What do you guys do for a septic system at deer camp?

I have an opportunity to take over a deer lease and trying to make up my mind if I want to make the switch or not. It has a bunkhouse, water, and electric. It does not have a septic system in place. The current guys have been using an outdoor toilet for years. I want to put an indoor bathroom and shower if I take it over. I know I can build a bathroom in a day but really don't know what to do with the septic. I don't want to spend a ton of money to pay someone to put a septic system in on a lease that I may not even stay on over a year or two. What do some of you guys do for a septic system?

There are three people on our lease and we all took 50 foot of 4" black line, rolled it into the woods, dug a hole for each trailer and let it drain into the holes.

55gal. drum in the ground with holes in it. It has work for me for 8 years. I put it right next to my camper with just the top showing. I have never had any problems with it.

we had one like this for almost 14 years.

never had an issue.

rule of thumb we had, if your a guy, #1 out side, #2 inside

Good ideas but I don't know if that would work for me. There will not be seperate trailers. There is one bunk house that everyone will be using. That would probably be quite a bit of water/waste going into a 55 gallon drum. Also, it would be a standard house toilet so it would use lots more water than a rv toilet. Might have to give it a try anyway and see if it will handle it.

Most counties have rules and regs about septic systems. They sometimes apply to deer camps etc.. Make sure you know the rules, if done wrong the fines can be expensive.

Plumb only the toilet into the barrel. Grey water from sink, shower etc can be piped away from the camp where it can drain into the ground.

^^^^^^
This is the way our is and we dont have any problems.

From the 55gal drum put in 20' of perforated pipe. You could also put in two 55gal drums just pipe one to the other. Do not get the county involved just do it.

Yeah, that was the plan. I was going to have the toilet only going into the drum . I guess I'll try it and if it doesn't work we'll figure something else out.

This is probably the best advice of the whole thread.

It will work fine.
Two 55 gallon plastic drums buried under ground, one feeds into the other then has 30' of perferated pipe leaving second drum. Cleanouts piped into top of drums just in case they ever need to be pumped. Full size toilet.
Dont ask me how I know?

X2... Everybody has done this at our lease... works perfect!

Or the worst?

Those with the 55 gal drums next to the RVs do you drain it all grey and black into them? Thanks

Remember, it is easier to beg forgiveness than to get permission.

Right you are sir

In that case, forgiveness comes out of your back pocket and will probably bleed your bank account pretty good.

most of my leasers use this method, w/ a little work can be done in one after noon and only cost about 350 bucks. it is more than enough for any deer camp needs

http://www.wikihow.com/Construct-a-Small-Septic-System

I went to tractor supply and bought a round 250 gal.plastic tank,the kind you see on trailers with an engine for pressure washing,plumbed it with 3" pvc -not 4" like most use,more water in a smaller diameter means the water won't outrun the waste.at the discharge end drill large holes in a cross-hatch pattern with about ten feet of PVC and bury,cover with Tyvec or a non-permeable fabric then cover with dirt,never had a problem.I do have it pumped out yearly though,after I found out my wife was flushing feminine hygiene products down the toilet(big no-no).

Yes. To fill up a 55gal. drum over the weekend would be hard. Remember it is draining all the time.

I called the county official one time---and got grilled
about it!!

2 55 gal. barrels hooked together, 2 pieces of lateral line, sinks/shower to grey line out on the ground
all works really well, unless the grey line freezes, then your backed up, just make sure its runnin down hill at least 1" per 20'

Readin this got me to wonderin myself so I googled it and found a cool site. It even has pictures! http://www.backwoodssurvivalblog.com/2009/03/how-to-construct-small-septic-system.html

out house

2 55 gallon drums. Pipe into the top of one, pipe out the side of it about 1' down. Pipe the out piece into the top of the other barrel, and on the second barrel about a foot down run pipe out 20 or 30' with holes drilled all the way down starting 10-15' from your barrels.bury Everything barrels included. Make sure on first barrel put a vent pipe, and use ridex regularly.

Because I'm the only one who uses it, I use a 25-ft piece of leaking pipe that runs behind my trailer about 6-inches below the surface. It's something that I found at Loew's that came with a fabric sheath that's supposed to keep the drain holes open so that you don't have to use a gravel. With the very sandy soil that we have, I've yet to see or smell any evidence of it being there.

As for what the county thinks of it, I'm sure the nearby cows generate a heck of a lot more waste than I do during a few weekends of the year.

How many folks getting on the lease?

