A toilet on the site is the minimum living conditions in a country house or country house. When installing such a structure, the main difficulties arise with the cesspool. It accumulates waste that must be removed during operation.
But even if cleaning is carried out in a timely manner, during the heat the closet will emit unpleasant odors.
All this greatly overshadows the stay on the site. A practical solution could be a country toilet with an odorless pit cesspool. Our review will help you better understand all the design features, choose the right place for installation and choose the optimal toilet model.
Cesspool options
This design is a hole that is dug near the house and where sewage drains. Some of the sewage is processed by bacteria, some settles to the bottom. The other part (liquid) seeps deep into the earth. So, what has settled to the bottom of the pit must be periodically removed so that the sewer structure does not overflow. That is why it is called a cesspool.
Today, pits for a toilet in a cesspool-type country house are not just depressions dug in the ground. A large number of modern options for constructing cesspools are offered, using different building materials or finished products. As an example, concrete rings, tanks built from bricks or concrete blocks, ready-made plastic or metal containers, even rubber tires from cars.
Monolithic cesspool for toilet Source reloky.sezyrokina.ru.net
Let's look at some designs using various materials and products. But let’s first outline one point.
It is important to accurately determine the location of the cesspool.
- The minimum distance to the foundation of the house is 5 m.
- To drinking wells or boreholes - 30 m.
- 5 m to neighbor's fence.
- The best option is closer to the road, if the disposal of sewage waste will be carried out by a sewer truck. Or you will have to build a road to the pit.
The simplest version of a cesspool is a depression in the ground, over which a wooden house is installed. After filling the recess, the house is moved to another place, where a hole is also dug. And the used one is simply buried. After a year, the sewage turns into excellent humus. Trees grow well in this place.
The option is actually simple, but it is not suitable for a large country house. Still, I want to live well, enjoying the fruits of civilization. This means that at the dacha it is better to make a good, large hole so that wastewater not only from the toilet, but from the bathroom and kitchen flows into it.
Collection of toilet sewage with a filter layer Source mastergrad.com
See also: Catalog of companies that specialize in water supply and sewerage.
Calculation of the volume of a country cesspool
The difficulty of operating sewerage structures of this type lies in the fact that all sewage leaving the dacha is collected in a pit and is practically not disposed of independently, as happens in septic tanks. Therefore, there is no volume calculation as such.
Dacha owners decide for themselves what size the hole will be dug. The bigger, the better. You will have to pump out less often. Optimally – 2 m³ per person. For example, if 3 people permanently live at the dacha in the summer, then you will have to build a pit with a volume of 6 m³. Although this is not a strict parameter.
Pit made of reinforced concrete rings
Let's move on to considering the construction of pits from different materials. So, a sewer cesspool made of reinforced concrete rings for a toilet in a country house. It should be noted right away that installation of concrete products will require a crane, which will increase the cost of the project. But this design has a fairly long service life, almost eternal.
Cesspool made of reinforced concrete rings Source musorish.ru
Here is the sequence of construction operations:
- Dig a pit at a depth above the groundwater level.
- Its bottom is leveled and covered with sand 10-20 cm thick, which is compacted.
- A reinforced concrete pancake is placed on the prepared cushion using a crane, which is purchased as a separate additional element to the concrete rings.
- The reinforced concrete rings themselves are stacked on top of each other on the bottom.
- A concrete cover with a hatch is installed on top.
- The outer surfaces of the rings are treated with bitumen mastic or hot bitumen. This is waterproofing that will extend the service life of reinforced concrete products. It is optimal to do this not on the assembled structure, but to process each element separately before installation.
- The gap between the rings and the walls of the pit is filled with soil.
- The joints between structural elements are covered from the inside with a waterproofing compound, for example, Betonkontakt.
- A plastic pipe is installed on the lid as exhaust ventilation.
A toilet for a dacha made of concrete rings is assembled in one day. This is one of the main positive characteristics of a sewerage structure of this type.
