Septic System Alternatives That Save Money

For anyone who has recently installed a new septic system or is thinking about putting one in, you probably already know that the cost can be prohibitively expensive.  Especially during these tough economic times when everyone is trying to save money, it can be difficult to conceive of spending $10,000 or more to put in a new septic system.  Now more than ever, consumers are becoming interested in septic system alternatives that can not only save them money now, but down the road as well.

When we talk about alternatives to the traditional septic system, the first thing to understand is that your home's wastewater is divided into two categories: gray and black water.  Black water is what you flush down your toilet.  Because it contains human waste, black water has to be handled in a very specific way so as not to contaminate the environment or make anyone sick.  Gray water, on the other hand refers to everything else; it encompasses all the water used in showers, sinks, and laundry.  Gray water is easier to deal with, because it doesn't have high nitrogen levels from fecal contamination.  For this reason, it is possible to install filtration systems that will recycle the gray water from your home so it can be used again for other purposes.

Gray water handling systems are not inexpensive; they can run as high as $5,000 to have them professionally installed.  However, when evaluating the cost, it's important for homeowners to factor in the cost savings down the road, too.  When you consider that about two thirds of all wastewater in the United States is gray, imagine how much money the typical U.S. household could save by being able to use that water a second time.  With the right filtration system, you can reuse your gray water in toilets or for outdoor irrigation, potentially saving your household hundreds of gallons each week.

As we mentioned, black water has to be dealt with in a different way.  If your goal is to avoid installing a septic system, one good alternative might be a composting toilet.  Composting toilet systems are clean, odorless, and come in many styles and configurations to accommodate almost any situation.  If your goal is to save as much money as possible, you may be interested in a composting dry toilet that is waterless.  However, there are also composting toilet systems on the market today that feature very traditional looking low flush toilet fixtures in the bathroom, connected by standard PVC plumbing pipe to a central composting unit in the basement where the waste is actually handled.  When the composting process is complete, the end product is clean, dry compost that will look and smell like any other ordinary compost you'd buy from a garden center.  This compost can then be applied to your lawn or flower gardens.  Composting toilets can range in cost from $1,000 to $3,000, depending on the size of system you need, but most homeowner's will easily recuperate that expense over the first few years of ownership.

Septic systems may have been the standard of the past for anyone living in rural or remote areas, but they most likely will not be the standard of the future.  Septic system alternatives such as gray water recycling beds and composting toilets are quickly becoming mainstream as consumers strive to save money and natural resources.