we will be dry camping on a friends land that is over 1,000 acres in Florida. WE'll actually live there for a year or maybe even two years. The property owner (my good friend) said I could simply dig a ten to 12 foot deep hole and put a 4 foot by 4 foot piece of plywood over the hole. The plywood would function as a lid and decrease odors from escaping because the plywood would be almost entire buried under dirt. The only part that would not be buried is the plumbing part that attaches to my black water tubing/line. The hole would be about 18 to 24 inch diameter. Then I could attach/install the plumbing fixture on to the plywood and then hook up my black water hose to the fixture. Then each time i dump, just remove the plywood and bury the black water with 12 to 18 inches of dirt and repeat layering like this until the final layer of dirt is 24 inches thick. Then dig another 12 foot deep hole else where to start a new dump site.It's his property, he's not an experienced Dry Camper nor experienced in RV'ing. Which is why i'm posting this question to you more experienced folks.Can his plan work?have you ever tried something similar?Please share your suggestions, recommendation, advice. Thank you kindly in advance.Eddie

That's how old fashioned out houses worked I do believe... As long as it's a ways from his well or any natural waterways, why not?Who gets to dig the twelve foot deep hole that's only 12" across, some sort of machine?Pick up a few bags of lime, send a shovel full down the hole now and then, should help with odors and decomposition.

Google hone stead septic systemsYou want a pit, with a few biologicals in it that will break down wasteTry looking online for articles from 'mother earth news'A popular magazine in the 70's

Just build a septic tank system with PVC pipe and 55 gallon drums. There are lots of youtube videos on how to do it.Jim

When we lived in a rented farm house in the early 70's in my teenage years the sewer ran from the farm house out to the pasture on top of the ground! The cows didn't seem to mind.

Think it would be wise to check with county officials to get their recommendations on a proper system to use in the rural property that you're planning on camping on. A lot depends on ground water and the soil type that you will be discharging septic waste onto. Better safe than sorry!

Where To Dump Black Water When Dry Camping | Good Sam Community

mowermech
Explorer
May 30, 2017
Y'know, the bottom line is really quite simple.
As always, no matter if it is a sewage system or a LLC:
KNOW the applicable laws and regulations.
COMPLY with said laws and regulations.
DOCUMENT your compliance with said laws and regulations.

Know, Comply, and document; you will probably not spend any time in jail, probably not be assessed any huge fines, and should not have anything to worry about.
JaxDad
Explorer III
May 30, 2017
Grit dog wrote:
So is rockhillmanor saying that you can't have a septic in Florida and that the whole state is on city sewer?

There is a BIG difference between a a septic system (which is a treatment facility, it does NOT just dump raw sewage into the environment) and a hole in the ground.

The bacteria in the tank actually digests the matter flowing into it, what runs out into the leach field, while hardly pure is TREATED waste that is easily digested by the plant matter growing above.

That is why there is such strict rules on what constitutes a septic system and how it is built and where.
drsteve
Explorer
May 30, 2017
sgip2000 wrote:
Where do you all think the discharge from a sewage treatment plant goes? Check out the "Dirty Jobs" sewage treatment plant episode.

The key word is "treatment".
sgip2000
Explorer
May 30, 2017
Where do you all think the discharge from a sewage treatment plant goes? Check out the "Dirty Jobs" sewage treatment plant episode.
phillyg
Explorer II
May 30, 2017
WTP-GC wrote:
rockhillmanor wrote:
Florida is all sand and has an aquifer......

This is a completely FALSE and MISLEADING statement...... Florida IS NOT all sand, and in fact that probably only characterizes a small portion of the state geology......

All this back and forth over 11 pages pointing out who's right and wrong based on opinions, some of which clearly promote breaking the law because "it's just a little poop," or words to that effect, is very disappointing. It's not okay to dump **** anywhere.

I more or less provided the correct answer back on page 5 when I cited Polk County (the OP didn't say which county but I suspect any FL county has similar requirements), where I posted, "I just randomly picked Polk which is heavily rural. Even there, their sewage regs state, 'Cesspools, seepage pits, dry wells and leaching pits shall not be installed.' I think that pretty much eliminates your proposal." There is no discussion therein about different application of the regs if it's 1 or 1,000 acres.

Seriously folks, I think you need to reevaluate your thinking if you believe it's okay to **** on the regs and be so inconsiderate of your fellow man. Just a reminder: one big difference between first and third world countries is its ability to provide good sanitation and control disease. Perhaps you scofflaws should live in India where you can drop trou' in the street with impunity.
WTP-GC
Explorer
May 30, 2017
rockhillmanor wrote:

Florida is all sand and has an aquifer. Your unfiltered raw sewage is going directly into the Florida aquifer.

This is a completely FALSE and MISLEADING statement. The top of the Floridan aquifer ranges from about 50-75 feet below ground to more than 800 feet below ground (depending on the part of the state you're in). Florida IS NOT all sand, and in fact that probably only characterizes a small portion of the state geology.
Grit_dog
Navigator
May 30, 2017
So is rockhillmanor saying that you can't have a septic in Florida and that the whole state is on city sewer?

If you're worried about drinking your neighbors p!ss, then stop drinking out of a sand point well and get a little deeper.
mike-s
Explorer
May 30, 2017
10 pages? What's up with that? This is exactly the opposite of rocket science.

Hold and dump, or dig a hole a couple feet deep and big enough to contain, then dump and cover. Natural and organic. Just not on the surface or near open water.

It's not a problem, except for the same people who are against hunting but are oblivious to the fact that McDonalds burgers are made from dead cows.
DynoDragn
Explorer
May 30, 2017
NWKomfort350 wrote:
Grit dog wrote:
City folk vs country folk......love it!

Some of y'all need to get out of the city more.....

Question to the nay Sayers, what do you do when you have to take a leak or drop a deuce in the woods? Hold it til you run back to "civilization"? Bag it and throw it in your pack with lunch and the compass?
Here's a nice little fact to gross out the city slickers. The entire Victoria BC area dumps ALL their raw sewage into the water. Have been forever! We just got the contract to build the first sewer treatment plant there, lol.
(Better stop eating that wild caught salmon and halibut from the strait of Juan de fuca. Them fish get fat on recycled poutine and Kokanee!)

I just caught a halibut out on Middle Bank on May 4th. It was delicious!!!

Some of that special corn fed Halibut, lol.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
May 29, 2017
As long as all the users whose poop is being distributed are healthy, not much of an issue. But put a few individuals in the mix who are suffering from some bacterial infections, and all bets are off.

"Human excreta and the lack of adequate personal and domestic hygiene have been implicated in the transmission of many infectious diseases including cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, ascariasis, and schistosomiasis."

There's a good reason that most of those diseases are almost unheard of in this country: Good sanitation. Just my thought about dumping your untreated output.