FREE Shipping on all orders - click for Home Page
|
|
FREE Shipping on all orders - click for Home Page
|
If you are serious about saving energy in your home, one of the fastest, easiest, and most cost effective fixes is to divert rainwater AWAY from your foundation to a drywell. Gutter downspouts that allow rainwater to soak the soil around your house do nothing but STEAL energy ... in huge quantities summer and winter alike. Our two foot diameter by two foot tall (plus five inch high lid), heavy-duty, recycled, high density polyethylene HDPE drywells come shipped in a handy thirty pound carrying case (26" x 10" x 26"), ready for on-site assembly. Groundwater problems, roof gutter water runoff, puddles in the yard, and other household drainage problems find a solution with our drywell kit. The key to a warm, waterproof basement is taking roof gutter runoff at least 20 feet away from the foundation to be disposed of in a leaching pit (one per gutter is best). Poolside showers and BBQ area hand sink water disposal is another good application for our drywell kit. For those on septic systems, understand that water softener backwash brine is not good for your septic tank and neither is washing machine water - run them to a separate drywell leaching pit for better septic tank health. Disposing of washing machine water is a common application for the drywell kits. If you have a proper lint filter on the machine, it is possible to install a single kit, but installing two in series (as per diagram below) allows the first to act as lint & sediment trap. Installations with a lot of lint and additional sediment from other sinks should consider a full greywater system with actual settling tank. If your washing machine is not currently outfitted with a lint filter, check with manufacturer to see if one can be retrofitted. Most manufacturers can provide a removable center spindle lint filter for your washing machine that is an optional part (folks on city sewer often just send lint down the drain). At some point down the road you will need to send a vet vacuum hose down into the drywell to remove built-up lint, but that could take many years with a functional lint filter on the washing machine.
|
Drywell/springbox kits are 24 inches in diameter, 28.75 inches in height (with lid), and weigh 23 pounds apiece. Knockouts are provided around the drywell for nine - 4 inch pipes and fifty four - 1.25 inch diameter knockouts for leaching holes. When used as a leaching pit (drainage "leach" field), initial surge volume is 48.6 gallons with a daily capacity relative to how much gravel is placed under and around it (about 200 gallons per day, every day, in most soils with 1 foot of gravel under and around it). You do need more drywells for more water disposal capacity (one or two in a pit is usually plenty) - what you normally need is a bigger hole with more gravel in it. |
|
In populated areas, storm water regulations often apply to any project disturbing more than an acre of Earth.
Construction site runoff sediment control can be addressed with drywells, as pictured above.
Storm water is directed through a series of drywells for construction site sediment containment (erosion control).
Discharge is effectively cleaned/filtered of larger particles before entering the street, thus protecting local storm sewers, ditches and gutters.
|
|
Here's a sample installation with TWO drywells in series - bringing storm water in through the lid. The first drywell acts as a sediment catch for leaves, salt, grease, lint, or other particulates and is easily cleaned by reaching down through surface vent with a wet vacuum. Venting your leaching pit is most highly recommended to allow inspection, cleaning and most important of all - air into leaching pit. Oxygen keeps the storm water drainage pit dry and the soil around it much healthier; stagnant soil will go septic and create a dense bio-mat preventing water from being able to percolate into the surrounding ground. Freezing is rarely, if ever, a problem with running water, especially that far underground. You can always cap the vents in deep winter, if need be. Top loading (sending water into drywell through lid with enclosed kit venting parts) also ensures maximum surge capacity for the drywell. We provide all of the fittings pictured with your kit (san tee, riser, coupler, vent and geotextile fabric). Please note the geotextile fabric is included for installation primarily above the gravel layer. This is necessary to extend the life of your leach field as the fabric keeps topsoil out of your gravel layer around the drywell.