Toilet for a summer residence without odor and pumping: three possible solutions
There are three possible options for building a toilet without the need for pumping. All of them are fundamentally different in terms of final cost, feasibility in connection with the time of residence on the site and dacha conditions, so before making a choice, carefully study the description of all solutions.
Pay attention to the criteria for choosing a closet
Peat dry toilet for a summer residence
This option is optimal for a number of reasons. Firstly, this is the cheapest solution, for which you do not need to build any complex structures. Secondly, by processing human waste, dry closets produce excellent fertilizer for the soil for planting a variety of plants. Thirdly, this solution does not take up much space, and for its proper and effective operation you will only need special peat, which you can easily purchase at any hardware store.
The main advantage of a peat toilet is that it only needs to be cleaned once a month, even with active regular use.
As mentioned earlier, all presented options have their own installation nuances. In the case of a peat closet, they are as follows:
- The optimal place for arranging such a toilet would be an ordinary utility block. This will solve the problem of unpleasant odor.
- In order to eliminate absolutely all the liquid, it is necessary to create a drainage system, and if the toilet is located in the house, connect a hose to it.
Thus, installing a peat dry closet for a summer residence will solve a number of problems and troubles associated with the arrangement of a bathroom.
Important! The main condition for the absence of an unpleasant odor in any of the options is a carefully thought out and equipped ventilation system. Forced ventilation will provide an influx of fresh air, so the aromas will not stagnate.
The peat toilet is good in many ways due to its low price and ease of installation
Concrete or plastic septic tanks
This option is a whole specially equipped system that is designed for collecting and purifying liquids and waste. At each stage, the liquid is purified using different components, which eliminates the possibility of harmful substances entering the soil. The principle of its operation is quite simple and consists in the gradual purification of liquids in sections, and then final filtration on the field.
Approximate layout of septic tanks on the site
Advanced modern designs
Such toilets for summer cottages without odor and pumping are improved and improved septic tanks, with a higher level of cleaning. The most commonly used options are:
- Ultrafiltration septic tanks allow liquid to be purified to such an extent that its reuse becomes possible. In addition, the big advantage of this method is that it does not use any harmful chemicals.
- Ion exchange devices allow you to purify water to the desired condition and make it much softer than before purification;
This is the look of one of the modern versions of septic tanks
- Electrochemical designs make it possible to purify water using special reactions;
- Membrane osmosis is the most modern type of liquid purification, and allows you to purify water to a distilled state. This becomes possible thanks to special membranes, through which water molecules are purified from all kinds of impurities that are dangerous to human health, such as mercury or chlorine.
This is what an advanced cleaning system looks like
Video description
How to build a well from reinforced concrete blocks is shown in the video:
See also: Catalog of small-form projects presented at the Low-Rise Country exhibition.
Pit made of bricks or concrete blocks
Cesspools assembled from piece building materials are no longer practically used in suburban construction, as they are obsolete and cannot compete in quality and long-term operation with those assembled from reinforced concrete rings. In addition, such structures take a very long time to build - if you plan to lay a large pit, this may take a month or more.
The only plus is that the structure can be round in cross-section or rectangular. However, this is not its distinctive feature.
When constructing a brick cesspool, the sequence of operations performed will be as follows.
- A pit is dug, the bottom of which is covered with sand and crushed stone 30 cm thick.
- Formwork made of boards 100 mm wide is installed around the perimeter.
- A mesh of reinforcement is laid inside.
- Concrete solution is poured.
- After the bottom has dried, which can last 20-30 days, they begin laying the walls of the pit with a band of elements.
- After raising the walls, a cover is installed on top: concrete, metal or wood. A hole must be made in it for installing a ventilation pipe, as well as a hatch for pumping out sewage.
