That's fine.

Btw, the risk of veggie contamination is a minor issue when it comes to septic field planting (though you'd be wise to wear gloves working in the field area). The real risk is ruining how the field works and costing you $$$ fixing it or artificially expanding the field's drainage area by disrupting the soil profile over the field.

The septic field soil is a living/working filter. Sure, the septic field is "just dirt" but it's designed to work with that dirt and the drainage as a single system.

g'day dirtluvr,

why no plant on top of the leech field, i am sure i have a link on our site to help in that area. but if you are growing above ground crops i can see no issues at all the may be if you dig down and plant tubers etc.,? but i expect that would be if the vege' wasn't washed properly then cooked properly. why let the grass have all those nutrients?

below the line of the leech field i'd suggest growing fruit trees.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

I have wondered about this too. My septic field area gets the most sunlight.

I definitely would not put the raised beds directly on top of your septic system. I'm not sure your soil profile, but some of the shallower clays rely heavily on evaporation to disperse the liquid aspect of sewage. Even if that is not the case, I would be worried you might pick up some off flavors from any chemicals you might flush down your drains. I'm not sure about all vegetables, but I know that the spinach implicated in the 2006 outbreak and taken in e-coli through its roots, so washing it was of no use. This could be a problem in uncooked veggies.

I think that 20-25 feet away is a reasonable distance for raised beds. Even with lateral water movement, there is a good soil barrier. I'd hestitate to plant some fruit trees 20 ft from a septic system, as some have aggressive root systems.

But like nc-crn said, the real risk is damaging your nitrification field. Believe me, even the small repairs can easily cost in the thousands!

I don't really understand the concern about raising a garden over a septic field line system. The only problem I see is the potential of plugging the field lines with roots causing a backup. The health concerns about the vegetables should be minimal. Most asian countries save all the human waste from the home (honey pots)and then distribute it in the garden as fertilizer. I grew up with two families from China who deposited all the urine from the night before into a large wooden barrel in the back yard. All winter the stuff would age in the barrel and a lot of the water would evaporate away. In the spring they would dip it from the barrel, dilute it with water, and apply it to the plants in the garden. They had fabulous gardens. In China, they would also have used the solids. In the states, they didn't use the solids because the neighbors would have complained about the odor.

I also had a friend who was a p.o.w. in a prison camp in germany during WWII. Every day, the germans would send a crew in to collect the waste from the previous day. They were glad to get the waste because it was also the best fertilizer for their farms. They used it as fertilizer before the war, during the war, and maybe after the war.

I'm almost willing to bet the original colonists of this country didn't really put a dead fish with each corn stalk as fertilizer. It probably just smelled like a dead fish.

Ted

Ted, FYI gathering 'night soils' has been phased out in China in the modern era and its actually illegal to do so in India.

"I don't really understand the concern about raising a garden over a septic field line system. The only problem I see is the potential of plugging the field lines with roots causing a backup."

It's more about damage to the septic system itself more than it is the quality of the soil on the site.

A septic system includes the soil...it's part of the "system."

You can end up having a $1000+ garden if you to anything too intensive on your septic field because of the damage it could cause.

Adding more soil on top of the system or big plant canopies that block the sun from hitting the ground keep the septic system from doing it's job properly. Some people can do light plantings on theirs, but for the most part it's a gamble with a high cost to repair if you lose.

Tomacco,

While I'm sure your statement is the official position of both China and India, the reality is often different. The fact is "nightsoil" as a commodity is to valuable to not use in the small home plots. Check out this link. http://www.agroecology.org/Case%20Studies/nightsoil.html

Ted

the way i see the roots of the vege's will be drawing moisture from the leech field and also they are of a temporary nature and once the crop is spent they will rot down, also the extra worms that come will help with the liquid control. gardeners use chook and other manures on their gardens not all compost it first and those pellets that we buy have a good smell about them but there is no way that could ever put a taste into the crop.

from what i recall of that spinach problem that was not because there may have been pathogens in the growing medium all our growing mediums have pathogens, it was very likely to have been from contaminated irrigation water or washing water.

len

I am kind of in the middle concerning septic fields. Where people have city sewage, it's down the drain and good riddance and forgotten as long as there is no clog.

For rural people with private systems you have to deal the the reality of what goes down has to come out.

How well a system operates depends on several things. First ...how heavy a load does it receive. Second. How large and well layed out is it. Third. How much grease, soap, and chemicals go down the drain. Fourth. Are there tree roots blocking some of it. Fifth. Is monthly bacteria added to aid things. Sixth What kind of soil does it drain into. Seventh. How much rainfall lands on the field.

Ideally, greasy plates and pans would be wiped off before washing them to keep goop out. Grease and soap along with harsh chemicals tend to goop the drainage holes up and then it will tend to drain out in just maybe one area making that very wet. Long showers and daily loads of chlothes can put a heavy load on the field especially in wet weather. The more people in the household adds up too.

Anyway, if the system is working well I would think that 10 feet and more away would likely be ok unless green ooze was near the garden!

If you have a septic system, it's pretty easy to tell how far out or where it leaches....The grass is always luxurious over the field.

DH & I operate a business installing septic systems and I keep up with latest regulations and such on this issue. Virginia is in the process of adopting new regulations that will make it illegal to have a vegetable garden over a drainfield. Part of the issue is potential contamination of the crops and the other part is adverse effects to the function of the drainfield. These systems are designed with specific soil conditions taken into consideration and when you start changing those conditions, you can change the way the drainfield operates. The cost of installing a new system can run from $5,000 to $25,000, depending on what is required. Makes the cost of a few veggies rather pricey!

The original poster asked about putting the garden downslope from the drainfield and the distance he's talking about should be safe if the drainfield is operating properly. If it's not, then he should know by the wetness of the area and the associated odor of sewage.

I'm always one to err on the side of caution when it comes to things like this. Having a few fresh vegetables grown on the drainfield is just not worth the risk of a trip to the hospital (or worse.) If the drainfield is the only place with enough sun, then used container plants spaced apart so the soil is still able to do it's job. E coli and the other pathogens associated with sewage are nothing to take lightly.

Sandy

Gardener Sandy,

Just curious, do you have weblinks to new Virginia regulations and how they design septic systems? I design septic systems in NC and always like to see how other states do it!

Justine, the current controversy is over licensing for the industry professionals and has gotten a lot of heated discussion of late. Here's a link to our Town Hall website for all that noise...
http://www.townhall.virginia.gov/L/comments.cfm?stageid=4705

The draft document for the operations and maintenance classification (which affects what can be grown over drainfields) is not online except in a password protected site that I can't give you access to. It's in early stages of development right now and I guess the powers that be don't want it passed around too much just yet.

Here's a link to VA's full regulations and other environmental info:
http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/EnvironmentalHealth/Onsite/index.htm

We understand that completely new regulations are in the works, possibly for passage next year, but we don't have any information on them.

Hope this info helps.

Sandy

This may only pertain to Pennsylvania but one detail to consider is if this is a "traditional" system or a "sand mound" system. The traditional has a drain field (which would show the nice green grass "lines" in the summertime). A sand mound is a big hill in the yard.

With a Sand mound system you are told to never plant anything aside from grass on the entire "hill".