Dry Well Advice

[Deadsquiggles]

So I'm putting a small deep sink in my garage, just for washing my hands, basically. I'm gonna use a dry well for the drain. My question is, how big does the drum for the dry well have to be? I have a 55 gallon plastic drum to use but my thought was since it's just one sink, could I cut the barrel in half and do a 23 gallon dry well? Just wondering if I have to dig tobury a whole barrel.
Thanks

 

[Hghgrad]

I'd do half. I let mine run out the wall and a few feet away into the grass. I don't leave the water on long enough to notice a wet spot in the grass

 

[larry_g]

I put in a sink, dug a trench and put in about 10' of plastic perf pipe. It has worked for 20 years. A lot depends on your soil type.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[gungatim]

if you're just draining grey water, you don't need anything more than a post hole dug and drop down a piece of perf pipe, or just rocks...unless your soil doesn't perc.

I jut run mine straight on the ground through a hole in the wall. washing your hands takes what, half a gallon of water at most?

 

[RWorth]

it's 100% dependent on your soil, dump a bucket of water in the hole and see what happens, if it disappears quickly then you only need a big enough tank to hold the quantity in the sink, just do yourself a favour and make it accessible so you can check it and clean it once in awhile, or when it clogs.

My yard is clay for the top 4 feet, I'd need a 275

 

[Pluribus]

If it was me, I'd go for a section of tight line to get the water away from the building/footer, then a section of perforated pipe. If your soil doesn't perk, is draining to daylight an option? Topography can be your friend.

 

[Deadsquiggles]

I have a fair amount of clay. But oddly enough, it drains pretty well. I decided to go ahead and use the whole 55 gallon drum. I just finished digging a 5.5' hole about 2 hours ago and finished the 15' trench a couple minutes ago. Next things, rocks. I've read to wrap the barrel in permeable wrap and then fill the barrel with rocks. I've also read to leave the barrel empty and put the rocks around it. Then I've also read you fill the barrel and the space around it with rocks. Which option is the best?

 

[theoldwizard1]

Again, it depends on your soil.

The most important thing is to line you hole with the best landscape cloth you can find. You want to prevent the "fines" from migrating back in between the rock and clogging things up.

The BEST would be rock (minimum 3/4" but nothing wrong with with crushed concrete up to about 3") of the INSIDE, mainly to prevent the barrel from caving in. Crushed rock on the outside, between the barrel and the the landscape cloth. If you just wrap the barrel and then back fill with rock around it, that space will fill with silt over time.

 

[The Cobbler]

Not to railroad the thread, but I was fortunate, I am tying my shop sink drain in to an unused septic tile bed that has been out of commission since 1967. When I trenched for hydro & water i was able to tie into one of the tile runs. that old clay pipe is like brand new under 2' of soil

 

[rburke65]

,mi have to think you will be fine with just draining into the ground without the drum in the ground. Reall like the idea of thesoild pipe to drain away from the garage and then perforated pipe there after.

 

[Orionrising]

be aware that some places anything subsurface without a septic permit is a gotcha, generally ok to drain to the surface, but underground disposal....

 

[Deadsquiggles]

Again, it depends on your soil.

The most important thing is to line you hole with the best landscape cloth you can find. You want to prevent the "fines" from migrating back in between the rock and clogging things up.

The BEST would be rock (minimum 3/4" but nothing wrong with with crushed concrete up to about 3") of the INSIDE, mainly to prevent the barrel from caving in. Crushed rock on the outside, between the barrel and the the landscape cloth. If you just wrap the barrel and then back fill with rock around it, that space will fill with silt over time.

So line the hole with best landscape cloth I can get. The fill the barrel, then backfill the whole with rocks, and then cover with dirt? Thank you, just what I was looking for.

 

[gungatim]

just wow...the lengths some people will go to avoid doing something right.