|
Heavy-duty, recycled, high density polyethylene HDPE plastic leach pit kits come shipped in a handy carrying case ready for on-site assembly. Drywell kits are 24 inches in diameter, 28.75 inches in height (24" without lid), and weigh 23 pounds apiece. Knockouts are provided for nine - 4 inch pipes and fifty four - 1.25 inch diameter leaching holes. Initial surge is 50 gallons, but the capacity is only limited by the size of the leaching pit (dig a larger hole and add more gravel). Three interlocking side panels, heavy duty lid, FREE sanitary tee fitting for bringing liquid into the lid, FREE coupler, riser, and surface vent grate, FREE geotextile filter fabric to keep soil from entering the gravel layer around your drywell and FREE SHIPPING via UPS Ground to the lower 48 states. |
Residential home sewage system (septic) leach fields, roof gutter runoff, driveway and yard drainage are common application for drywell kits. As pictured below, units can be stacked to increase the amount of surge potential for storm or sewage water disposal. Generally speaking, the "capacity" of a drywell system is only limited by the size of the gravel filled hole you put it in (leaching pit). The drywell itself is about fifty gallons dry (surge potential), but this quickly disperses into the surrounding leach pit. Your local building department sets the equations (code) used to determine leach pit size for septic systems and yard drainage. With gutter and downspout disposal, a two inch rainfall is the standard normally used, but that will naturally vary with local weather patterns. Two inches of rain equates to 1.25 gallons per square foot of roof surface area (1 gallon being 231 cubic inches, 1 cubic foot (1728 cubic inches) being 7.48 gallons). A 1000 square foot roof, generating about 1250 gallons of water in a two inch rainfall, would, as a very general rule of thumb, require a gravel filled hole (leaching pit) large enough to hold that amount of water when empty. Certainly knowing the actual percolation rate of the soil is the only way of being certain, but a 4' by 4' by 12' long leach pit can be estimated to disperse about 1250 gallons of rainwater in most soils. A hole this size could use at least 100 gallons of surge (2 drywells) - more in slower percolating soils where you may wish to stack them, as pictured below.
Our leaching pit kits are excellent for new septic systems, adding on to one that is too small, or repairing a failed pipe-in-gravel leach field.
If you have a failing leach field, there truly is nothing permanent you can do to repair it unless you add additional leach line or drywell pits.
Please dont believe those ads for "all natural, biodegradable, miracle cures" - at best you buy a couple of months, at worst you pollute the groundwater and kill local soil organisms with such additives.
Septic waste digesters are generally too little, too late and schemes to punch holes in your yard to cure the problem are just that - schemes to take your money.
Filling the lateral lines with pressurized hydrogen peroxide (available from any swimming pool supply store) is the best/only low-impact (money and environment) temporary fix.
Basically, you dig down to find line going from septic tank to leach field, cut into it and run a pipe up to the surface.
This pipe later becomes the leach field vent for front of lateral line(s), which is a very important part of any septic system ... always vent or soil gets deprived of oxygen and bio-mat forms.
Pour a 50 gallon drum of hydrogen peroxide into the pipe and then pressurize the lines, filling voids (after running out of peroxide) with water (attach a fitting to bring down to hose size).
Mind you, if the field is vented like it is supposed to be, you will need to cap any vent risers to allow system to pressurize.
The hydrogen peroxide will bubble up like it does on a cut, loosening the bio-mat in gravel/soil, allowing it to percolate again.
After it has set for a day, or so, remove the cap(s) from end of lateral line(s) and blast the accumulated bio-mat out of the leach field.
Careful now, this is a nasty job and best left to professionals since the biomat sludge is highly contaminated with bacteria galore.
If your local code allows, just let the bio-mat drop down into a pit off end of lateral line and cover with soil (and maybe a little lime) later.
Trying to catch it in some type of barrel or basket is a nasty mess just waiting to happen.
Wear disposable protective clothes, head/skin/face coverings, gloves, and goggles ... and pay attention.
The easiest permanent fix for a failing leach field is to add leaching pits to the end of every lateral line.
If you do not have a detailed survey of leach field location, it is possible to probe with a sharp steel spike.
The ground tends to be softer over the leach field lateral lines.
Once you find the end of the lateral line, dig a large pit and insert one or two drywells (stacked or in series).
This takes the load off existing leach field, lets it dry out and often brings the previously clogged leach field back to life.
These amazingly strong plastic leach pit kits can be buried as deep as you need to dispose of household septic effluent.
Gravel backfill around and under the leaching pits will increase the capacity of your leaching pit and extend the servicable life expectancy.
A single drywell with a foot of gravel under and around it will dispose of 200+ gallons per day in most soils.
As with all of our products, we'll work closely with you, providing toll-free consultation during construction!
Shown above is a sample installation with two drywells in series - bringing sewage in through the lid. Top loading (with vent) ensures maximum surge capacity for the drywell. Please note that venting your leaching pit (or any septic field) is most highly recommended. Oxygen keeps the drainage pit dry and the soil around it healthier. Freezing is rarely, if ever, a problem with running sewage water underground, but you can always cap the vents in deep winter, if need be. We provide all of the fittings pictured with your kit (san tee, riser, coupler, vent and geotextile fabric). The geotextile fabric is included for installation above the gravel layer. It keeps backfill soil from clogging the gravel and is crucial to extending the life of your leach pit.
