Water in Water out

I have talked about how we get water before. I talked about the low water pressure, tanks and pumps but I did not mention the waste water discharge from my home. When I was in Thailand some 40 years ago water and sewage simply went into the ditch. The smells were awful. I am not saying that all the smells are gone but the situation is far better now. Water leaving the house is seperated into 2 types. The toilet water goes into a type of holding tank and all the other water goes into the ditch. The other water is what is known as grey water. It is not raw sewage but just the sink and shower water.

For years grey water has been used in the southwest for watering outdoor areas and I have even seen it directed into pipes that distribute the water around the foundation of a house to prevent drying of the soil and cracking of the foundation. Grey water does stink. When I was working with the Len Foote Hike Inn Friends we were planning a grey water disposal system. The water was going to be fed into a bed of material where the bad stuff (and smells) are broken down naturally. I remember sitting out on the deck of the lower building at night and smelling the raw grey water smells wafting up from below. It was a problem there.

Here at my village there are 156 residences. The Grey water is simply fed into a ditch system in the neighborhood and through a pipe which goes under the road and into a field. It looks nasty but the prevailing winds take the majority of smells away.

The toilet water on the other hand goes into a holding tank a lot like a septic tank. The tanks look like a large black egg. I have seen them for sale at the shops that sell other tanks and boats. I'll add a picture of that today if I get a chance. The "eggs" have to be pumped out from time to time. It reminds me of Japan. The cost to pump out the tank can be $30. It only takes about 10 minutes. I have heard of people that have bargained them down to $18. The guys with the pump trucks usually drive thru the village a couple times a day looking for customers. I include a picture of the water going into the field across the road. Sappasin Village, Udon Thani, Issan, Thailand