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Chamber type Gravelless Septic System Designs InspectAPedia®  -

• Chamber type gravelless or no rock septic fields - product description, operating characteristics
• No-rock or chamber septic drainfield product descriptions, sources

This chapter discusses determination of a chamber type gravelless or "no gravel" or "no rock" septic drainfield systems, offering installation specifications. Drainfields, also called leach fields, absorption beds, soil absorption systems, and leaching beds, perform the functions of septic effluent treatment and disposal in onsite wastewater treatment systems, conventionally called "septic systems".

Gravelless septic systems or "no gravel" septic system trenches use plastic or other prefabricated wastewater distribution systems which are buried in soil without the use of surrounding gravel.

Typical gravelless septic systems use a plastic chamber, a geotextile-wrapped pipe, or a polystyrene-wrapped pipe to distribute effluent into the soil. The necessary soil absorption area is provided by the perforated surface of the gravelless septic system components (or by soil at the bottom of a chamber) themselves rather than by the gravel and trench walls of a conventional septic drainfield.

Gravelless or "no rock" septic systems can provide an acceptable effluent disposal system for sites with limited space for a drainfield or where gravel is not available or is quite expensive.

Advanced septic treatment methods are discussed in separate chapters. Citation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Use of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for sale is reserved to the author.

Technical review by industry experts has been performed and is ongoing - reviewers welcomed and are listed at "References." This document is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Gravelless Systems - Gravelless Septic Absorption Systems

There are three typical gravel-less effluent disposal systems in current use and shown in the US EPA sketches below (originally from NSFC) and I describe a fourth variation which is provided by some manufacturers:

Here we describe the third type, chamber septic systems for effluent disposal.

Use of Chamber Systems for Wastewater Treatment and Disposal

Use of Vertical Thin Wall Chambers for Wastewater Treatment and Disposal

4. Vertical thin wall chambers: A fourth variation on gravelless effluent disposal systems is similar to the chamber system (#3 above), but uses pre-formed but thin plastic "chambers" which are inserted into a narrow slot cut into the soil; these systems diffuse effluent primarily through their sides into the soil.

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• Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.
• Crumpler Plastic Pipe, Inc. Crumpler provides fabric-wrapped drainage piping 800-334-5071 Roseboro NC USA - "No-Rock TM Septic-Leachate drainpipe systems" are available in 8" and 10" systems.
• Jeff Pildis, Technical Service & Support, Infiltrator Systems, Inc. 800-718-2754
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SEPTIC DESIGN ALTERNATIVES
  AEROBIC SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  ALTERNATING BED SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  CESSPOOLS
  DRYWELLS
  SEPTIC EFFLUENT DISINFECTION SYSTEMS
  EVAPORATION-TRANSPIRATION SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  FIXED-FILM PROCESS SEPTIC SYSTEMS

  GRAVELLESS SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  Polystyrene-wrapped perforated pipe
  Geotextile-Wrapped Perforated Pipe
  Chamber Systems
  Site Requirements / Design Criteria
  Construction Details
  Life Expectancy of No Rock Septic Designs
  Installation Cost of No Rock Septics
  Gravelless Septic Product Sources

  LAGOON SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  MEDIA FILTER SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  SEPTIC & GREYWATER FILTERS
  SEQUENCING BATCH SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  MOUND SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  RAISED BED SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  SAND BED SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEMS
  TOILET ALTERNATIVES
  VEGETATED SUBMERGED SEPTIC BEDS
  WETLAND SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  ALTERNATIVE SEPTIC DESIGNERS
  ALTERNATIVE SEPTIC PRODUCTS

More Reading:

SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN BASICS
How Big Should the Leach Field Be? includes a practical example using sample calculations and a table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
Design Basics for Septic Systems: Choosing Septic Tank Size, Leach Field Size - basic septic system volume and absorption system design guides.
Components of a Septic System- the Basic Parts of a Conventional Septic Tank and Leachfield, a chapter in the Home Buyers Guide to Septic Systems
Sketches of the Septic System Components Private Sewage Disposal Systems - Septic Drawing Library
Cesspools for more in-depth information about those systems.
Drywells for more in-depth information about those systems.]
SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN ALTERNATIVES
(1) (2) (3) (4) APPENDIX 75-A to Public Health Law, 201(1)(1) NEW YORK STATE WASTEWATER TREATMENT STANDARDS - INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLD SEPTIC SYSTEMS. Portions of the text of this web page (using paragraphs identified by parenthetical numbers (1)-(4)) are quoted from this document, expanded with edits and additions by this author
"Gravelless Drainfields, Recommended Standards and Guidance for Performance, Application, Design and Operation & Maintenance", Washington State Department of Health, an MS Word .doc file available at: www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/ts/WW/Gravelless2004.doc

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems
• Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
• Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow, calculating required septic tank size, calculating septic tank volume from size measurements
• How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
• Septic System Drainfield Absorption System Biomat Formation - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Table of Required Septic & Well Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.

Pennsylvania State Fact Sheets relating to domestic wastewater treatment systems include

• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-162, The Soil Media and the Percolation Test
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-l64, Mound Systems for Wastewater Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-165, Septic Tank-Soil Absorption Systems
• Document Sources used for this web page include but are not limited to: Agricultural Fact Sheet #SW-161 "Septic Tank Pumping," by Paul D. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin. Penn State College of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension, edited and annotated by Dan Friedman (Thanks: to Bob Mackey for proofreading the original source material.)

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