Why not have a one time fee to put a septic tank in?

There will be 7 guns total. I just hated to spend a ton of money putting in a full blown system for the first year not knowing if we will even like the place or not.

an old mesquite tree

Revival of the thread because I would like more info as well! Guys on the lease said dig a hole 24 inches deep and 34 inches long. Put hay, straw or gravel in the bottom. Put a 55 gallon barrel SIDEWAYS on top of material. Barrel should have 1/2 inch holes drilled every inch or so all around the barrel about 6 inches from the bottom of the barrel. Then fill in sides with material above, and cover with soil.

Here are my questions:
1- will this work for occasional use, like every other weekend, for one or two people?
2- what is the best way to cut the hole on the side of barrel?
3- how do you seal the penetration into the barrel so there is no smell? Is there a special fitting I can buy?
4- do you leave your valves open on your trailer or only open and drain when you are about to leave?

I do plan on adding enzymes to break down black water, but will also put gray water down as well (minimal amount as we don't use shower or sink very often).

Dig deep hole, black water into hole, grey water out 20' PVC pipe, flush handful of dog food periodically! Dog food contains little creatures that clean it all up!

Dog food? New one to me. I use butter milk.

Oak or mesquite tree 30-40 yards away birds will take care of the solids.

this is idiot proof however I don't know about needing to dig 4ft wide 26ft long trench driving stakes a 1/4" lower each foot seems a little over engineered and way too much work for a deer lease septic tank.

What do you do with the turds?

When I bought my place, I put a travel trailer on the place. I dug a big hole and ran the sewer line over to it. A state inspector sent me a letter. He informed me that I had to have a certified septic system installer put a system in or I would be fined.

I had a couple of companies give me a quote. I decided to have a 750 gallon system put in. A week or so later, the contractor called me to tell me that the inspector was at the site and that I was required to have a 1500 gallon system because the property was not my primary residence, which made the property "commercial". I called BS on that. He put the inspector on the phone and he told me that I would be fined by the day if I didn't have the 1500 gallon system installed. Of course, they had it all covered by the time I got down there the next weekend. I wonder if they stuck the 750 in the ground and split the money for the other tank. The property has a AG exemption on it, so I don't know how in the heck they thought it was a commercial property.

Good luck, and don't let the inspector find you.

Entrenching tool works for me...

diesel

It is kinda like the dog deal. Do what you think you need to do. Keep it quiet. Don't ask anyone. Don't tell anyone. If a person was worried about being legal for everything they did they could never leave the house.

had one in rising star, brown county that we had a doolie bucket under a toilet lid with plastic bag in it...we had a doolie pit to burn it in....takes a lotta diesel to burn doolie... and stay upwind...

old Marine cathole, etool dig a hole an cover it up....stay far away from camp as you can walk in the dark...

Back to topic, done rate bunny bucket before! Can any body answer my original questions?

thought it was answered reckon you may need to hire a plumber, get a permit from the county, ect....

If you are leasing then I would first ask the owner what they would allow me to do. This may have already been the answer, but I did not feel like wading through 5 pages of crap talk to find out.

dig a pit, cover it with a sheet of plywood, dirt from hole goes on top of plywood

The problem I have with this thread is that many of the posters would be quick to call the county if their neighbor didn't have a proper septic system.

Do it right and do it legal, otherwise you are no better than the neighbor who does stuff you don't like.

The TCEQ OSSF (Onsite Sewer Facility) are pretty clear on this matter.

I'm not trying to play poo-police. It's a matter of fairness. Why are you permitted to do as you please because it's a deer camp versus someone's momma's cousin's boyfriend who drags a trailer house next door to you and starts doing the same thing?

So, it's OK to take a dump on the ground at camp, but it's not OK to dig a pit and take a dump in the pit? That's just crazy.

Basically, yes. I think it's crazy, too.

When I lived in New England for a few years and hunted, people actually used portable RV-style dump stations to carry their waste if they did not have a traditional, composting-style outhouse. Law enforcement was pretty strict on this even in rural Maine and New Hampshire!

Surprise the northeast the government is in everybody sh** literally apparently.

