Personal Diary Entry – Constructing the Soakaway and Septic Tank (A Week of Hard Work and Teamwork) Date: March 8, 2026 Location: Nigeria Weather: Hot and Humid

When we got to the site we were relieved that the excavation work was already done, the pits for the soak away and septic tank were dug out which saved us from digging.. We knew the real work was just starting.

• First we checked the pits to make sure they were the size:
• Soak away pit: 12 ft deep and 1.2 meters wide and it already had some gravel at the bottom.
• Septic tank pit:12 ft deep and 9. something meters wide with a plastering wall and a well finished floor
  After we confirmed the measurements we checked the slope of the ground around the pits to make sure water would drain properly, we took our time because a small mistake here could cause problems later.

Then we organized our materials:

• Precast concrete rings for the tank
• Geotextile fabric for the soakaway
• Gravel, cement, sand and PVC pipes
• Reinforcement rods for the concrete slab
  My fellow worker, Tunde joked, "At least we won't have to sweat over a shovel today!"

The septic tank was our big task. We carefully put four precast rings into the pit one by one using ropes and muscle power, each ring had to be aligned so it wouldn't leak, once the rings were in place we sealed the joints with a layer of cement mortar making sure there were no gaps, then we worked on the pipes, the inlet pipe (from the house) was positioned at a downward angle, the outlet pipe (leading to the soak away) was set lower to ensure proper flow.
We made a mistake here. One pipe was angled steeply so we had to redo the connection, Tunde, said, measure twice pour once!" as we fixed it, by the end of day 3 we had the septic tank structure complete, started preparing the reinforced concrete slab for the top.

The soak away required layering to ensure proper drainage, we lined the pit with fabric to prevent soil from clogging the system, then we filled it with layers of gravel.
•Coarse gravel at the bottom for water absorption.
•Finer gravel toward the top to filter out particles, we left the 30 cm empty for soil cover ensuring the surface would remain stable and not sink over time.

• Backfilling:- we filled the gaps around the tank with soil and compacted it firmly.
• Covering the Soakaway :-we placed grass turfs over the top to blend it into the landscape.
• Water Test:- We flushed water through the system to check for leaks or blockages.
  When everything worked perfectly Tunde did a victory dance, said, "No digging, no problem!"

Reflections and Lessons Learned

•Teamwork was key:- without Tunde help lifting those rings would have been impossible.
• Precision matters:- a small error, in pipe alignment cost us hours of rework.
•Satisfaction of a job well done:- seeing the system function flawlessly made all the effort worth it.
Total Time Spent: 7 days and body Ache Level: 9/10

A GALLERY BOX SHOWING THE WORK THAT WAS DONE

All this pictures shown here are snap from my phone handle