James McNabb

lala funstar wrote:Minimum size for composting toilet and black water septic system is 200 gallons,,this is form the horses mouth

Which horse? The document I posted suggests 1000 gallon is the minimum, which is straight from the horses book of codes.

Kadin Goldberg wrote:Hi everyone!
I am in the process of purchasing some land in Cochise County to build a strawbale-ish home.  I have been talking with various county officials but hoping to get more clarity from someone here!

I plan on collecting rain water (with the occasional water haul if necessary) and plan to use a composting toilet.  I’ve learned recently that because Arizona classifies your dish water as black water you apparently still need a septic system installed on your property.  I’m trying to figure out if there is any way around this or if there is some sort of tiny septic system that can be used for this purpose.  I’d rather not have to spend $5-6k on a septic that we don’t really need.  I’d like to reuse my shower and sink water by filtering and watering plants anyways.

Any help/guidance you can give me would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Kadin

Hi Kadin,

I'm in the exact same boat in Cochise County and have been doing research as well (waiting to hear back from officials, but it's good to enter those discussions with knowledge).

As far as I can tell, the minimum septic size is 1000 ga., even if it's just for one kitchen sink.

Source: https://www.cochise.az.gov/DocumentCenter/View/507/State-Sewage-Rules-PDF

-James