Journal of e-ISSN: 2581-9763

Geotechnical Studies Volume-8, Issue-1 (January-April, 2023)

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Building a Soak Pit Using Locally Accessible Materials

Vaibhav Sangar1*, Sahil Majalekar1, Vasudha Karad1, Manasi Yadav1
1
Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, D.K.T.E. Yashwantrao Chavan Polytechnic,
Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India
*
Corresponding Author: [email protected]

Received Date: March 19, 2023 Published Date: March 29, 2023

ABSTRACT The Health of People Cannot be Impacted by

On an innovative drainage system, these Soak Pits
projects are constructed. There are no longer
any mosquitoes or bad water at these project As we only utilise soak pits to dispose of
areas. The second objective of the project is to wastewater that has been treated with sewage,
stop spending cash on diseases spread by they cannot harm human health. The mosquito
mosquitoes because their incidence has population is decreased via soak pits. It
declined. As an alternative to the plastic tank, contributes to a decrease in diseases spread by
an RCC tank as well as rocks and brickbats mosquitoes, such as dengue and malaria. Hence,
were employed in this project. a soak pit cannot harm human health while
aiding in the reduction of disease and pollutants
Keywords- Clogging, Contaminated, Dispose,
in the environment [3-4].
Gravity, Health
PERIOD
INTRODUCTION
Using materials found nearby, a
A soak pit is an underground structure mystical soak pit was built.
that reduces excess water by dumping it into the To function like a well, a soak pit is
earth where it combines with the local built below the surface. It aids in the removal of
groundwater. An enclosed, porous chamber contaminated water that is produced as a result
called a soak pit enables water to gradually of numerous human endeavours. With the aid of
percolate into the ground. It resembles a dry well filter media, it readily absorbs water due to the
in design. Under the action of gravity, water porous chambered pit’s design.
flows through it. A dry well takes water through Dry wells with a passive framework are
one or more entrance pipes or channels at its top called soak pits. Gravity is the force that causes
and releases the same water through several the water to flow. Most frequently, grey water is
small exit apertures spread out over a wider disposed of in this dry well. One or more pipes
surface area on the well's side and bottom [1-2]. or channels provide it with water. Stormwater is
Many in rural and urban regions ask also disposed of.
when the installation of soak pits will be To prevent flooding when it rains
advantageous for them. heavily, it collects additional water. Rainwater is
 Using materials that are readily available in slowly draining through the associated drainage
the area, we may build a soak pit. system as it falls, while stormwater runoff is
 The cost of building is minimal. collected and managed in catch basins. A
 It can be built without taking up more soaking pit may survive two to five years,
space. depending on how it was constructed, before
 It is utilised in the absence of municipal requiring considerable maintenance.
drainage facilities. Water from the primary treatment unit’s
 It also contributes to raising ground water effluent stream is partially treated in the pit.
levels. Clear, harmless water is released into the earth

33 Page 33-36 © MAT Journals 2023. All Rights Reserved

 Journal of e-ISSN: 2581-9763
Geotechnical Studies Volume-8, Issue-1 (January-April, 2023)