Gravel-less Drywell Kits are $159* postpaid
|
|
Drywell kit
|
3 side panels
|
bottom panel
|
surface drain
|
We keep drywell parts in stock for immediate shipment the next business day
Questions? Email natural@colorado.net or call us at 800-563-9720
- sorry, no shipping to APO/FPO, HI, AK, PR, or Canada -
|
INSTALLATION AS A DRYWELL Knock out or cut out the 1 inch ports to allow water to drain out. Hit the "X" marks on the inside of each panel with a small hammer. Rest the outside of the drywell atop a 2 by 4 laid close to the hole being removed. Knock out 4 inch ports in top lid or side panels for pipe connections. Use a hole saw for other pipe sizes. Wrap landscaping fabric around the drywell (included) to prevent soil from entering the drain holes and secure in place with duct tape. |
|
|
Backfill evenly around the drywell, raising the level in stages to avoid tipping the unit. The drywell may be surrounded with stone if desired to increase leaching capacity, but do not fill the drywell with stone. |
|
Bury the drywell at least eight inches below the surface grade. When buried where vehicles may occasionally pass over, install perforated 4 inch PVC pipe to increase vertical loading strength. Use the optional bottom panel as the base for the pipe. Please note that extreme loading may require a concrete base under the drywell and use of thicker pipe. |
|
 |
When stacking drywells, order the set of three side panels and assemble with the full kit of three panels and lid. Stabilize the stacked drywells with several half inch screws at each level and then lower the entire stack into the hole at one time. Backfill evenly, with extra caution, to avoid tipping the stacked drywells. |
|
When leaching roof gutter water, vent the downspout to insure against backup and use a four inch pipe to direct roof runoff water to the drywell. The optional surface drain may be added to allow overflow of excess water and serve as a port to inspect or clean the drywell. Capture driveway & yard water runoff and divert puddles to prevent a leaky basement. You can place the surface drain directly into the top cover or run a pipe from the drain to the drywell. |
|
|
FOR USE AS A SUMP PIT Knock out or cut out the 1 inch holes in all three side panels. Assemble the drywell and lower the optional bottom panel in as marked "This Side Up". Do not remove port holes in the base. Wrap landscaping fabric around the drywell to prevent soil from entering the drain holes and secure with duct tape. |
|
Knock out the center 4 inch plug on top cover if your pump has a center discharge pipe; or cut out the "U" shaped section on the top cover for pedestal pumps which have a cut-off float. Attach pump to cover with wire strapping or other method to insure smooth operation of the cut-off float. |
|
|
IMPORTANT NOTICE: It is your obligation to determine whether this product is suitable for the intended use and particular application. Consult your building officials to insure compliance with all building codes and requirements. These step-by-step instructions provided reflect mechanical assembly only. Additional information may be necessary to insure proper results for all applications. Consult with professionals to determine special soil conditions and structural requirements.
|
|
Drywell kit
|
3 side panels
|
bottom panel
|
surface drain
|
We keep drywell parts in stock for immediate shipment the next business day
Questions? Email natural@colorado.net or call us at 800-563-9720
- sorry, no shipping to APO/FPO, HI, AK, PR, or Canada -
|
Please use your browser's 'BACK' button
|
Hot links to our main website chapters:
|Passive Solar Design|
|Shade Cloth|
|Gas Refrigerators|
|Stainless Steel Appliances|
|Solar Products|
|Septic Systems|
|Composting Toilets|
|Greywater Recycling|
|Drywell Kits|
|Site Map|
|
$75* initial design consultation
After reviewing the material, we encourage you to drop us an email with your questions. Whether concerning HTMs specifically or passive solar in general, our initial consultation will address your concerns. |
|
|
$9* DVD only
One hour long video on universal DVD format |
|
First half hour walks you through the sustainable design, HTM passive solar earthhome featured on our website. While not a How-To video, the second half does include detailed Infiltrator chamber leach field septic system installation and Sun-Mar composting toilet footage. |
|
Who's TheNaturalHome.com?
|
Phone: 800-563-9720
|
|
PRIVACY STATEMENT - We will never release your name, contact information or purchase history to anyone!
The use of this internet site and purchase of Architerra Enterprises, Inc. (d.b.a. TheNaturalHome.com) products and services are governed by this Terms of Service Agreement and Disclaimer.
By using this internet site, you acknowledge that you have read this Terms of Service Agreement and Disclaimer and that you accept and will be bound by the terms thereof.
Copyright © 1998 - 2007 by Architerra Enterprises, Inc. All rights are reserved, please.