I missed that you wanted a better answer before my last post but I think the answer is wait until you know if your going to stay there to do anything. Like renting a house why lease a place and improve only for the next guy or the LO. If you have to have a better bathroom rebuild the old outhouse or buy your own place and do everything the right way. Even if you just build a simple septic system and a bathroom you can build in a day your putting in close 1K in improvements that you will never see any benefit from other than better place to park your caboose on your weekend hunting trips. Like you said you might not even want to be there beyond this year. The landowner could kick you off at anytime unless you have a contract, he could have plans to tear the house down, or build a new one who knows or get sick of leasing all together, or let a family member hunt and you want out. Im not trying to be negative or stomp the idea but it just doesn't seem like a wise way to spend the money until you have less unknowns or a place of your own. If you have the money and don't care about blowing it just save it. The amount of times you sit on that toilet won't add up to justify spending that time or money. Nobody likes plumbing so if you do it make it right the first time so you don't have to screw with it or make it on the right piece of property so you don't have to start over.

good gracious read the law

Texas law does allow for an OSSF to be exempt from permitting if the OSSF:
•serves a single family residence on a tract of land that is 10 acres or larger,
•is not causing a nuisance or polluting groundwater,
•all parts of the OSSF are at least 100 feet from the property line,
•the effluent is disposed of on the property, and
•the single family residence is the only dwelling located on the tract of land.

Buy a $500,00 dollar motor home and carry it home with you or a $20.00 shovel. Think I would consider a new hobby.

Doesn't it also say it has to meet all these criteria? If there is more than one trailer hooked to it does it still meet the requirements listed? Also, unless it is actually built or installed as in a house or a mobile home, it would not be a single family residence. Would building a building and having it as a bathroom qualify? I ask because my Dad and oldest sister bought some land and the are looking for loopholes so they can do something cheap and I would like to know your interpretation as it differs from mine.

That's correct.

1 trailer house and self-installed OSSF on 10+ acres = Allowed
2 trailer house and one self-installed OSSF on 10+ acres = Illegal
2 trailer house and two self-installed OSSF on 10+ acres = Illegal
2 trailer houses with permitted and properly installed OSSF on 10+ acres = Allowed

It doesn't matter if the above is 10+ or 10,000+ acres, the rule applies equally.

Below 10 acres, it must be a permitted OSSF.

A lot of folks put in an oversized septic and share it between two dwellings i.e. main house and "mother in law" trailer. Not legal in *most* circumstances. It can be done properly.

SSS (**** Shovel Silence)

I still vote cedar bush, dealt with the state inspecters a couple of times, bunch of folks that think they're way more important than what they are

I have seen the pit method work. Does get a smell to it though.

Why not just chit on the ground. It will eventually dry up and blow away

I crap better squatting beside a tree way better than setting on a pot any day!!! Suck it up and go crap in the woods! What has this world come to when a man cant crap in the woods? Cut the bottom out of a 5 gallon bucket to set on if you dont want any sticks poking you in the butt.....

Tell your wife or grandkids that at 2am and see how that plays out.

Posthole digger and portable outhouse and toilet seat. Works for the two of us. If the wife comes along I have to bring the toy hauler.

Between crapping and pissing in the woods and not damming up creeks everyone is cracking up since deer season is over. Looks like it is going to be a long 7 months.

OP, if your lease is in the hill country, I can hook you up with a septic installer that will give you a turn-key package.

We do remote fly in trips to Canadian lakes every year and all use the same system in their cabins, 55 gallon plastic drums cut in half with 2 rope handles. Put about 4 inches of compost in the bottom and leave a bag beside it, when making a deposit you simply scoop out a little compost and cover it up, no smell and no mess. You can put this in an outdoor tent or modify the cabin so it can de removed from the outside. When full you take it away from camp, empty it and stack some wood over the top and burn it. Sure beat's mixing diesel with it and burning it in a steel drum. Just rig up a portable toilet seat to go over the top.

Hey, ya get a little older and "Where am I going to sleep?" and "Where am I going to poop?" get to be a helluva lot more important than "Are the deer big enough that when I kill one it'll make my 'friends' envious on Farcebook?"

Meshawtx, you assume that people here are going to turn in their neighbor.

Personally, as long as they are not bothering me, I could not care less what they do.

To the OP... go with the 2 barrels, don't go with them. There are plenty of links on here that show you how to build a septic that will work for you. Either go that route or go the route of hiring someone to do it legal for you.

Where I am, they charge at LEAST $25,000 to install a "septic system" that would make the county happy.

No way am I installing a septic system that cost almost as much as the cabin.

Totally up to you.

All the legal mumbo jumbo, we are not lawyers, but we can cut and paste legal stuff we find on the Internet. Go talk to a plumber, if ya like and they will set you straight, or at least sign off on it if you hire them.

GL!

Russ

Two very important questions when deciding on a hunt.