Pit for a brick toilet Source mos24.ru
Barrel pit
A cesspool for a toilet in a country house made from a barrel is an old, long-used option. For this purpose, previously used metal barrels with a capacity of 200 liters were used. They were simply installed one on top of the other, cutting out the bottoms. The bottom was left at the bottom of the barrel, and the lid at the top. They were connected to each other by electric welding.
A good and cheap option, but with a short service life. The thin metal of the barrels quickly succumbed to corrosion, holes appeared in them, through which sewage entered the ground, polluting it.
From iron barrels Source in4o.ru
How to choose a septic tank for your dacha: practical recommendations
The choice of a septic tank should be approached more than responsibly. Be sure to read the selection rules, as they will provide you with reliable and durable results.
Without following some rules, you won’t be able to create a quality closet.
- First of all, conduct a special examination or find out from the neighbors on the site what the depth of groundwater is. It is this factor that will determine whether it will be possible to install filtration fields or whether it will be necessary to buy a closed depth filter.
- Calculate the approximate daily amount of waste that goes into the tank. Based on these calculations, select a volume that will allow you not to clean the container every week.
- Be sure to take into account the season of your residence at the dacha, since many structures do not tolerate frost.
Helpful advice! If you do not live in a country house in winter, then choose frost-resistant options, otherwise the bacteria inside the container will die and will no longer be able to serve the toilet.
In order to avoid freezing of the septic tank in winter, it can be insulated with special material.
Thus, the choice of a septic tank for a dacha is a crucial moment on which all further operation of the closet will depend.
A properly selected septic tank will save you from problems in the future.
Related article:
The best dry closets for the home. Prices and reviews. Read an overview of popular models, characteristics, prices and reviews in a special publication on our portal.
Features of operation
If the sewerage structure is done correctly, then there will be no problems with its operation. The main problem is pumping out sewage. There are three options here:
- the old grandfather's method - rope and bucket;
- fecal pump and container;
- sewerage machine.
Today you can increase the pumping frequency. To do this, dry bacteria are poured into the pit. They come to life in a humid environment and actively process organic matter, leaving activated sludge at the bottom, which is a good fertilizer for plants. But, as practice shows, over the years, fat deposits increase on the walls and bottom of the sewer structure, reducing its volume. Even bacteria can't cope with them. There is only one way out - to clean the pit manually by letting a person inside.
Cleaning the cesspool Source misanec.ru
Cost of work
The question of how much it costs to build a toilet in a country house with a cesspool is no less relevant today than it was several years ago. An economical option for a summer house, which is used only in the warm season, the optimal solution.
Today, many companies present a service - installing a turnkey toilet in a country house. They offer several options, in which they mainly use plastic containers as a cesspool. The price varies depending on the volume of the barrel, the size of the toilet itself, the finishing and other things. For example, a wooden house measuring 1x1.2x2.2 m and a barrel with a volume of 1 m³ costs 25,000 rubles.
Where to place the toilet on the site
When designing a cesspool for a country toilet, you should carefully approach the issue of choosing a place for it in the garden. First of all, measurements are carried out in accordance with the requirements of SNiP 2.04.03-85 “Sewerage. External networks and structures" (in particular, you are interested in table No. 1; further we will provide figures based on it).
The cesspool must be located at a distance of at least 8 m from your own residential building and at least 10 m from neighboring ones. You need to retreat at least 20 m from the centralized water supply, and at least 5 m from the gas supply pipes. The distance from the fence with the neighboring plot should be at least 1 m, and from outbuildings and fruit trees - at least 5 m.
Before starting excavation work, a drawing of the site and neighboring buildings is drawn up. The location for the future pit is selected taking into account the above standards, after which the selected point from the diagram is marked on the territory.
In some cases (when the site is located next to an open reservoir), the placement of a cesspool should be coordinated with the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision and environmental authorities.
Also, before digging a pit, you should find out the location of groundwater in the area. It is especially important to carry out this activity if you plan to install a container with natural filtration of waste into the soil. The lower part of such a well should not cross the groundwater level.
