Features and types of brick cesspools. Preparation and procedure for the construction of such structures. A brick cesspool is a container designed to collect wastewater contaminated with household waste. Its main element is masonry. You will learn how to make a drain pit out of bricks so that it will serve for a long time by reading our article.
Features and types of brick drain pits
The waste storage facility is built underground. During the construction process, a pipe is brought to it for transporting waste to the pit. Other pipes from the bathhouse, kitchen, toilet and other buildings that are available on the site are connected to the main highway using special parts.
A common drain pit is only one of the options for creating a sewage system on the site. Separate small tanks can be made for each room. This is convenient if, for example, a toilet or a bathhouse is located at a great distance from other buildings on the site.
Waste, entering the cesspool through pipes from different sources, gradually accumulates, while passing through partial utilization, the possibility of which depends on the design of the sump. Sooner or later, the cesspool will have to be completely cleaned of drains in order to avoid its overflow and spillage of sewage on the site. Modern methods allow such cleaning to be carried out quite efficiently.
With the help of brickwork, it is possible to make a sump of any type - without a bottom or sealed, two-three-section or having permeable walls. Each of these structures has individual characteristics.
Sealed pit
is being built on a site with an elevated level of soil water. Its design excludes, in the presence of such conditions, pollution of the natural environment with sewage.
In pits without a bottom
the base of the structure is not concreted. The brickwork of the walls is erected on a strip foundation. The free middle of the bottom of the well is equipped with a sand and crushed stone filter. Through it, the liquid fraction of the effluent slowly seeps into the ground, where it undergoes final treatment. This design of brick cesspools is quite popular, but it cannot be called environmentally safe.
Similarly arranged and permeable pits … In addition to the filtering bottom, they have small holes in the brickwork of the walls, intended for utilization of the liquid fraction of sewage through them, if the filtering capacity of the bottom is insufficient.
If the cesspool is divided into sections with brick partitions, and short overflow pipes are placed in them, you get a septic tank. Such a cesspool device makes it possible to separate liquid waste from solid waste and to increase the efficiency of their utilization using microbiological preparations. Unlike cesspools made of concrete rings or monolithic concrete, brick structures of this type are affordable and cheap. For their construction, no formwork or ordering of lifting equipment is required. Due to the low weight and dimensions of the piece materials, it is possible to build a tank of any shape from them. Moreover, it is not at all necessary to use new bricks for this purpose. Previously used material will work as well.
The brick tank is stable both on sandy and clayey soils, excellently resists swelling when freezing in winter. The material of the structure is chemically resistant, it perfectly retains impurities, which are an aggressive environment.
However, during the operation of the pit, the state of its brickwork must be periodically monitored. If the damaged sections of the walls are repaired in time with the help of concrete "patches", the service life of the structure can be increased to 30 years.
An important feature of a brick cesspool is the ability to perform masonry with your own hands. Moreover, special skills in the construction business will not be required. Even if the walls turn out to be slightly crooked, all the flaws will be hidden by the earth when backfilling the sinuses of the pit.
Planning the construction of a brick cesspool
Before laying out a brick cesspool, you should find a suitable place for it and determine the size of the planned structure.
When choosing a site for the construction of a cesspool, it is necessary to take into account the current sanitary standards so that in the future there will be no problems with government agencies. The basic requirements are as follows:
- The distance from the drainage pit to the residential building should be more than 5 m, to the fence - more than two meters, to the well or well - more than 25 m.
- If the relief of the site is not uniform, the sewerage system must be located below the water source.
- The access road to the cesspool should ensure the parking of the sewage truck at a distance of no more than 4 m from the place of pumping out the wastewater.
Compliance with the current standards helps to prevent pollution of natural water bodies and wells with cesspool drains.
When calculating the size of the sump, it should be borne in mind that its overflow is higher than the level by 0.5-0.8 m from the throat is undesirable. Therefore, it is recommended to slightly increase the dimensions of the pit.
When planning the dimensions, it is important to remember that cesspools with a depth of more than 3 meters are not serviced by sewage disposal equipment. When the maximum acceptable depth is reached, the further increase in the cesspool should be made due to the width of its bottom. The volume, and then the size of the cesspool, can be calculated knowing the daily volume of wastewater, which depends on the composition of the family and units of household appliances that consume water. On average, there are 150 liters of wastewater per person per day. If we add to this the presence of a washing machine or a dishwasher, the number will increase to 180-240 l / day / person. According to statistics, to meet the needs of a family of 3 people who actively use household appliances, a waste tank with a volume of 7-9 m3 will be needed.3.
Having determined the desired volume of the brick drainage pit and knowing its depth, it is not at all difficult to calculate the area of the bottom of the structure, and then vary its dimensions. In this case, one should take into account the thickness of the masonry, which according to the standards is 250 mm for the outer walls of the sump and 130 mm for partitions with overflows.
If the country house is not used for year-round living, then on the site of a cesspool a brick pit without a sealed bottom will be enough. During the season, most of the dirty wastewater will seep into the ground through the drainage filter layer. The remaining amount of sewage can be disposed of with the help of special bacteria and turned into fertilizer. With the family's permanent residence in the house, it is more expedient to make an airtight pit and periodically pump out its contents with a sewage machine.
How to make a brick cesspool?
After determining the size and depth of the future cesspool, you can begin to implement the main goal. The construction of a brick sump consists of successive steps. Let's go through them together.
Land and concrete works
This is the first place to start. For the construction of a brick pit, a foundation pit will be required, which can be dug with a shovel manually or with an excavator. The first option is suitable if you need a small sump and you really want to save money on ordering equipment. In this case, you need a shovel, a rope with a bucket and a ladder. When manually digging a pit, as it deepens, the excavated soil should be thrown to the side, first with a shovel, and then with a bucket, lifting it from the pit on a rope.
