How to Build a Sewage System in Your Home from Scratch

Building a sewage system in your home from scratch can be done with very little difficulty. If you want to build a sewage treatment facility, there are a few things that need to be done before you can get started.

1, Decide on the Type of Sewage Treatment Facility

AAA Sewer Service explains that when you are working on how to build a sewage treatment facility in your home, you should also consider the type of treatment you are going to put into the sewage first. Do you want to use a natural method of sewage treatment? Or are you going to use a chemical method? There are many different chemicals to choose from that you can choose from when you are looking at how to build a sewage treatment facility in your home.

If you decide to use a closed-loop system, you will need to install a sewage treatment plant at the point where the sewage enters your house. The entire line then becomes your sewage treatment system. Of course, there is nothing wrong with a single-loop system as well, but it does tend to take more room.

2, Ensure Safe and Secure Installation

As you are building your sewage treatment facility in your home, you also need to make sure that it is built securely and safely. In particular, if you are going to use a chemical treatment system, you need to make sure that the chemicals do not escape and spill or leak into your home. This is something that happens frequently and could even be fatal if you do not know how to deal with it properly.

Here are some tips to ensure safe and secure sewage construction:

• Trenches and Excavations: Make sure that trenches are adequately supported. They must be free from tree roots and boulders. Remove muddy ground, soft areas, and water in the trench base. The trench should be protected from trips, slips, falls, and site traffic. If the ground condition is unsuitable for manhole construction and pipe laying, consult an engineer to design a solution.
• Construction Materials: Make sure that all construction materials you will be using must comply with the standards of the water industry in your local area. All construction materials must be handled with care. Store them safely according to the recommendations of the manufacturer.

3, Dig Sewers and Clear Area Away of Garbage and Debris

The first step in building a sewage treatment facility is to dig a trench that can accommodate the number of sewage pipes needed. The trench may also need to be dug at a different depth than the existing pipes.

Clear away all the garbage and debris that accumulates there every day. It will take some time to get this all cleaned out. Once this has been done, you can then begin the process of building your sewage treatment plant.

4, Lay Down the Pipes

The pipes should be laid out as closely as possible to parallel, but not perfectly parallel, the existing lines. The purpose of this step is to minimize the amount of underground space that needs to be excavated.

When these pipes are set into the soil, the trench is filled and the trench drain is connected. This process begins the construction of a drain field, which is responsible for transporting the sewage to a sewer line or to an appropriate septic tank.

5, Drain Field Installation

Drain fields are designed to discharge sewage into an appropriate septic tank or to prevent it from backing up into the water table. Once the sewage is discharged into the drains, it must be aerated and then pumped out of the facility. This helps to prevent bacteria from breeding in the wastewater, which leads to the development of sewer problems.

The installation of septic tanks can also be considered as one of the steps in building a sewage treatment facility. This is especially important if there are multiple septic tanks located near a single house.

Regular inspections must be conducted on septic tanks. If these tanks are found to be full of materials that can affect the environment, they may need to be emptied or disposed of. The owner of the property will have to apply for a permit from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) before starting with the process of emptying the tanks.

6, Addition of a Pump

In addition to sewage handling, other steps in building a sewage treatment facility may include the addition of a pump to move waste water out of the site. It is essential for all facilities to have their own water pump system. This helps to reduce the risk of septic tanks from overflowing and backs up into the ground. This helps reduce the risk of flooding at the sewage treatment facility.

7. Manhole Construction

Manholes must be constructed where there’s a change of gradient or direction or where access is needed for maintenance purposes. These direction changes must be made not be hidden by benching or outside the manhole but within the channel.

Here are some expert manhole construction tips:

• Positioning: Manholes are best positioned half a meter away from curb lines with the manhole cover preferably positioned away from the traffic’s wheel line.
• Sizing: When it comes to the size of the manhole chamber, the base should be sized properly to accommodate the lateral connection channels and main channel. Provide a minimum landing area of 600 x 600 square millimeters beneath the ladder or step rungs or for the main channels up to 375 millimeters.
• Manhole Base and Manhole Channel Construction: Make sure that the base of the manhole is 225 millimeters deep to the channel’s barrel. The concrete shouldn’t be dry mix to avoid ingress of ground water. Also, the concrete must be compacted to remove entrained air and voids.

9, Pipe Laying and Jointing

Pipes must be laid in three meters maximum lengths with the joints. They should be ‘pushed home’ into the sockets. Make sure that the pipe jointing seals have no grit or silt which usually causes failure of the pipe length in air testing.

