How To Make The Most Out Of A Septic System?

Being in a temperate climate with a high water table, my current system is a typical septic tank contected to a pump house tank, leading to a raised leaching field I have a meadow over. It works fine for now, but will probably need to replace it in the near future purely because of wear from time. When it does I want to make the most of it.

One factor I have yet to find use of is Waste Heat from a septic system - could that be utilized for heating an attached greenhouse? Could a whole septic system be used inside such a greenhouse by utilizing a wetland biofilter? Could that system be entirely gravity fed?

Already have plenty of information on dry toilet composting and other alternatives, so not looking for that sort of information unless it connects to a self contained biofilter system. Because I acknowledge that I am not interested in shovelling the processed wasted at the end of the system, and rather have other organisms do that part - just like my septic system already does for me.

If a leach field remains a necessary component - could there be hugelkultur beds on either side of the pipes? That way the pipes remain relatively accessible for future mainenance? Any other optimum use for leaching fields?

Keywords: Septic System , Septic Tank , Septic Field , Leach Field , Leaching Field , Septic Leach Field , Septic Drain Field , Gravity Fed , Soil Nutrients , Bioactive , Waste , Waste Heat , Black Water , Grey Water , Hydroponic , Wetland , Biofilter , Greenhouse , Temperate Climate , Passive Design , High Water Table , Wastewater

I would be leery of capturing unwanted gases while harvesting the heat from a septic system. For the leach field, you could probably grow some sort of tree or shrub on the sides as far as food safety. The problem is that if roots find the pipes they will grow down them, destroy them, block them, and generally break your sytem sooner. A hugelkultur bed might do it, but I'm always leery of growing any sort of in ground vegetable anywhere near the septic.

Here is a discussion about the whole issue.
capturing heat from septic tanks
Points I noticed
- heat comes from the anaerobic digesting of the solids.
- if too much heat is removed, the digestion will slow down
- placement of heat coil strategically may work.
I am not aware of harmful gases coming out, but of course methane will be present, but it usually is vented
from the tank and may not be an issue.
This may be of help,  Home Biogas unit,
fitted into the greenhouse it may be just what you need.

Try installing a methane digester to give you biogas and a reed bed to do a secondary breakdown and aerobically treat the water.  Depending on the area available, you can grow out fish.
There is so much info out there I cannot suggest where to start.  I have a mate who is doing this.  Has the methane generator built and has enough gas to use a gas stove for meals.

One of my friends takes his potted blueberries and roses and places them over his tank in the winter for the heat it gives off.

Robert Ray wrote:One of my friends takes his potted blueberries and roses and places them over his tank in the winter for the heat it gives off.

Robert Ray, where is your friend, climate / bioregionally ?

I have since recieved a very useful textbook I ordered on the subject -
Natural Wastewater Treatment Systems, by Ronald W. Crites, E. Joe Middlebrooks, Robert K. Bastion, and Sherwood C. Reed.

I will see what I learn and eventually share what I can here

I am thinking of doing a house sized version of what was done at Niagara Under Glass

"But one of the major problems of constructing wetlands for treating waste water in most North American communities, said Lemon, is winter. When cold weather sets in and the water that normally washes horizontally through a bed of cattails turns to ice, the frozen crust "cuts off the oxygen supply, and everything below (in the root bed, where most of the digestion of contaminants takes place) goes septic.""

"A final report from the pair will show that by growing wetland plants in sandier soil and feeding waste water downward, so it moves through the root-bed vertically rather than horizontally, a constructed wetland can remove contaminants from the water all year long. The results were impressive enough to earn the first-ever Ontario approval for a constructed wetland treatment system at the Niagara Under Glass complex" 

I live in the high desert of central Oregon. Zone 3, pine forest. Considerable snow during the winters.