Owners of private homes most often have to independently equip local treatment facilities at their site. It’s cheaper and easier to install sewer wells in the form of a regular cesspool or sealed storage. A well-arranged sewage treatment or storage station will perfectly cope with the task. Do you agree?
Here you will find out what materials are used in the construction of treatment facilities and drives for independent sewage. We have described in detail the construction technology of typical sewer wells. Based on our recommendations, it will be easier for you to decide on the best option for price and effort.
The place of the sewage well in the sewer system
Often, a centralized sewage system in the private sector with low-rise buildings is simply not available. And it is necessary to get rid of domestic drains, not to pour them on the ground. To this end, construct an autonomous sewage system, including the inside and the outside.
Domestic sewage collects wastewater from plumbing fixtures, and its outer part is intended for their disposal or accumulation for the purpose of subsequent pumping with wastewater. The sewage receiving well on the street is the endpoint of the local removal system.
If there is no general village sewage network in principle, then you can’t do without a cesspool or sewer for sewage near a private house
Fecal effluents in the sewer well are clarified, as a result of which partially purified water and suspensions are formed. In the case of a cesspool, the first is drained into the ground, and the second is decomposed by microorganisms to a state of silt that is safe from a biological point of view.
If the option with a drive is chosen, then the sewage is simply collected in a sealed container, and as it is filled, it is pumped out with the help of a cesspool machine.
Of course, you can install a full-fledged septic tank with several cleaning chambers, but it costs a lot. For a small cottage or cottage where a family of three or four people lives, a storage tank or a cesspool of several hundred liters is enough. There are not many drains, a similar system of disposal will cope with sewage without any problems.
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Sewer wells are tanks immersed in the ground, performing a number of significant functions. For this, both factory-made parts and improvised tools are used
Septic tanks - sewage systems designed to collect and treat wastewater for subsequent disposal, include from one to three wells
Accumulation wells intended for collecting waste for the purpose of subsequent removal are constructed from plastic containers, sealed concrete or brick shafts with a bottom
Absorption wells are arranged for the purification and disposal of gray drains emanating from bathrooms, showers, pools, kitchens. They have no bottom; instead, a soil filter is arranged to clean the liquid component of the waste mass
In summer cottages, the scheme of a budget sewage system with drain pits from old tires is actively used. Metal or plastic barrels will be able to replace them.
When arranging a filtering, or otherwise absorbing, well in sandy loam soils characterized by low filtration qualities, the two lower rings are constructed of perforated rings to increase the absorption area
It is possible to completely assemble the sewage system with all types of wells from plastic parts specially produced to solve such problems
Traditionally, concrete rings suitable for the installation of drainage, inspection, collector wells, septic tanks and drainage pits are used in the construction of the sewer system.
Polymer-sand elements for the construction of wells
The device of a multi-chamber septic tank made of rings
Accumulative sewer well from a barrel
Absorption well for gray drains
Sewer well from used tires
Perforated Concrete Ring Filter Well
Assembling the manifold well of their plastic parts
Traditional use of concrete rings
Fermentation and clarification of wastewater can be carried out in one or more series-connected tanks. However, in the second case, the installation of sewer wells is greatly complicated.
It is easier to equip one well structure, and to speed up the cleaning process, add chemical or biological reagents to it.
Most often, on their own site, owners of private houses make a cesspool. But if the groundwater level is high, then the option with a cesspool is not suitable, you have to install a storage tank. Moreover, its volume is selected large enough to reduce the number of calls of trays.
The decomposition of the biological component of sewage in the cesspool occurs due to anaerobic microbes. They do not need oxygen replenishment for life, so they will not need to install additional aerobic plants in the well. The entire cleaning system turns out non-volatile, not requiring an electrical connection.
All the processes of decay inside the sewer well occur naturally, thanks to bacteria living in the soil. They are quite successful in this matter, but anaerobes “work” rather slowly. Therefore, to accelerate the processes, bioactivators are occasionally added to the pit.
The distance between the drainage bottom of the cesspool and the layer of groundwater should be at least a meter, otherwise the treated water will have nowhere to go
Requirements for the installation of such facilities
All sewerage should be mounted according to a pre-developed plan, which indicates the layout of all elements of the system and the building materials used. The outer part in this case consists of pipe drains and a treatment plant.
Design and installation of sewer wells is regulated in the following regulatory documents:
- SP 55.13330.2016 “Residential single-family homes ...”;
- SP 32.13330.2012 “Sewerage. External networks ... ”
If you do not comply with the requirements specified in them, then the sewage system after assembly may simply be inoperative.
When choosing a place for a sewage treatment plant on a site, one should not forget about the need to leave free access to it, even a draining cesspool needs to be cleaned of accumulated sludge
Structurally, the sewer well consists of:
- necks with a cover or a hatch;
- mines in the middle part (working chamber);
- bottom (draining or airtight depending on the option chosen for installation).
