crew forget this step and the tank launched itself out of the ground like a ballistic missile, still makes me laugh just thinking about it.

Bob

ajaffa1

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #19 on: January 08, 2019, 10:21:33 AM »
Hi Glort, down at the canoe center we have a lot of aeration pumps and a lot of septic tanks, some of which only run during peak season. I have found that the better quality reciprocating pumps will last for years while the cheaper units will only last a year or two. The difference between them is that spares are available for the better units while the cheap Chinese units are a use then throw away unit.
I`ll have a chat with the service guys and see if they have any recommendations. All of these units are lubricant free to protect environmental water, they rely on PTFE wearing surfaces. In the past I have found that a small squirt of silicone based furniture polish can extend their life considerably.

Bob

veggie

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #20 on: January 08, 2019, 05:36:18 PM »
If you want to burn off excess solar (or use some extra battery capacity) just screw one of these into a small hot water heater.
They have a built-in DC adjustable thermostat. No fancy wiring needed. Turns itself on/off.
Note that they are available in a 700 watt/48 volt size also.

I have a 600 watt, 12 volt version that I intend to install soon.

http://mwands.com/store/adjustable-water-heating-element?filter=1



« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 05:41:44 PM by veggie »
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veggie

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #21 on: January 08, 2019, 05:37:17 PM »

Mike,

How did you make out with the storm than hit?
Did the ROID do it's job ?

Veggie
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mike90045

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #22 on: January 09, 2019, 08:04:08 AM »
Storm is here now, and for 1 more day.  Then we get a break of 1 day and 3 more days of rain.

Roads are closing from downed trees, and water ponding in the driveway.  We cut down our leaning trees in the fall, so we should be OK.  3 years ago, a big tree fell just inside the gate, took half a day with the tractor and 30" saw to get the driveway clear.
 The Listeroid can keep the batteries up with about 3 hours run time (8kwh generation) daily

LowGear

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #23 on: January 10, 2019, 11:15:21 AM »
Really interesting reading about the waste systems.  We're on a cesspool system.  It's about 40 years old and still doing fine - I hope.  We're in a very rural area that has mostly 5 acre parcels (about 2.5 acres to a hectare).  That's coming to a close by my brother and sister do-gooders.  Septic tanks are now OK but the super duper septic treatment systems are soon to be the standard.  Our county has no real control or regulation of herbicides but crap in a hole and you'd think we'd poisoned the land for generations to come.  The county sprays the roads with plant killer twice a year but take a piss outside and you're flirting with criminal prosecution.

I'd probably go the grey water way if I didn't have concrete slab floors.  If I were to build new I'd most certainly have an easy modification system ready for the day after permit inspection celebrations.

Say what you might about the human poo for fertilizers some of the longest living societies on the planet do put poo on their veggies. 

Chlorine is feared less than algae.  We are so foolish.  A great weapon against disease but we need not be at war every day.  I often tell visitors that algae means the water is healthy enough to support life and the reactions should be recorded.

One of our mantras:  If you can't sell it or eat it then don't plant it.

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mike90045

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Re: Winter in Northern California
« Reply #24 on: January 10, 2019, 09:04:39 PM »
We have a conventional (non powered) 2 chamber septic system with conventional leach field.

We have some gray water from the shower that we use in summer,  but winter, it goes to the septic system.