www.matjournals.com

via the soak pit [5].  If at all possible, build the pit within the
home for safety, cover it to prevent damage
Some of the Most Frequent Errors from outside activity, and make sure it
won't leak. After some time, we can open
 To stop the water from clogging, initial the hole that has been covered to maintain
treatment is required. it.
 The soil’s properties may be negatively  We should somehow improve the quality of
impacted. the wastewater before we dispose of it in
 Only applicable in situations where the soil the magic soak hole. Following treatment,
allows for infiltration, the groundwater wastewater may seep into the earth and
table is at least 1.5 meters below the soak collect groundwater [7].
pit, there is no chance of flooding, and any  The following are the goals of a good
nearby water wells are at least 30 meters soaking pit.
away.  Research on rural hygienic conditions and
 Hard to realize in a chilly climate. practices
 Should not be used for high daily  To research improvements in soak pit
wastewater discharge volumes [6]. design.
 The provision of substitute materials for the
Construction Procedure magical soak pit.
Soak pit won't effectively treat untreated
 Before determining the size of the soak pit, sewage, and it will quickly become clogged.
the percolation test on the chosen location Grey or black water that has already settled
was conducted. should be discharged into a soak pit. For rural
Calculation: communities, soak pits are suitable. They are
Pit size: 1x1x1 for percolation flavor reliant on the soil.
=1m^3 Your community’s water management
25mm of percolation per minute. and sanitation system can be improved by the
Daily percolation rate: 24 × 25 implementation and use of soak pits, making it
=600 lit more sustainable.
Giving customers a chance to treat
Design of an 8-Person Soak Pit wastewater partially at a low cost. Offering an
environment-friendly method of releasing
We chose a (1.2x1.2x1.5) pit that holds pretreated wastewater. Wastewater that has been
400 litres and can accommodate one family of recreated. We have been to certain locations
up to 10 people. It is sufficient for disposal and where this method of treating water in rural
can be discharged in a single day. areas has already been implemented to research
Depending on the size of the pit, this topic. Whenever we went, we noticed some
excavation was done mechanically. We drilled 8 changes in the design considerations; to make it
holes on the pipe's upper side, each around 20 more cost-effective, they used waste materials
mm in diameter, in the RCC pipe that we used to that were conveniently available nearby. Using
collect wastewater. these practices in these places is crucial for
The tank used to collect wastewater was minimizing issues like the Zika virus, which has
installed in the trench after it had been filled spread rapidly throughout Maharashtra, and
with layers of stones, gravel, and aggregates to a other issues like poor odour.
depth of 10 to 15 cm. Please make sure the tank
is at least as tall as the ground. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Connect the tank’s other end of the PVC
elbow to the source pipe. Keep the tank lid in Our project guide prof. A.V. Hajare sir
place while fixing the pipe properly. guided us in project work (Fig. 1).

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 Journal of e-ISSN: 2581-9763
Geotechnical Studies Volume-8, Issue-1 (January-April, 2023)

www.matjournals.com

Figure 1: Diagrammatic representation of soak pit.

CONCLUSION particular household and researched many pit

factors. We may use the same procedure for
Based on test investigations, we large pits where there is greater wastewater
discovered that this method of disposing of outflow; other than the size of the pit increasing,
wastewater in rural regions is efficient and all other procedures and materials will remain
delivers good results for disposal, replenishing the same.
groundwater table, and lowering risks of various The following are significant factors that
diseases like zika, cholera, etc. will be taken into account when design criteria
The following are some important concluding for the construction of magic pits are expanded
points based on the above experiment and study: in the future:
 In rural areas there is no special treatment Instead of using fly ash, which is simple
plant for treated wastewater due to to obtain and expensive, we can utilise burn
insufficient funds, hence people dispose of brick and boulders, which are both readily
the domestic wastewater through 'Nalhas' in available, cheap, and do not need to be used in
the rainy season due to high floods it mixes building construction. The effectiveness of a
with natural drainage which caused water magic soak pit depends on the soil that is already
pollution. on site and its characteristics, such as grain size,
 Due to its affordability, any common family coefficient of permeability, infiltration rate, and
can afford to build a magic pit in their stratification of soil bed, among others. If we use
home. This method is useful in situations this in the construction of a magic pit and it may
where it is impossible to treat wastewater. It effectively work then it will make a more
doesn't require extra space to build, and it economical magic pit.
also uses fewer supplies and tools. Finding out more considerations and
 We used locally available materials to build design criteria for magic soak pits will be aided
the magic pit. Instead of using concrete for by further research.
the flooring, we could have used a waste
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 Journal of e-ISSN: 2581-9763
Geotechnical Studies Volume-8, Issue-1 (January-April, 2023)

www.matjournals.com

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CITE THIS ARTICLE

Vaibhav Sangar, et. al (2023). Building a Soak Pit Using Locally Accessible Materials, Journal
of Geotechnical Studies, 8(1), 33-36.

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