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So what you're saying is that there is no statewide sanitary code which
Statewide? Woooo hold on there.
In Maine a lot of code enforcement is by township. Each town, may, or may not have someone who 'enforces' codes.
My township defaults to the state.
Quote:
... sets minimum standards for wastewater disposal
Outhouses are legal.
You can hire a soil science/septic design engineer, he looks at your land and designs your system. Whether you want a leechfield for a 10 bdrm house or an outhouse. He designs it. Then if your township allows it, you can build it and get a Health Inspector to inspect that it conforms to design.
All legal.
Quote:
... I'd like very much to be able to build a small off grid camp with a composting toilet and a simple drywell to handle the shower and sink wastewater.
I got a septic system design in hand [basically to prove that it is possible] then we used a composting toilet for a couple years, before we got our septic system finished.
Soils differ statewide, and the standards for systems are dictated at the State level. Municipalities can be MORE stringent, but not less stringent. It's been 35+ years since I did a soil test ("perc" back then, to see how long it took standing water to perc out of a particular size hole in the ground). The shallower to hardpan, clay, and the blue mottling that indicates at least seasonal water intrusion, the more involved and more trucking to bring in particular aggregate and materials to accommodate the leachfiled of your system. It's why you see some systems built up above the ground with extensive distribution field lines and pumps. Without them, the bacterial laden waste can run off, go into groundwater, etc., nearby water bodies, neighbor's wells. The distribution fields are for wastewater, since the 1000 gallon (or better) concrete tank at the beginning of the system serves the purpose of removing solids, THEN distribution of added water takes place through leaching into the designed leachfield. Gotta pump out every few years. I've got to get an old 500 gallon tin tank out of the ground this summer, have a leachfield designed, etc. Pricey undertaking. Most older homes (1800's, early 1900's) should be checked for the metal tank. It ain't no good. My third house with one of these pains in the arse.
I had a 500 gallon steel tank when I bought this 1885 house. The top rusted due to air in the tank I bought a new top and installed it. That is maintenance. A few years later the town sand truck went off the road, careened across my lawn and ran across my tank. I put in a new 1,000 gallon tank and leach field. It word fine. I did it. That too is maintenance.
When I was running the new pipe to the field, I found the original system. It was a cedar crib cesspool. Many of them are still in service. They work well. Many people are available to tell you what you need to do. That is advice and worth what you paid for it.Their advice may not be a regulation.
It strikes me that the OP is asking a specific question, and none of the responses have specifically answered that question, at least not directly, and not in any detail.
I can understand the viewpoint of code enforcement, and I can understand the position of a landowner who wishes to responsibly use alternate means of sanitation, in such a way that it does not harm the water nor the environment. It seems to me that the state of Maine would better further its own interests to allow alternate sanitation, under state guidelines that would regulate inexpensive septic and/or composting systems...and thenspecify where these alternate systems are allowed.
As it is now, many thousands of cottages, camps, hippie communes, and sawed-off reefers, being used as homes across Maine, are given zero instruction or help in establishing safe septic systems. They are simply told that they must have a traditional septic system that will cost multiples of thousands $, which these folks cannot afford or don't want.
The result is that groundwater, surface water, and soils continue to be polluted.
Here on the Maine board, I find that vague concepts such as "towns of less than 2500 population" - but not all of them - to be less than helpful. Perhaps someday, those who are knowledgeable will be less coy and evasive. Nobody really wants to know about how "legal" it is to have an outhouse inspected, either. It would be more helpful to specify where these outhouses are even allowed.
It strikes me that the OP is asking a specific question, and none of the responses have specifically answered that question, at least not directly, and not in any detail.
I can understand the viewpoint of code enforcement, and I can understand the position of a landowner who wishes to responsibly use alternate means of sanitation, in such a way that it does not harm the water nor the environment. It seems to me that the state of Maine would better further its own interests to allow alternate sanitation, under state guidelines that would regulate inexpensive septic and/or composting systems...and thenspecify where these alternate systems are allowed.
As it is now, many thousands of cottages, camps, hippie communes, and sawed-off reefers, being used as homes across Maine, are given zero instruction or help in establishing safe septic systems. They are simply told that they must have a traditional septic system that will cost multiples of thousands $, which these folks cannot afford or don't want.
The result is that groundwater, surface water, and soils continue to be polluted.
Here on the Maine board, I find that vague concepts such as "towns of less than 2500 population" - but not all of them - to be less than helpful. Perhaps someday, those who are knowledgeable will be less coy and evasive. Nobody really wants to know about how "legal" it is to have an outhouse inspected, either. It would be more helpful to specify where these outhouses are even allowed.
OP, good luck to you! You will need it!
Not sure what you're getting at. Maine has subsurface waste disposal system standards across the board. Depends on the soils at each individual location. The more poorly drained (runoff), the more intensive the system. The more the use (bedrooms) the bigger the leachfield.
I had a house in Bangor years ago with City sewer running by. Discovered the "cedar crib" septic tank, hooked up to municipal sewer. The cedar crib is only a tank. The leachfield is what keeps groundwater and runoff from being infiltrated with bacterial nasties. The old crib style and steel tanks had little or no leachfield, for the most part. Just a hole in the ground, out of sight, out of mind.
So far in this thread, I have not seen any deliberate falsehoods. The wide variation in opportunities is due to the wide variation in control exercised by local governments. Some towns encourage freedom and self determination. Some towns have costly and oppressive regulations along with a squad of enforcement people. People who own property there imagine that all towns require what they had to endure.
Anybody who wants to build a camp should contact the local town government to find out what the opportunities are. I use the straw bale house with an outhouse as an example, just to wake people up to the fact that you do not need a full foundation with R40 insulation and a Cadillac septic system for a camp in all towns.
So far in this thread, I have not seen any deliberate falsehoods. The wide variation in opportunities is due to the wide variation in control exercised by local governments. Some towns encourage freedom and self determination. Some towns have costly and oppressive regulations along with a squad of enforcement people. People who own property there imagine that all towns require what they had to endure.
Anybody who wants to build a camp should contact the local town government to find out what the opportunities are. I use the straw bale house with an outhouse as an example, just to wake people up to the fact that you do not need a full foundation with R40 insulation and a Cadillac septic system for a camp in all towns.
You will still need the soil scientist to come and say if it is ok to put even an outhouse in all towns. The state still has rules that have to be followed.
Very true if you are going to dig. There are other options. We had an incinerating toilet for about five years. Composting toilets are an option. I have never owned one, but I know people who use them. Next is a construction porta-potty. If there are only two people using it and infrequently, they can be efficient and they don't cost much to rent. You can buy used ones. People who put a camper on their land for a full season often use a tank on wheels to go to a dump station. All of these options are legal in most towns.
Sometimes local officials tell people what they need to do. Just ask for a copy of the ordinance to make sure you fully comply. That will often end the conversation. There is no such ordinance.
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