Starland, the Friendliest Homestead Community in the Mojave Desert

Projects we could use some help with -most current:

Cabin(s) & Storage

Projects/Wish List
Long-range:

New septic system
Art Space / Propane Kiln
Laundry Shed

Yoo HOO!

Starland Community is holding its Annual Faerie New Year Gathering and Blue Moon New Year's Eve Celebration!

Dates: Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009-Sunday, Jan 3, 2010.
Fee and Admission Charges: $45 per person per night. More if you can, to help fund our limited financial assistance, for those who can pay less, if they can't. Limited financial assistance is available, upon advance request.

What the fee covers: Full use of the camp, one camping, RV, or indoor space, and lots of fun! It also covers basic mundane stuff, such as food for mostly-vegetarian meals, and electricity or propane, for warm, heated spaces. All admitted newcomers may sign up for a Bright Star Membership to Starland, at no extra charge. Admitted Starland Members may renew their Bright Star Memberships, too, at no extra charge.

For a little more comfort: Consider paying the upgrade fee (to be announced) for a space in one of our trailers, or for utility hookups, for your RV or trailer.

Activities At This Gathering: Hiking, Labyrinth Walks, Hot Tub, Simple Activities, Games, Art and Crafts, Workshops, Massage, Yoga, Meditation, Heart Circles, Disco (?) and More!

Opening Circle/Labyrinth Walk: Sunday, Dec. 27, before dusk.
Closing Moments/Altar Walk: Sunday, Jan. 3, after dawn.

Workshop Leaders Sought! Volunteer to teach, encourage, and to share your talents. No topic is too narrow or too wide for this Gathering--simply sign up at the Gathering, and announce your workshop.

Know how to cook, prepare, and clean up? Volunteer for any of these necessary activities!

About this Gathering: Starland Community generously opens its door to Radical Faeries and their "wanna be" admirers for New Year's, on an annual basis. We expect all to be over 21 years old, so we can enjoy the "bubbly" on Dec. 31. Most of the attendees will be male-identified. This is one of our fund-raising events, and it opens our door to those both familiar and unfamiliar with our community and its residents. Starland Community is a private not-for-profit communal space open to all with a strong spiritual energy and followers of fun and adventure.

About Starland's December Climate: Starland is located in the Mojave Desert, which has a "temper" in the winter months. Last year, 18 inches of unusual snow fell in late December! Typically, we expect cold temperatures, frosty strong winds, and sunlight always. We recommend that our visitors bring warm clothing, warm sleeping bags, and warm, close, intimate intentions.

Directions to Starland Community will be sent upon request, to those who register in advance. Payment for admission and upgrades: Paypal, on the web, or check, or bring cash upon arrival. Donations are gladly accepted!

While Starland has some really crappy little trailers fit for RATS, there is now at least one very clean 27' fifth-wheel trailer accommodation which can sleep up to eight! Purchased from Matrix and now owned by Tom who willingly volunteers services of the trailer to Starland. Check it out (pics to come).

Another trailer is or will become available soon was delivered via Matrix's Super Duty F-350 turbo-diesel 4x4 quad-cab just this last weekend. A semi-temporary donation by Jeff, the 22' fully equipped regular hitch tow trailer has working A/C and heating -via propane, which should be available very soon. It has two double beds, one that is a simple sleeping mat, the other more of a regular bed. Jeff wants to add yet another regular double bed. So this trailer could sleep six, maybe. See the 22' foot trailer.

We volunteers work hard to make whatever accommodations available to Starland to make it more comfortable.

What do I know?? I don't even live at Starland, but I sit at home here in Los Angeles and edit the website...
I'm one of Starland's greatest fans... problem is, I work too much in the city and don't get enough time over there at Starland..

But today, I'm trying to post an article on septic systems I found in a mag I picked up from Home Depot, it's called "Green Builder" ("Defining Green" March 2009 issue) ... see the article "Flush and Forget" at www.greenbuildermag.com. I found this article very informative... and Starland needs another septic system... I'm wondering what it would take to put a "good" one in that is ultimate green-friendly. The article gives several designs.

In the mean time I'm researching if it's possible to build our own septic system.

