can septic tanks be considered "green"?

Question

I am doing a group project to build a green home - one that uses little power and is ecologically friendly. one of the requirements of the project is to specify what is done with the sewage waste and i am curious if a septic tank would work with this project or not... yes? no? suggestions?

Answer 1

I would say yes, but you never know what some ultra-radical environmentalists will say.

Answer 2

Septic toilets are NOT considered the "go" for a Green house. They've been effectively banned in most urban areas in Australia due to their waste problems and noxious odours.

The Greenest toilets are the waterless ones. There are a few different models of them but they're all based on the same principle - that of Composting. This sounds gross, but the Chinese have been using human waste materials for the past 5000 years! Another style is the worm toilet, where a special species of composting worm lives in the toilet and is the main digestive process. With a worm-based toilet system, you can chuck anything organic into it, including kitchen scraps!

One of the main factors in these things is that they do not use or have any liquids involved. Urine is funneled out of the system as it's the liquid component which creates the smells and problems with septic systems.

I've lived with a composting toilet and theyre remarkable. The basic idea is that they have a multi-segmented chamber of which you fill part. Once this is full, you spin the entire contraption around so that there's an empty chamber ready to fill. Once all the chambers are full, the microorganisms that you have introduced in the beginning have done their work of digesting the nasties and what you have left is very very good stuff for your garden - and it doesn't smell at all! There's no worries with shovelling it out of the chamber either. Then you start the process again.

To give you an idea of how good these things are, a lot of National Parks in Australia have introduced the concept for campsite toilets because the're so environmentally friendly and remove the neccessity for digging a very deep hole every couple of years, which has been the norm up until a few years ago.

Check out the link below. It's a really good source of both commercially-available units as well as a few do - it - yourself plans....

Hope this helps,

Love and Light,


Jarrah

Answer 3

It depends on the setting. In some soils, it might take as much as a 1/4 acre to create a drain field, which increases the foot print of the lot. Also, septic systems near rivers and streams often leak sewage into the water. A better solution is a composting toilet.

Answer 4

Well, the grass around them usually is. Since it is important that septic tanks break down sewage to harmless components and don't harm surrounding groundwater, once in place they have no impact on their environment and require no energy to operate. This would seem to satisfy "green" criteria.

Answer 5

My guess is yes if the tank system is installed and working properly, and no chemicals are flushed down the system.
Be sure proper leaching fields are added.

Answer 6

No. You need a flush-up toilet that shoots crap into outer space. Your roof needs to be shaped like a giant umbrella, though, in case of a misflush.