SEDL / STP / STP1324-EB / STP13802S

A Review of the Field Performance of Chamber Leaching Systems

Dix, SP
Technical Director, Infiltrator Systems, Inc., Old Saybrook, CT

May, R
Consultant/Engineer, Infiltrator Systems, Inc., Old Saybrook, CT

Pages: 13    Published: Jan 1997

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Abstract

There are very few studies in literature that evaluate the field performance or failure rate of any type of leaching component of a septic tank/leachfield system. The advent of graveless, chamber leaching systems raises the question about the field performance of these systems and how that may compare to the performance of gravel systems. Proponents of chamber systems argue that on the basis of laboratory, pilot, and field data, that a chamber system can be properly sized at 50 to 60% of the size requirement of gravel filled systems. The problem of establishing these requirements at a laboratory scale relates to experimental difficulty; however, several field studies in Maine, Georgia, Texas, Washington, and Illinois support the performance claim for chamber systems.