Build Your Own House

Hi All,

The EPA website has a list of all systems that have been approved for use in Australia:
http://epanote2.epa.vic.gov.au/epa/sept ... scending=2

We have a 12 acre block (~5.5ha) so have no issues with dispersement.
We are happy to disperse/irragate with any product underground (eg not using sprinklers etc).

I've looked at quite a number of models and there seems to be a legaslative requirement in Victoria (where we are) to have quarterley preventative maintenance visits from certified person.
- Some websites state that this will cost approx $100 per visit.

I was quite keen on treating the wastewater to a higher standard, though I don't want to buy in to a maintenance schedule, plus the bits that will obviously need replacing over time as they wear (pumps/chloring/membranes/ozone)..

I'm greatly interested in the thoughts of others and experiences and any indication of real running costs.

Much appreciated

I would have invested in one if the water was storable AND suitable for fruit and veg irrigation. Since it is not, there is no advantage to us in having a system that requires quarterly maintenance and testing so we went with a septic.

Thanks for the reply, that is more or less what I am thinking, though the worm farm system seems to suggest that they don't require quarterly maintenance, which would be good, but i'm still waiting on confirmation of this..

Cheers

We had a biocycle in our previous house, it was a bit of a pain to keep serviced, adding the chlorine tablets etc and we had to replace a few pumps also, it was exspensive to maintain. We looked at a biolytix system with reuse capacity but it was exspensive to buy and install, needed servicing again, used a bit of power and in the end it would have been cheaper to get another tank and collect a bit more water rather than recycling it. In the end we decided to go with dry composting toilet systems and save 25.000 L of water per year. With dry composting toilets there is no need for a black water treatment system and only a basic grey water system, so it ends up being very cost effective.

Steve

Hi Cheezel,

We have an A&E worm system and there is no regular maintenance required. We've had it for about 3 yrs now and it's been terrific. There is only 2 of us but we can have quite a few visitors from time to time and the system copes fine. We use worm-friendly detergents etc. and chuck all our kitchen scraps in the bin on top. And the occassional pizza box.

Cheers,
Helen