Co-Owner · July 22, 2022
If you hang out on Homestead Twitter or browse YouTube for off-grid living videos, then you’ve noticed a trend.
People are moving to beautiful rural properties and renovating or building homes for themselves and their families. Many of these folks are starting homesteads, preparing or “prepping” for emergencies, or just love rural living.
A good amount of these folks live in areas that are very rural. Which means that it’s too expensive and impractical for them to get their homes connected to a public sewage system. This leaves them with 3 options to deal with sewerage: septic systems, composting toilets, and even outhouses (they’re adventurous people).
Outhouses
Outhouses are little buildings with a toilet seat over a pit or a bucket. No plumbing. Wow, right? They're cheap, but we get the feeling most folks find them smelly and inconvenient. We think it's best to leave this technology in the 1800s, where it belongs.
Composting Toilets
Composting toilets are similar and different from outhouses. Similar because one of the most common types of composting toilets is just a toilet seat with a container underneath. They’re different because they’re located inside a house versus outside. Also, unlike outhouses, you can find composting toilets that are pricey and technologically advanced.
To get rid of bad smells, many people will cover their waste with sawdust directly after using the bathroom. However, some people complain that it continues to smell even after this treatment. Another thing people don’t like is that when your waste container gets full, you have to empty it. No calling in a professional waste-bucket-emptier. What’s more, you’ll need to find a spot on your land to dump all that waste.
Septic Tanks
To the homeowner, a toilet on a septic system looks, feels, and works just like any other toilet. To a plumber, it's very different. Instead of going into city sewer pipes, your sewage goes into a big underground tank. According to the EPA, these tanks need to be pumped out or emptied every 3 to 5 years. As for their lifespan, they typically last 15 to 40 years. Those numbers are good news, because once your septic system is in, you don't have to worry about it all the time.
If you're into homesteading or prepping, or you just love living out in the country, we recommend a septic tank. It's an affordable, low-hassle way to handle your waste.
BBB Septic
We've been designing, installing, maintaining, and fixing septic systems in Northwest Arkansas since 1987.