If you are going to install a homemade septic tank you will need to learn 3 things:
· Depth of the seasonal water tables.
· Perk rate of your soil.
· Your state and local code requirements.

The code requirements are easily obtained from your health or zoning office. However I will warn you they are not the easiest documents to translate. The water tables and perk rates are not so easy to get because these tests have to be performed on the property and unless you have done soil borings or perk tests before I would STRONGLY suggest hiring a certified septic designer to perform these tests. This will cost you $200 to $500 but is well worth the investment if you are going to to it yourself.

I have seen many times where the homeowner has gone through the time and trouble to install a homemade septic tank only to have the state inspector show up after the job is done and tell them the system is not up to code and it will have to be re-done. Not a fun thing to have happen, particularly when they often will not let them live in the house until the replacement system is installed. Best to have a professional involved that can help prevent these errors.

The soil borings will tell you how deep you can have your drainfield (you will need 3 to 4 feet of dry soil between the bottom of your drainfield and the seasonal water tables) and the perk rate will tell you at what rate the soil will take water (if the soil perks too slow, the home will put out water faster than the soil can accept it causing overloading, if it perks too fast the sewage will not be properly treated). Once you have this information you can get started.

When you know where you are going to install the homemade septic tank, stake off the area to prevent heavy equipment from driving over the ground and compacting the soil. I always suggest over-building your system. If you have a 2-bedroom house (the number of bedrooms are what is used to gauge the size of a septic system. 75 gals per day per person. Potentially 2 people per bedroom=150 gals per day. 3 bedroom home=450 gals per day) you should build the system for 3 bedrooms...3 bedrooms, size it for 4, etc. You will also want to factor in other information into the size of the system, i.e. daycare or beauty salon operating in the home, frequent entertaining, etc.

Before you say this will add a lot of money, understand this, the biggest cost of a septic system is A tank and drainfield, not the size of the tank and drainfield. To increase the size of a system to the next level will usually only add a few hundred dollars.

The minimum size of the tank should be 1,000 gallons, preferably 1,250 or 1,500 gallons. Two 1,000-gallon tanks are even better (the more tank area you have for settling the better). Install an effluent filter in the exit baffle just after setting the tank.

The drainfield should be made up of 4 to 6 legs.” Longer shallow trenches are better than short and deep because you get more evaporation. I prefer trenches be 24” to 36” wide and 24” deep, 12” of 3/4“ to 1½” rock, 4” PVC distribution pipe with ½” holes, cover the pipe up with 2” of rock, cover with geo-tech fabric (to keep the top soil from filtering down into the drainfield trench), then cover with top soil. The trenches should be 25’ to 100’ long. The bottom of the trench and the pipes should be level or no more than 4” of slope per 100’ (you don’t want the effluent to flow downhill and load up one end). Chambers are also a great alternative to using rock.

If you are on flat land you will want to use a distribution box where the individual lines branch out from. On flat land you will also want to crown the area over the drainfield to divert rain and snow melt.

On sloping land you will want to use a drop box system. This is where the trenches are perpendicular to the slope, when the first trench fills up the effluent spills over to the next trench located 6’ to 10’ further down the hill, then to the next trench and so on.

Note: Many states now require you include an area for the replacement drainfield (when the first one fails) when you design the system. Instead of just designing it on paper, save the (future) higher labor/material costs and put it in now. Then use a diverter valve to switch from one field to the other every few years.

The tank should be a minimum of 10’ from the house and the drainfield should be 100’ away from the well (FHA regulations), 50’ to 75’ away from a body of water and a minimum of 10’ away from lot lines. You also want the tank as shallow as possible for ease of servicing…you do not want to dig 6 feet every time you want to pump/inspect the tank. Of course these guidelines are based on a typical system. If you need an engineered system because you have heavy clay that won’t perk or high water tables you are opening up a whole can of worms.

Find a good designer, have them do the soil tests and get their advice. Also make friends with the local inspector...tell him you want his/her help with your system. If you come across like a know-it-all-jerk he/she will not go out of their way to help you and can make your life a living hell.

