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On the new homesite, the leach field is up hill from a prospective garden site. Would it be a no no to put the garden where the effluant could be moving through the ground water?
There are other usable garden sites, but this one has the most usable area.
Would probably be growing tomatos, peppers and such. In some countries human waste, nightsoil, is used as fertilizer.
Personally, I don't think it would be a problem unless you were really close (like 10-25 feet) and if the system was not working properly..i.e. the sewage was running out of the field at ground level.
A drinking well only needs to be 100 feet from a leach field here in Mass, and it is drawing from water *beneath* the level of the leach field.
How far away is your field from the proposed garden?
How far away?
My garden is only about 75 feet away from my drain field. I haven't had a problem yet (that I know of).
<font color="orange">"In some countries human waste, nightsoil, is used as fertilizer." </font color>
Only after it has been very well treated.
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Only after it has been very well treated.
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Not so, I've seen documentories showing folks in Asia both defecating in the crop fields and emptieing chamber pots into the same fields.
Milorganite, sewage sludge, is a great lawn fertalizer, but it is treated.
Nearest part of the garden should be about 50-60 feet away. Perhaps farther if I make it long and narrow rather than square.
If your system is working OK you should be fine. Most of the water flowing into the leach field will either evaporate up or go down, not much should go sideways.
>>Nearest part of the garden should be about 50-60 feet away.
Thats plenty far away...unless your septic system is really disfunctional, I can't see any problem.
Thanks for the input. I guess I won't have to irrigate.
"I've seen documentories showing folks in Asia both defecating in the crop fields and emptieing chamber pots into the same fields."
I don't think that would be an acceptable practice here, though. The EPA has done lots of tests here and that's why treated sludge is OK but untreated is not.
It's the same with animal feces. Horse, cow, chicken -- OK (but mostly composted manure is what is used). Dog, cat, etc. -- not OK. It has something to do with the amount of bacteria and stuff in the feces.
There's no way I would eat anything grown in a garden treated with untreated human feces.
Night soil vegtables must all be cooked prior to comsumtion.
Egon
Guess that eliminates snacking on carrots right from the garden in those cases.
Darned if I know what's what in your case Gary. Soil sample analysed after a year or so might give you an answere. I know I can't.
Egon
Living in areas where "organic" gardening has been going on for millenia, they don't have some of the toxic materials in their night soil us westerners do.
That sounds plenty far enough that you shouldn't have to worry about it. The septic tank cleans most of the nasty stuff out - the leach field water shouldn't be all that bad (from a well balanced tank it should be mostly treated grey water).
<font color="blue"> from a well balanced tank it should be mostly treated grey water... </font color>
The majority of that will evaporate anyway.
<font color="blue"> The majority of that will evaporate anyway. </font color>
Yeah, it will. And the stuff that doesn't isn't all that bad as far as quality is concerned. Bet there are city systems that don't deliver water much cleaner than that... Even heard that some of the bottled waters are full of nasty stuff. But that far from the septic tank should be just fine for a garden.