My 11-yr old Lab/Chow mix gives back way more than I feed her! Ordered the Dooley septic tank but it calls for a 4-ft deep hole, and I live at the very bottom of the neighborhood, next to the creek. No matter where I punched a hole in the backyard, I hit water at 24 in.
Found an old thread here where somebody designed a homemade septic tank from a plastic garbage can, but it also used quite a deep hole. Does anybody know how shallow you can get away with? Would a hole less than 2 ft deep keep the composting process from working effectively? Or would it just mean you have to move it frequently? Could I compensate for shallow depth by making it wider? I could probably dig a deeper hole in the front yard, which is higher. But if I did that, I would not want to have to relocate it more than every few years--smaller space and more landscaping.
Also, should I keep it a minimum distance from the creek? "Creek" is a loose term nowadays--they turned it into a concrete drainage canal in the '70s. So it's not like the groundwater seeps into the banks the way it naturally would.
Final question: would it be okay to put cat poop in it also? (Not litter, just the little treasures you can isolate with scoopable litter.)
I'm throwing in a pic of Katie-the-dog-that-poops-like-a-pony, in hopes of enticing some advice!