Check the following pipe laying and jointing tips:

• Regular Testing: Sewers must be air tested regularly in intervals as the pipes are laid. Keep in mind that pipes must be cleanly cut. They should be free from defects. Also, pipes must be laid without dips and back fall.
• Avoid Pipe Back Laying: Avoid back laying of pipes because level errors may occur that may later require corrective measures.
• Backfilling: When it comes to backfilling the pipes, they should be properly backfilled and compacted in 150-millimeter layers to 300 millimeters above the pipe crown. During compaction, be careful so that the sewer stays in good level. Backfilling the pipes must be adjacent to manhole chambers. It will prevent rocker pipes from being pushed down against the stub pipes.

9, Make Sure Your Sewage System is Properly Sealed

In particular, you will need to make sure that your system is properly sealed off and protected from potential leaks and other problems that could arise. You do not want to have any problems like this because the sewage system could get damaged, which would then cause serious harm to the environment and to yourself.

Rainwater runoff is one of the main reasons why sewer lines are overflowing. This type of water can contain bacteria and other types of pollutants that can cause serious health concerns. If you live in an area that is prone to flooding, then it is a good idea to try and prevent this from happening. This can be done by sealing your sewage system.

Here are some rehabilitation or sewage sealing methods to control sewer infiltration:

• Chemical Grouting: It refers to a soil sealing process utilizing a two-part liquid chemical grout. This grout solidifies after curing, wherein it is applied to leaking joints under pressure. Chemical grouting is also used to rehabilitate small cracks and leaking laterals.
• Cured-in-place or CIPP Lining: CIPP lining refers to applying an internal liner through insertion of a resin-impregnated felt tube into the sewer. This liner is expanded against the existing pipe’s inner wall and then allowed to cure.
• Slip Lining: This sewage sealing method involves having an access pit adjacently excavated to an existing sewer. A smaller diameter liner pipe is slid into the already existing pipe, creating a continuous and watertight liner in between the two manholes.
• Fold and Form Liner: It is a sewage system rehabilitation method that uses a folded thermoplastic pipe pulled into place. It uses air, steam, and heat, forming a pressure in order to conform to the existing pipe’s internal diameter.
• Pipe Bursting: It involves an access pit that is excavated to an existing sewer, wherein the pipe is broken outward through an expansion tool.

10, Take Important Plumbing Things into Consideration

There are also a number of things that you need to keep in mind if you are working on how to build a sewage treatment facility in your home from scratch. The biggest issue is that your home may not be equipped to handle the chemicals that you are going to be putting into it. In addition, the chemicals may be too strong and therefore cause damage to your home and the environment in general.

Check the following things you have to consider when building a sewage system from scratch:

• Make Sure You Have the Right Equipment: You will also need to make sure that you get the correct equipment. There are some expensive items such as high-tech equipment that you will have to purchase if you are going to get the most out of your system.
• Ensure Proper Training: Remember, in order to effectively handle any sewage treatment facility that you are going to have in your home, you will need to make sure that you have proper training. It is crucial to have the right knowledge and skills in sewage installation to properly set the treatment in place and make sure that it is working correctly.

11, Connections

Connections can be made based on the number of properties served by the sewer or drain and the main public sewer diameter. Connections for your sewage system can be made into the following:

• An already existing public sewer manhole.
• A newly constructed manhole on the public sewer.
• Through installation of a pre-formed oblique junction using proprietary couplings.
• Core-drilling the pipe barrel at 2 or 10 o’clock followed by the installation of a proprietary saddle fitting.
• Installing of oblique preformed junctions using proprietary couplings. Existing sewer openings must be accurately cut. It must be free from rough edges. Make sure that the installed fitting is aligned properly to the existing sewer.
• All saddle connections should be core-drilled. Keep in mind that forming openings with the use of circular cutting wheels may weaken the pipe and cause structural defects. For pipes with less than 450 millimeters diameter, use oblique saddle fittings. All connections must use proprietary saddle fittings. The diameter of the internal saddle fitting should not be greater than one-third of the internal diameter of the main sewer.

12, Test the Sewage System

Sewers up to 750 millimeters diameter should undergo either air or water testing. For air testing, the ideal result is that the sewer must be able to hold a head from 100 millimeters to a minimum of 75 millimeters for five minutes once the pressure is stabilized.

For water testing, fill the sewer with water. With this amount of water, it will provide 1.2 – 6 meters head of water above the pipes’ soffit at the maximum point. After two hours, add water at five-minute intervals to allow absorption. Make sure to record the volume of water needed to keep the water at the initial level. The water loss rate should not exceed 0.5 liters per 30 minutes or per meter diameter.

Conclusion

You’re all set to build a sewage system from scratch. Just follow the above steps and you’ll be fully guided accordingly. By ensuring a clear trench, proper laying of pipes, installation of drains and pump, and sealing the sewage system properly, you’ll come up with a durable and functional sewage system for many years.