septic tanks are in

The two septic tanks were installed today. The drain pipe from the house empties into the first tank (the one with the two green covers) which has two chambers separated by a baffle. The first chamber does the "heavy lifting" - separating most of the stuff that either floats or sinks from just dirty water. The second chamber (of the first tank) does more of the same and then pipes the dirty water to the other tank which is the pump chamber. From there, it is pumped to the biofilter (previous posting) which purifies it.

These tanks will be completely buried. There will be "risers" installed where there are now only those green covers. The risers will provide access to the 3 chambers in the 2 tanks from above ground.

Connecting these tanks to the biofilter is tomorrow's job.

started septic system installation

The septic system installation started today. In place of a drain field or evaporation mound, we have these 3 partly submerged concrete tanks which are lined with a waterproof membrane, filled with a layer of drain rock, a layer of pea gravel and fnally topped with sand - essentially constructed wetlands. When it's done, the sand will cover the tanks completely - they'll look like small pyramids with the tops cut off and overgrown with vegetation. (These are not what most people usually think of as "the septic tank" - those are next and actually consist of 2 more concrete tanks in the ground next to the house. This is a Glendon biofilter - simpler, better and less expensive than the alternatives - particularly given our soil conditions.)

west end gable

the west end gable has been shingled ... they were straight and level when they were put up, but they must have sagged a bit under the weight of the girders

there will be a window in the middle between the girders