I'd like an RV hookup with sewage in my driveway. How hard will that be?

[OnionPatch]

We often have relatives and friends stay in their RVs in our driveway. Right now, the only hookup we can offer is electric. I often wonder what it takes to put a sewage drain in for an RV so the bathrooms can be fully functional. I suppose we'd have to dig the ditch to the septic tank for the pipe, etc. Has anyone done this before? Was it hard to do? If you had a plumber do it, was it expensive?

[NMDemDist2]

1. the old owners here did it. the pipe is only about 5' from the septic

and you'd have to be sure to have it sloped correctly and have a good cap on it for when it's not in use

but *we* didn't do it so I'm just guessing

[Stinky The Clown]

2. One of our neighbors had one installed a few years ago

Our neigborhood was built in two parts. The first part was all done on septic systems and wells. In the new part (where I am) it was all county sewer and water.

The county made everybody connect to county water, but connection to the sewer was optional. This particular neighbor stayed on septic. He had a plumber come in when his tank needed cleaning and add the connection for his RV (a big, butt ugly bus of a thing with shitty looking paint that always seems to have someone or other living in it). I don't know all the details, but it involved a long trench from his driveway to his back yard.

I would imagine it needs some sort of P-trap along the way to keep the tank smells in check.

His setup has a water, sewer, and electrical hookup all tied back to his house utilities.

I don't think its legal to tie into a city sewer the same way, but I'm not sure of this.

[politicat]

3. What I do know...

The hookup needs to be on the driver's side, and preferably in a place where backing is not necessary to access it. (but you probably knew that.)

I'd call septic tank contractors, get estimates, and if there's one you feel comfortable with, start asking the questions about how much you can do yourself -- the digging especially, which will cut costs dramatically.

[OnionPatch]

4. I was thinking of that

I mean of doing the digging myself. Especially since I am a professional ditch-digger, or at least I used to be when I worked in the steel mill. :) I can certainly dig a ditch if it's going to cost hundreds of dollars otherwise.

[Lefty48197]

5. It depends on how far away the sewer line is, and how deep it is

If the proposed hook up site is close to the sewer line, then it's probably pretty easy. Otherwise, you may be trenching 100' or more to get there which gets expensive, but also you have to worry about whether you can get the minimum pitch (1/8 inch of fall, per foot of run) for the sewer line.