There must be a ladder in the pit. With its help, it is easier to get out of the pit and align the walls. They must be vertical, and the bottom must be given a certain slope in order for the remaining contents to accumulate in the lower part of the recess during pumping. This will make it possible in the future to facilitate the removal of sewage from the sump using the pressure hose of the sewage machine.
If, during the construction of a brick cesspool with your own hands, it is planned to make its bottom sealed, then the basis of such a structure should be a factory slab or monolithic reinforced concrete. In the first case, a lifting mechanism is required. Everything is simple here: you need to choose a concrete slab of the right size and use it to install the product in place.
If the bottom of the pit is planned to be concreted, then first it must be provided with a sand cushion of 150 mm. The sand should be leveled with respect to the slope of the bottom, and then tamped. After that, you need to lay a steel reinforcing mesh on top, and then perform a cement screed over it. A week after pouring the base, work in the sump can be continued. Concrete will gain full strength in a month.
If the cesspool is planned without a sealed bottom, the concrete screed can only be performed on the wall construction line. It will serve as a kind of brickwork foundation. For such concreting, formwork is required. Open ground remains in the center of the base. Subsequently, sand and crushed stone should be laid on it in layers as a filter drain.
Masonry drainage pit
To complete the masonry, you will need mortar and brick. The composition of the solution is as follows: Portland cement M400 - 1 part, river sand - 3 parts, clay - 0.5 parts, water - 0.8 parts.
The loose ingredients of the solution should be sieved before mixing. This will increase the homogeneity of the mixture and make it easier to work with.
Before you start laying the walls, it is important to determine for yourself which brick for the drain pit is best suited. Either clay or silicate material can be used. However, red brick is more resistant to moisture, which is the permanent environment of the sump. And a container lined with silicate, less moisture-resistant brick can last no more than 7 years. To prepare the solution, dry components must be thoroughly mixed in a container suitable for this, and then gradually add water until the desired consistency of the masonry mixture is obtained.
Before starting the main work in the corners of the pit on its concrete base, it is necessary to install beacon bricks at the same level of the horizon. This can be done with a building rail - rule. After that, the masonry must be led along a cord that can be pulled through the corners on each row. The verticality of the wall to be mounted should be checked with a plumb line.
The ligation of the masonry seams should be performed in the usual checkerboard pattern, trying to do so that they do not coincide vertically.
A cesspool with permeable walls must be constructed a little differently. Here, the laying of the main wall must be 1/2 brick, leaving gaps between the products. Through them, liquid wastewater can seep into the external soil and filter through it. Sediments with permeable walls and bottom are less likely to require the services of sewer trucks, but are more dangerous for the nature around us.
As for how to lay out a brick cesspool, there are some practical tips:
- The thickness of the cement joints between piece brickwork products should be within 6-8 mm.
- For convenience and saving time, it is better to lay out the prepared brick in small piles along the walls, then you will not have to tear yourself away from the masonry every time to deliver it from the general pile.
- If the material is wetted beforehand, this will increase its adhesion to the solution.
- Through every fifth row, the brickwork of the cesspool must be reinforced with a steel mesh.
- After finishing the brickwork, it is advisable to plaster the walls of the pit.
In the process of laying the walls to the sump, it is necessary to bring a sewer sewer pipe. It must be placed in a pre-dug trench, observing the required slope of 1-2% to the tank. Before backfilling, the pipe should be carefully insulated to prevent its contents from freezing in winter. The entry point of the sewer main into the cesspool must be sealed with mortar so that leaks are excluded. The plastered walls of a brick drainage pit must be covered with a waterproofing material for its durability. Bituminous mastic is perfect for this. However, you should be aware that its adhesion is only possible with a dry substrate. Therefore, the plaster layer must have time to dry before waterproofing. It is recommended to additionally insulate the outer part of the cesspool from the ground side with foam plastic.
Closing the cesspool
To install a pit overlap, you can buy a concrete slab equipped with a neck and a lid. If the finished version of the floor does not suit you, such a structure can be made of wood or concrete on your own. The wooden structure will have to be changed every 3-5 years; it is not strong for the conditions of a cesspool.
If the concrete floor is planned to be made independently, this work must be performed simultaneously with the foundation device, especially since both technologies are similar. Pouring the concrete mixture must be carried out into the formwork from wooden panels. The dimensions of the overlap should be 300-400 mm greater than the width and length of the top of the pit.
The opening in the ceiling should be so spacious that a person can enter the pit through it for inspection or maintenance. To make a concrete slab, cement mortar must be poured into the formwork with a layer of 4-5 cm, then a reinforcing cage with a mesh should be placed in it and the remaining mixture is poured so that it completely covers the metal parts. The concrete product will take four weeks to dry.
In addition to the service hatch, a ventilation hole must be provided in the ceiling. It will come in handy in the future when the accumulated wastewater begins to emit methane gas, which is very harmful and dangerous.
To organize the ventilation of the drain pit made of bricks with your own hands, you will need a plastic pipe d. 100 mm. It must be inserted into the ventilation hole. The outer end of the pipe must be protected with a special visor, and the inner end with a grate.
After installing the floor, it must be protected with waterproofing. Ordinary roofing felt or thick, impermeable greenhouse film will do. The previously removed vegetative layer of soil can be laid on the insulation, which will protect the cesspool from winter freezing and ennoble the site in summer.
How to make a cesspool out of brick - watch the video:
We hope our material turned out to be informative and useful for you. Good luck!
