Hi everyone, hope to be comeing out for good,( oh no not another one i here you say)

Been looking at the price of Septic tanks( yellow suba) although the price is not too bad, i'v been looking on the net and found it's not to hard to build  my own. Bloke built one out of 40gall plastic barrels.As we don't have any near neighbours, has anyone built their own, and got any tips. We live on a mountain side with lots of terrace

I looked into the possibility of building a complete sewage system. It is not actually too difficult. There is plenty of information on the net. I am also a qualified biologist specialing in plants and micro-organisms though so had a good background knowledge already. If I can make some suggestions;

DO not just let the outflow go directly onto the land - send it through a reed bed first. Line the reed bed with polythene or fiberglass first to reduce seepage of germs.

Do not build a brick septic tank unless you line the inside with THICK fiberglass and resin because the germs will still seep out into the land if you don't.

Don't send your grey water through it because it will be too wasteful and it will deposit a thick layer of grease and oil on the surface. Send your grey water though a big sand filter - remember depth of sand is equally as important as surface area and include an activated charcoal layer to remove chemicals like detergent, bleach, etc. Your grey water should come out clear ans should be re-useable for flushing toilets, washing clothes, bathing etc. Grey water is deemed to be from washing, bathing, showers, washing machines, washing up etc.

I question why you want a septic tank though. Why not just use a composting toilet? Some of the modern ones look very smart and you end up after a couple of years with rich organic matter for your trees/flowers/bushes etc.

There is a very good book on the market called The Humanure Handbook. here's the link http://humanurehandbook.com/store/THE-HUMANURE-HANDBOOK.html

You can also download it for just over 8 Euros

I would recommend it to all those reading who currently just squat behind a wall or dig a hole! 

There are many suppliers and useful sites- one or two are ....
http://www.separett.eu/
http://www.motherearthnews.com/ask-our-experts/what-are-composting-toilets-zb0z0...http://www.sun-mar.com/prod_self_exce.html

take a look on ebay too. There are a few commercial models on there but it is a doddle to build your own.

Thanks for this.
Phil

Difficult when you've got a slack bladder

I'll look into the compost, not to hard though, my misses has a sensitive nose. Just though a yellow submerine was a bit expensive, when i could do it myself. I'm going to be on Solar so any info in this area would be greatfully recived.

I resectfully disagree with you John as in order to wire even a moderately sized house with extra large cable to run a 12v system would be prohibitely expensive. Also if on the 12volt system as battery power is used up then the voltage supplied wil reduce accordingly, ie 10% of power used , now at 10.8 volts. 15% = 10.2 volts. Very dim lights and probably not enough voltage to run all that you want and very much reduced life in your batteries.
However on a 24 or 48 volt system with proper inverter/ charger, then there is no voltage drop, its 230v all the way.
Also if you need to buy anything else in the way of appliances they are readily available and not at an exhorbitant price.
Try charging a phone , rechargeable batteries, or running security lights or using a bread maker, a food mixer. Do you really want to be starting a generator, (which costs money and pollutes EVERY time you use it) because you want to go on line to look at this forum for example?
Generators cost a lot of money to run. Plus you have to go and get the fuel in the first place, which also costs money.
If you are living here in the campo then solar and wind is the ONLY way to go.
Re Navitron,
I bought one of the first Navitron solar water heating set-ups 7 years ago.
IT IS FANTASTIC.
My 20 tubes produce enough hot water for 4 people all through the summer and enough for one person in the winter. I have invested in a top up gas boiler for the winter months Nov- March which uses very little gas as it only tops up the partially heated water to 80c
Just my opinion on the subject, as I want to live as 'greenly' as possible

We have three different genis(petrol and diesel,3000rpm and 1500rpm)and our washer doesn't like any of them. It comes up with a different error code for each one. It likes the inverter though. So unless you get a basic machine(no digital readouts) you will be handwashing anyway.
Bruixot

Well guys,

I guess I'm the odd one out on the electricity side of things! Although I use one or two 12 volt lights, I do mainly use gas lights - industrial revolution or not! My tv, dvd player , video player, and everything else apart from my washing machine is 12 volts!

My washing machine is a basic 3 year old twin tub working off 240 volts and does need a 850watt generator to run it. I use a twin tub because we are very short of water on our finca and whilst a front loading automatic machine is easier, it uses tons of water we simply don't have.

Looks like my system which works perfectly well for us seems to be not to everyones favour. Still if we were all the same, the world would be boring.