burn pile over septic drain field

[masraum]

The PO of our house had a burn pile (for tree limbs, garbage, whatever). It's in a spot that the missus doesn't like. She wants to move it. Where she wants to move it is right over the top of the drain field. To me this seems like a bad idea (essentially having a bonfire over the top of the drain field).

This isn't a great representation, but you can definitely see the old burn pile.


Maybe this is better. The amber spot is the old burn pile, and the red spot is where the missus wants to put the new burn pile. The blue line is roughly the path of the drain field (yes, it's a single line, it doesn't branch out.)


My other problem is that the new location that she wants to use is farther from our hose bibs.

[rfuerst911sc]

I think being within range of garden hose if fire gets out of hand is higher priority than location over leach field . Having said that I wouldn't put it over the leach field/line either . Do you actually use a burn pile ?

[flatbutt]

What harm could it do to the leach field?

[fastfredracing]

I would be worried about the fine ash and sediment leaching its way down in there and clogging it up .
My thought is why take the chance ? I had to dig mine up under the cover of darkness 5 years ago. That is a job I hope to never do again , or pay for .

[masraum]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

I think being within range of garden hose if fire gets out of hand is higher priority than location over leach field . Having said that I wouldn't put it over the leach field/line either . Do you actually use a burn pile ?

We don't burn garbage, but we probably will occasionally burn limbs and wood.

Originally Posted by flatbutt

What harm could it do to the leach field?

I don't know. How deep is it? I know a big fire can get hot enough to melt aluminum cans and glass bottles, and the ashes in a burn pile can be hot for a couple of days after a fire. How deep is a leach field?

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

I would be worried about the fine ash and sediment leaching its way down in there and clogging it up .
My thought is why take the chance ? I had to dig mine up under the cover of darkness 5 years ago. That is a job I hope to never do again , or pay for .

Right, I don't want to have any issues with the septic system.

[cabmandone]

Around here it wouldn't worry me much with an older system due to the depth of the tile. If you know how deep your outlet is on your septic tank, you have a "pretty good" idea how deep your field is because it has to be roughly the same depth as the tank outlet.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Around here it wouldn't worry me much with an older system due to the depth of the tile. If you know how deep your outlet is on your septic tank, you have a "pretty good" idea how deep your field is because it has to be roughly the same depth as the tank outlet.

I have no idea how deep the outlet is. That's a big part of the problem.

[Crowbob]

Calmly and quietly ‘splain to the missus that she doesn’t want a stinky expensive surprise. Show her the general location of the drain field and say, with your administrative voice, ‘Not here, honey bunch’.

But unless you have a roaring, atomic conflagration over several days (or on a peat bog) the field will be oK.

[john70t]

In proximity of hose, away from house and trees, downwind. That would be my guess.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

Calmly and quietly ‘splain to the missus that she doesn’t want a stinky expensive surprise. Show her the general location of the drain field and say, with your administrative voice, ‘Not here, honey bunch’.

But unless you have a roaring, atomic conflagration over several days (or on a peat bog) the field will be oK.

I think the general consensus is "it's probably fine, but why risk it."

What I'd told her was I don't want to have a roaring fire over the leach field. I'd hate to damage something. She said something to the effect of "if you damage a pipe, couldn't you just replace the pipe?"

I would rather be safe than sorry. I've already had to deal with one backup, and it was unpleasant to say the least.

[nota]

is the drain pipe clay or PVC
older stuff is more likely clay up to the 50's

LIKE MOST PLASTIC PVC will ''melt'' deform from heat and can collapse and block flow
fired clay pipe is not effected by open fire on the surface

[Bill Douglas]

How about the other side of the shed. Away from the pipe and away from the shed. And that way you don't have to see the pile of ash all the time.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

How about the other side of the shed. Away from the pipe and away from the shed. And that way you don't have to see the pile of ash all the time.

That was going to be my suggestion...as long as you can get a hose there.

We burn a lot of stuff, big piles twice a year, including neighbors stuff. I have done the landfill versus burning math with the county folks.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by nota

is the drain pipe clay or PVC
older stuff is more likely clay up to the 50's

LIKE MOST PLASTIC PVC will ''melt'' deform from heat and can collapse and block flow
fired clay pipe is not effected by open fire on the surface

esp if it's one like this.....

[vash]

cant you move the red dot 15-20 feet to the right?

i always thought the earth was the ultimate insulator. i was told that anywhere on earth, five feet down, the ground is 58 deg. not sure that was some old dude lying to my ass, but i liked it.

[vash]

Originally Posted by stevej37

esp if it's one like this.....

that is a lot of poo and pee!!!

i dont know jackS about septic stuff. is that a big system?

[FPB111]

Doesn’t decomposition of waste produce methane? That fire could be hotter and last longer than planned.

[nota]

Originally Posted by FPB111

Doesn’t decomposition of waste produce methane? That fire could be hotter and last longer than planned.

the gas is from the tank not the drain field

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by vash

that is a lot of poo and pee!!!

i dont know jackS about septic stuff. is that a big system?

I just grabbed that off a search.
I have seen the components for a leach field at Menards...plastic and half-moon shaped.
Apparently they just lay them on top the the sand/gravel and then cover them up.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by nota

is the drain pipe clay or PVC
older stuff is more likely clay up to the 50's

LIKE MOST PLASTIC PVC will ''melt'' deform from heat and can collapse and block flow
fired clay pipe is not effected by open fire on the surface

If I was a betting man (which I'm not) I'd say that the drain field is probably from about 1990. It's probably PVC.

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

How about the other side of the shed. Away from the pipe and away from the shed. And that way you don't have to see the pile of ash all the time.

That was my suggested solution, but for some reason, it didn't fly.

I think the deal is this, we've got a small stone circle that can be used for something like a camp fire, and we have (had) a big spot for a burn pile. For some reason, I think she's trying to combine the two, but they need to be separate (radically different sized fires).

Originally Posted by Seahawk

That was going to be my suggestion...as long as you can get a hose there.

We burn a lot of stuff, big piles twice a year, including neighbors stuff. I have done the landfill versus burning math with the county folks.

Nice. I had a burn after we moved in because the PO left a big pile of stuff and we made some new stuff after doing a bunch of trimming/pruning. The pile was probably 8' tall and 9-10' wide. It burned down to nothing in a couple/few hours.

Originally Posted by stevej37

esp if it's one like this.....

I suspect ours isn't that neat and tidy. It's probably more like the country "this'll do" version.

Originally Posted by vash

cant you move the red dot 15-20 feet to the right?

i always thought the earth was the ultimate insulator. i was told that anywhere on earth, five feet down, the ground is 58 deg. not sure that was some old dude lying to my ass, but i liked it.

The red dot is midway between the garage and the field next door. That field is grown for hay. We're trying to keep big fires away from both the hay field and garage. (as well as only burning when the environment isn't super dry and having a water supply handy)

I'm just not sure how deep the leach field "stuff" is. If the pipe is 2-3' down, it's probably not a big deal. If it's 1' down, then I wouldn't want to risk it.

Maybe what I need to do is get the missus to have the camp fire in one place and the burn pit (bonfire) someplace else.