A Tale of Two Pipes

For the bargain price of $5000 (with the bonus of having Snort back on the hill to also dig the foundation).  

Up here in Alaska, at least where we live 100 miles from a stoplight, when it comes to things like water and sewage, you are on your own.  The Momplex would need it's own utility company of sorts.

Back when I was potty training Gracie, I kept telling her, we go in the potty, and we flush, and it's all gone . . . and of course she said, where does it go?  Followed by how and what happens if the tank fills up and so on.  An to my embarrassment, I didn't entirely know what happens when we flush. I wasn't around for the installation of the septic system at our house (that was all the Ram) so I was very curious as to exactly how a septic system works.

Here's where we left off, with the foundation dug, footers at grade.  And Snort still on the hill for another day.

We've consulted with a local engineer, a really smart and very generous member of our community, Stephan, on the placement, depth and location of the septic, marked it out, and now it's time for the Ram to start digging.  I've been begging the Ram to teach me how to operate the Snort, but he says, let me have one thing that I know how to do that you don't :) and I have to agree, once in a while, it's nice to sit back and just watch.

And take pictures.  So here we go, digging a trench.  

We used the Boss (you can see his Inside Guy on the silver measuring stick) to check grade for the trench.  And you can see the Ram looking for his wife to make a sandwich . . . or fetch some water . . . or run home and grab a tool.  Maybe she's hiding out?

Found.  But I don't mind.  Tell me, don't you love a guy with a tape measure? The Ram and his Dad layed the pipe, adjusting so the pipe drops 1/4" every foot for proper sewage drainage.  Each pipe comes in a twenty foot long stick and gets bonded together with couplings at the joints.

Then the pipe gets bedded in sand and covered with foam insulation to keep the pipes from freezing in our 50 degree below winter cold spells.  What you see covered with a bag is the cleanout.  At the end is a bigger whole for the septic tank.

Did you know this is what a septic tank looks like?  Strange.  We hooked the tank up to the Snort . . . can you tell it's getting darker?

The sun DOES go down in Alaska in the summer - but just not until the wee hours.  Yes, this was a long day of hard work.

And we aren't done yet.  Time to drop the septic into the hole at the end of the pipe.

And line the pipe up with the septic tank . . . perfectly.  

And with that, we called her a night.

To be continued . . .