Even similar elements of this design can vary greatly in size and shape. Here a lot depends on the material of manufacture and design features of the treatment plant, as well as the volume of the tank.
What can a sewer well be built from?
Completed well construction can be from a variety of building materials.
When choosing the best option, you must consider:
- Climatic conditions (maximum possible and average temperatures, total values of rainwater and snow).
- Soil characteristics (freezing depth, composition, and groundwater cover).
- Land features of the site.
If the soil is very heaving, then the sewage well should be made of the most durable building materials. And for wet soils, you will have to choose the most moisture-resistant option.
The most inexpensive and quick to install is the construction of reinforced concrete rings, however, to install them in the excavated excavation pit, you will need to order a crane
With your own hands, a sewer well can be easily made from:
- brick and stone;
- monolithic concrete;
- reinforced concrete rings;
- prefabricated plastic designs
- old tires.
The cheapest thing for self-assembly is a brick drain pit or septic tank assembled from factory or home-made concrete rings.
But in the first case, you will have to tinker with the masonry, and in the second you will need lifting equipment. It is not recommended to manually lower heavy concrete products into the pit; they can be destroyed if it is broken and hit hard.
Only a sewer well with drainage can be made of brick; it is extremely difficult and expensive to ensure complete tightness of the brick walls
A concrete monolithic version will require the arrangement of formwork and the preparation of a solution. If the latter is ordered already mixed in a concrete mixer, this will lead to a serious increase in the cost of work.
Structures made of plastic (polyethylene or PVC), fiberglass and polymer sand are quite expensive. But they are durable and extremely easy to install with their own hands. Such products weigh a little, a couple of people are enough for their installation.
From the used tires will come a very cheap sewer well. They stand in the tire penny, and you can pick up tires in a landfill for free. But here is the same problem as in the case of brick.
To make such a building airtight is extremely problematic, and it is almost impossible to repair. You can arrange an absorbing well from them, but the drive is no longer there.
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Putting sewer pipes into the well
Sewer assembly from modular elements
Drainage manhole
Sewer point of the alloy system
Plastic bottom for well construction
The device of the mine in the trench
The neck of a large sewer well
Cover of a small inspection well
You will learn all about choosing a container for a storage sewer well for independent sewage from our article.
Choosing the location and volume of the tank
When installing a sewer well, a number of sanitary and construction requirements should be observed. If this is not done, then the risk of biological pollution increases. The situation can be reduced to an outbreak of infections, which threatens the owner of the cottage with serious problems.
Sewer well installation should be carried out at a distance from:
- fruiting trees and beds 3 m;
- foundations of buildings on a personal plot of 4–5 m;
- roads and underground utilities (gas, water, electricity) 5 m;
- wells for drinking water and water bodies of 30 m.
A slight deviation from these figures is possible only when installing a sealed storage tank or when installing a cesspool with powerful concrete walls with reliable external waterproofing.
In the case of an absorption well, water that has passed through a sand and gravel multilayer filter should enter the underlying soil layers away from buildings, communications, drinking wells, all types of water bodies and private pools.
Observe distances so as not to change the composition of groundwater for the worse, not to pollute water bodies with insufficient cleaning, and not to wash out the underlying base from under building structures and utilities.
However, if the well structure for sewage drains is removed too far from the house, then on the pipeline between them it will be necessary to arrange inspection (revision) wells every 10-15 meters, which will lead to additional considerable expenses. But this will have to be done, otherwise if the pipe is clogged, it will be necessary to open the soil to clean it corny.
Sewer well should be located at a distance from the foundation of the house, roads and sources of drinking water, otherwise there may be damage to the sewer or outbreaks of infectious diseases
It is recommended to select the volume of the drainage sewer well by SNiPs at the rate of 600 liters for each person living in the house (200 daily liters of sewage multiplied by three days). With this capacity, the cesspool will have time to clarify the water, and the soil will take purified water.
With the storage capacity, the situation is somewhat different. It should be large enough so that there is a gap of a couple of months between calls by the scavenger. However, installing an excessively capacious tank is also not worth it.
The best option is a little more than 3.5 or 5 cubic meters. Drains from a similar capacity completely fill the barrel with a sewer machine. Then you have to pay for a call, not a cubic meter.
Installation and Installation Rules
When installing a well structure for external sewage, it is necessary:
- Dig a pit with a width of 30–40 cm wider than the selected structure.
- Tamp at the bottom of the pit sand and gravel pillow 15–20 cm.
- Mount the elements of the well.
- Lay and connect the sewage pipe from the house.
- Perform leak test of joints.
- Install a ventilation riser.
- Backfill and insulate.
