Make shift small septic tank

Looking for ideas to use for a small septic tank at the shop. Won't get a lot of traffic but some.

We had one at a camp house on a lease that was simply a hole in the ground covered with a sheet of plywood. The grey water drained from the kitchen sink to the ground.

Maybe one of those 300 gallon plastic totes. Bury the whole thing

When I was on a lease in West TX, there where 12 campers (big lease) every one had 2-55 gal drums buried. Blew holes on the bottom half of barrels for drainage. Worked for the 3-4 years I was out there. Of course it was fairly rocky and not clay type soil, then you may need some gravel.

Lowes sells 25-ft sections of four-inch corrugated plastic leaky pipe that comes with a protective sheath so the holes don't become clogged and will continue to drain. I've been using it as a field line for my trailer at the lease and it's worked very well. I trenched it just under the top of ground with a little gravel underneath.

5gal bucket and a box of garbage bags.

20 years ago I built one for my little cabin property. I used two plastic barrels. Pvc pipe entered the side of the first one and exited the other side.....then entered the top of the second barrel and then out the opposite side into the field drain. It still works but then it doesn't get used much.

I did basically the same as Tbar, but one plastic 55 gallon drum ------- the out going line was pvc with holes in ----about 40 feet long ---- I covered that pvc with sacks before I covered it in dirt to keep the holes from clogging up. So far so good.

I've seen several plans on the internet like this...seems simple enough.

this but with one or two plastic 55 gal drums, enlarge the holes in top and add one to the bottom of both drums. lay em flat and set up so that the line runs out about 25' or so. drums will hold the solids and you can use ridX or regular yeast to keep the enzymes active.


did this at a cabin in colorado that I lived in for a couple of yrs. and it worked good.


lol, missed Tbars post

My dad (who had a septic pumping business years ago) built us a box out of pressure treated plywood. 2' wide, 2' deep and 4' long. He put a divider in the middle with a hole cut down low. Crap floats so it would stay in the first chamber, the second chamber with the effluent would exit through a piece of 3 foot perforated pvc up high with gravel around it. It has worked for over 10 years now, but digging the hole for all that to fit in caliche by hand was something i will not forget.