At any rate, once you get your system installed make sure you start using it properly. Failing septic systems are a widespread problem in the US & very costly to homeowners, with replacement costs often running from $5,000 to $20,000 or more. For more information, you can go to http://www.laundry-alternative.com/septic_system_maintenance.htm

This article borrowed from website URL: http://www.laundry-alternative.com/homemade_septic_tank

#1 Construct a small septic system: http://www.wikihow.com/Construct-a-Small-Septic-System
#2 Eco-nomic: http://www.eco-nomic.com/septic.htm
#3 small link. SepticTank

What is a Septic Tank?

Septic Tanks are the ideal, economical and trouble free sewage bio-digesters. It is believed the septic tank system was first introduced to South Africa by the British military in 1898. The term �septic� refers to the anaerobic bacterial environment that develops in the tank and which decomposes the waste discharge into the tank. A septic tank is basically a vessel buried underground, the purpose of which is the collection, storage, and to some limited extent, treatment of sewage. A typical septic tank system normally operates by gravity, and consists of a tank and a soakaway drain. Untreated waste water from a property flows into the septic tank, where the solids separate from the liquids. Some solids, such as soap scum or fat, will float to the top of the tank to form the scum layer. Heavier solids settle to the bottom of the tank as sludge. Self forming bacteria in the tank help the system digest these solids or sludge where a natural process of anaerobic decomposition occurs in the tank which reduces the amount of solid matter and provides some treatment of the waste. The remaining liquids flow out of the tank to a soakaway and eventually get taken up through the root system of plants or added to the groundwater. Baffles built into the tank hold back the floating scum from moving past the outlet of the tank.

Septic tank care is crucial to maintain a healthy septic system. Although the septic system is quite self sufficient, there are things you can do to help the system work efficiently. Microbes in your septic system will naturally break down the organic material that drains into your septic tank. The broken down material will naturally drain out of the septic tank and into the soakaway. There are some solids that cannot drain out of the septic tank and this is normal. Regular septic tank care requires you to desludge these solids every 3 � 5 years. The size of your septic tank, the amount of use and the kind of products you allow into your drains will determine how often your septic tank will need to be desludged.

What not to put in your septic tank?

Uncontrolled use of disinfectants or chemical cleansers, especially as is often the case at institutions such as hospitals, schools and hotels, may inhibit the natural bacterial activity. Industrial or other potentially toxic effluent should not be allowed into septic tanks.

Coarse, non-degradable solids such as coffee grounds, cigarette butts, facial tissues, plastic bags, bottle tops, sanitary towels and nappies, must NOT be deposited into the septic tank.

What is a Soakaway?

The soakaway is an underground soil treatment system, which receives partially treated sewage from the septic tank. The soil on a site must be suitable for a soakaway to work properly. Soil that is too coarse, too fine or impermeable, can limit the effectiveness of the treatment system. It is imperative that effluent from a septic tank is not discharged into a river, vlei, etc as it is by no means, in terms of health, fit for animal or human consumption. The size of your septic tank soakaway is determined by the size of your septic tank and the size of your dwelling. It cannot be built near any open water such as a river or vlei because of the possibility of seepage from the soil into the water.

What is a Conservancy Tank?

A conservancy tank is any covered tank without an overflow which is used for the reception and temporary retention of sewage and that requires routine emptying at intervals.

GreaseTrap

What is a Grease Trap?

Grease traps are commonly used on the waste pipe from the kitchen, with the object of removing as much grease and fat as possible. Grease traps have special merit at a restaurant or kitchen where excessive amounts of fat and oil are likely to be released, which may cause accretions in the sewers or rapid accumulation in the septic tank. In a household the amount of solid matter contributed by the kitchen nowadays is quite considerable and it certainly seems worthwhile to remove the fatty material, as it would reduce the quantity and tenacity of the scum formed in the tank.

The proper function of a grease trap is very much dependant on the regularity with which it is cleaned. The design and construction of grease traps should provide for conditions, which are suitable to allow the fat in suspension to rise and collect at the surface.

#5
County Requirements: Minimum Septic Tank Size = 1000 gallons
3 bedrooms = 1000 gallon tank
4 bedrooms = 1200 gallon tank
5 bedrooms = 1500 gallon tank