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Gravelless Septic System Product Suppliers Directory InspectAPedia®  -

• Design manual for gravelless or no rock septic fields
• No-rock or chamber septic drainfield product descriptions, sources
• Septic leaching field product cost comparisons
• Septic absorption field capacity & life comparisons
• Septic Systems - Design, Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance

This chapter discusses product suppliers for gravelless or "no gravel" or "no rock" septic drainfield systems. Gravelless septic systems or "no gravel" septic system trenches use plastic or other prefabricated wastewater distribution systems which are buried in soil without the use of surrounding gravel. Typical gravelless septic systems use a plastic chamber, a geotextile-wrapped pipe, or a polystyrene-wrapped pipe to distribute effluent into the soil.

The necessary soil absorption area is provided by the perforated surface of the gravelless septic system components (or by soil at the bottom of a chamber) themselves rather than by the gravel and trench walls of a conventional septic drainfield. These systems can provide an acceptable effluent disposal system for sites with limited space for a drainfield or where gravel is not available or is quite expensive.

Advanced septic treatment methods are discussed in separate chapters. Citation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Use of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for sale is reserved to the author. Technical review by industry experts has been performed and is ongoing - reviewers welcomed and are listed at "References." This document is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems. Qualified product or service providers may be listed at this website at no fee.

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Sources of Gravelless Effluent Disposal Systems

This listing of suppliers of gravelless or "no rock" septic system components is arranged alphabetically. We and our website have no financial or other relationship with any suppliers listed at our website and we do not endorse specific products. The illustration at left shows a typical residential gravelless wastewater disposal system using chambers. Illustration courtesy of Infiltrator Systems, Inc., used with permission. (Infiltrator Systems Inc. contact information is listed below).

• Crumpler Plastic Pipe, Inc. provides fabric-wrapped drainage piping 800-334-5071 Roseboro NC USA - "No-Rock TM Septic-Leachate drainpipe systems" are available in 8" and 10" systems.
• In-Drain from Elgen is a combination of plastic and geotextile used to treat septic effluent. Elgen products have been around for decades using variations on this design. Elsewhere I've recommended their drainage mat systems for foundation waterproofing and other site drainage problems. Eljen In-drains: this no-rock septic system uses gravelless trenches containing prefabricated units of geotextile fabric and cuspated plastic spacing cores are bordered on the sides and beneath by six inches of specific sand media, and are covered with native soil. A layer of protective fabric is placed on top of the units to prevent fine soil particles from clogging the filter fabric pores.
• Hancor Gravelless "Blue Stripe" Pipe 888-FOR-PIPE 8" and 10" diameter. Quoting the manufacturer, "When backfilled with native soil, Gravelless pipe provides safe and effective septic tank effluent treatment in sites determined to be suitable by your local health department. The performance of gravelless systems has been verified through independent research performed at the University of Minnesota. This research evaluated the long-term acceptance rate of fabric-covered corrugated pipe for eight different soil types, and the pipe performed well in all soils tested except fine sand. Gravel-filled trenches in fine sand would likely perform in a similar manner."
• Infiltrator Systems, Inc. provides chamber products 800-718-2754 Old Saybrook CT USA. The manufacturer provides state specific design manuals for no-rock chamber systems for specific states in the U.S.
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Gravelless or "no-rock" septic system designs are discussed in detail at Gravelless Septic Systems - design and installation specifications

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• Crumpler Plastic Pipe, Inc. Crumpler provides fabric-wrapped drainage piping 800-334-5071 Roseboro NC USA - "No-Rock TM Septic-Leachate drainpipe systems" are available in 8" and 10" systems.
• Jeff Pildis, Technical Service & Support, Infiltrator Systems, Inc. 800-718-2754
• Daniel Friedman - principal author/editor of the InspectAPedia ^TM Website

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SEPTIC DESIGN ALTERNATIVES
  AEROBIC SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  ALTERNATING BED SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  CESSPOOLS
  DRYWELLS
  SEPTIC EFFLUENT DISINFECTION SYSTEMS
  EVAPORATION-TRANSPIRATION SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  FIXED-FILM PROCESS SEPTIC SYSTEMS

  GRAVELLESS SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  Polystyrene-wrapped perforated pipe
  Geotextile-Wrapped Perforated Pipe
  Chamber Systems
  Site Requirements / Design Criteria
  Construction Details
  Life Expectancy of No Rock Septic Designs
  Installation Cost of No Rock Septics
  Gravelless Septic Product Sources

  LAGOON SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  MEDIA FILTER SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  SEPTIC & GREYWATER FILTERS
  SEQUENCING BATCH SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  MOUND SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  RAISED BED SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  SAND BED SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEMS
  TOILET ALTERNATIVES
  VEGETATED SUBMERGED SEPTIC BEDS
  WETLAND SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  ALTERNATIVE SEPTIC DESIGNERS
  ALTERNATIVE SEPTIC PRODUCTS

More Reading:

• SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN BASICS
• How Big Should the Leach Field Be? includes a practical example using sample calculations and a table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
• Design Basics for Septic Systems: Choosing Septic Tank Size, Leach Field Size - basic septic system volume and absorption system design guides.
• Components of a Septic System- the Basic Parts of a Conventional Septic Tank and Leachfield, a chapter in the Home Buyers Guide to Septic Systems
• Sketches of the Septic System Components Private Sewage Disposal Systems - Septic Drawing Library
• Cesspools for more in-depth information about those systems.
• Drywells for more in-depth information about those systems.]
• SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN ALTERNATIVES
  (1) (2) (3) (4) APPENDIX 75-A to Public Health Law, 201(1)(1) NEW YORK STATE WASTEWATER TREATMENT STANDARDS - INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLD SEPTIC SYSTEMS. Portions of the text of this web page (using paragraphs identified by parenthetical numbers (1)-(4)) are quoted from this document, expanded with edits and additions by this author
• "Gravelless Drainfields, Recommended Standards and Guidance for Performance, Application, Design and Operation & Maintenance", Washington State Department of Health, an MS Word .doc file available at: www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/ts/WW/Gravelless2004.doc

Listing submissions welcome, there is no listing fee. InspectAPedia.com - Directory Listing & Link Exchange Instructions. Add your listing & support InspectAPedia.com by exchanging links - no listing fee & no conflicts of interest.

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems
• Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
• Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow, calculating required septic tank size, calculating septic tank volume from size measurements
• How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
• Septic System Drainfield Absorption System Biomat Formation - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Table of Required Septic & Well Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.

Pennsylvania State Fact Sheets relating to domestic wastewater treatment systems include

• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-162, The Soil Media and the Percolation Test
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-l64, Mound Systems for Wastewater Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-165, Septic Tank-Soil Absorption Systems
• Document Sources used for this web page include but are not limited to: Agricultural Fact Sheet #SW-161 "Septic Tank Pumping," by Paul D. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin. Penn State College of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension, edited and annotated by Dan Friedman (Thanks: to Bob Mackey for proofreading the original source material.)

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