The external sewer pipe can be plastic, cast iron, ceramic or asbestos-cement. It should be laid at a slight slope to the well. Drains should drain into it unhindered by gravity. And the less horizontal bends the pipeline has, the better.
Installation of sewage pipes with a diameter of 110 mm is recommended to be done with a slope towards the well of 20 mm / per linear meter, and with a section of 160 mm - 8 mm / linear meter
Pipes made of cast iron and asbestos cement have rough walls, their slope needs to be slightly increased. In general, only a highly competent engineer can correctly calculate the required diameter and slope of the laid pipelines.
It is necessary to take into account the material of the pipes, the volume of effluents and their speed. It is best to entrust the design of the entire sewer system to a professional, and then installation can already be done with your own hands.
The installation of the sewer well should be carried out in such a way that its lid rises 15-30 cm above the ground. In rains and floods, under no circumstances should water enter the tank from the outside. This will instantly lead to its overflow and failure.
As insulation in warm regions, there is enough soil half a meter thick over the main body of the well and a small layer of thermal insulation on the cover. In the northern regions this will not be enough, it will be necessary to cover the entire engineering structure with polystyrene. He is not afraid of moisture and frost.
Option # 1: concrete ring structure
Sewer well made of reinforced concrete rings is easy to install and unpretentious in operation. It is only necessary to carefully seal the joints between the rings using concrete mortar, and also to cover the walls of the casing with a bitumen-based coating on the outside.
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Digging a pit for a concrete well
Processing concrete walls with bituminous mastic
The principle of mounting a well of concrete rings
The design of the neck of a concrete well
The main thing during installation is to make the rings on each other exactly without displacements. Otherwise, gaps will form in the walls, which can no longer be tightly closed. A pit for a cesspool can be dug right away in full depth and then lowered there.
And a variant is possible with the installation of one of the concrete products first and the production of a gradual digging under it, with the inside of the formed mine.
The depth of the sewer well is determined by the number of reinforced concrete rings and additional elements of the neck, having standardized sizes from 0.7 to 2 meters
When arranging an absorption well to form a drainage layer, gravel is poured inside with a layer of about half a meter of crushed granite. You can take limestone (dolomite) stone, but it will last no more than 20 years and can lead to salinization of soils. Crushed stone should be medium in size a few centimeters. Smaller fractions are simply compressed, ceasing to drain water.
Option # 2: Tire Drain Pit
Car tires made of rubber are not susceptible to corrosion, do not crack in the cold and do not break when the soil is heaving. They make an excellent cesspool. But before you make a sewer well out of tires, you should seriously think.
The cesspool of old tires is cheap and easy to install, but leaky and completely unusable
If at least one of the tires leaks out, you will have to dig up and shift the entire well structure again. It is impossible to replace or repair it in any way.
Plus, it is impossible to ensure the tightness of the joints between the tires. You can use various sealants, but due to thermal expansion, the rubber will still “breathe” slightly throughout the year, destroying the sealing layer.
Such a well structure is suitable as a sewer for a small house for one or two people or a summer house with irregular visits. But if it is required to clean the effluents produced by a larger family, then it is worthwhile to choose a construction more productive and larger.
Option # 3: plastic construction
The easiest way to install factory-made plastic containers. Their price is higher than that of a reinforced concrete analogue. But then, how much time and effort can be saved on installing such a sewer well with your own hands. Due to the low weight of the structure, a crane is not required; you can lower it into a pit together.
Pipes are introduced into the plastic well through openings already cut at the factory using rubber cuffs; installation is quick and easy
Sewer wells made of plastic are available in various sizes and heights. You can always find an option for the right amount. It is better to choose a body with stiffeners and reliable fastenings for the concrete “anchor” under it.
If the plastic well is not fixed securely at the bottom of the foundation pit on a concrete base, then it can be squeezed out of the ground during flooding and floods. The lightweight design makes installation easier, but leads to problems with ascent.
If a sealed version is installed, then there are zero problems. It will only be necessary to fill a slab of concrete with a thickness of 15–20 cm at the bottom of the pit, laying iron hooks in the solution for attaching the body.
But when installing a well with drainage in place of the bottom will have to tinker. It will be necessary to make a reliable heavy foundation, which would not block the access of drained water to the ground. You will have to install an additional concrete ring down or pour something similar with your own hands.
Video # 1. How to make a cesspool of tires on your own:
Video # 2. Stages of building a sewer well from concrete rings:
Video # 3. How to properly fasten well rings made of concrete:
You can make your own sewer well from various building materials with a minimum of effort and money. There are no difficulties here, the main thing is to correctly design the entire sewage system and correctly choose a place on the site for its external component.
The sewage tank can be masked on top with a removable flowerbed or artificial boulder.
Tell us how you arranged the sewer well in your own summer cottage. Please write comments in the block below. Share your impressions, step-by-step photos of the construction process, ask questions.