The gravel less septic system we came up with....

 When looking up the different types of septic systems, we found that the gravel less system would work out the best for the area we had in mind for the septic drain fields.

This is from  http://www.cleanearthenvironmental.net/septic-systems.html : Gravel less conventional systems overcomes some of the drawbacks of graveled systems. These drain field systems consist of a series of connected chambers that are typically 15 to 40 inches in width. Typically these chambers are manufactured of molded high-density plastic in 10' to 12' foot lengths. Some systems include pipes within the chamber, others do not. CleanEarth Environmental exclusively uses the Infiltrator chamber system as we have found this system to most effective when allowed in Florida soils. Native soil is compacted slightly around the chambers to provide stability and then filled in above the chamber. When placed into service, waste water is carried by pipe from the septic tank to the chamber run and flows directly against the soil. As in the graveled system a bio mat forms on or near the soil level and works to consume solids that pass out of the septic tank. One real advantage of the chambered system is its ability to hold much larger amounts of water. This is useful in locales where the water table can rise close to the surface and in instances when there is a temporary surge as a result of extra guests. Obviously shock loading over prolonged periods of time is going to be detrimental to the biomat as oxygen will not be available to parasites during these periods. " Of course trying to do this build on a limited budget, Chris was able to come up with his version of the same system. He decided to use plastic barrels that we purchased from a car wash for $3 a barrel. After cutting one barrel up you end up with two sections or almost 5 feet of coverage. We ended up laying out about 120 feet of perforated pipe and covering it with these barrels. The cost of the barrels were around $70 and the pipe to lay in it was around $300. The holding tank itself is a poly tank that Chris found on Craigslist for $300. We were able to dig the trenches with the backhoe attachment on the tractor but were not able to dig the hole for the tank itself. The neighbor happens to have a backhoe and is willing to dig the hole for the tank in exchange for a frame to an RV that we had. So we should have a cost of less than $700 for our septic system, as long as the neighbor shows up with his backhoe. HOW THE BARRELS WORKED...

We took the barrels and marked the hole that the pipe would go through when we cut it in half.

We then used a sawzall to cut the barrels in half and a jigsaw to cut out the area for the pipe.

Then the bottom is cut out .

The end that was cut off is then attached to the center for support.

This is what the barrels look like when they are done.

We then dug a trench with the tractor and took a lazer level to make sure it was all level and started laying out the perforated pipe.

This is the pipe at the end to join the next section. It is a solid pipe and will not have barrels over it. The trenches that we dug make a back and forth pattern with the solid sections on opposite ends each time. This is the barrel being buried. We added another to the row after this picture. The barrels overlap by about half and are screwed together to hold them in place.